The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will look to shore up the secondary during the 2020 offseason and one of those answers could be DB Tony Jefferson II.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to shore up the defensive backfield during the 2020 offseason and one of the top safety free-agents is still available.
The Buccaneers have made it clear that they are focused on winning here in the present and that could involve adding another veteran piece or two to the roster before it’s all said and done.
One of those potential added pieces could be S Tony Jefferson II.
Jefferson, 28 years old, was cut by the Baltimore Ravens and suffered an ACL injury that kept him off the field for the bulk of 2019.
Jefferson was due to make around $11 million per year, so the Buccaneers would likely have to pay somewhere around that amount, perhaps a little less, to win his services. The Chicago Bears have also expressed interest in signing the veteran safety.
The problem with tying Tampa Bay and Jefferson together is three-fold:
- Tampa Bay likes its younger options at safety and just re-signed Andrew Adams.
- Jefferson would likely cost the rest of the cap.
- His injury leaves him as a question mark.
Though the Buccaneers do want to shore-up that safety room, you’ve got to understand that there is young talent across the field with guys like Mike Edwards and Justin Evans, as well as Jordan Whitehead. With those young options- and Adams- already on the roster, there may not be a need at safety as much as many fans might think there is.
The other problem is the fact that Jefferson would likely still cost somewhere in the ballpark of $8 million to $9 million for a single season with his injury still working as a question mark.
The Buccaneers don’t seem interested and the reasons listed above make it fairly easy to see why at this point. Things can obviously change, but that won’t likely be the case here.