Buccaneers: Veteran free agents that could join Tom Brady in Tampa
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers still need a consistent return man
Jaydon Mickens and Kenjon Barner were decent in the returner role this season, but the Buccaneers can still improve on this front. Special teams wins games too, and Cordarrelle Paterson would bring a diverse skillset to Tampa.
At his core, Patterson could be the best return man in Tampa Bay from day one. Patterson arrived in the NFL in 2013, and since then, he has ten returns for touchdowns and averaged nearly 30 yards per return. During that same time, the Buccaneer franchise has zero return touchdowns.
Even when his opponents know not to kick to Patterson and fewer opportunities come, he has still had a return touchdown in every season in the league but two.
While returns appear to become less important each season as kickers grow stronger and more accurate, this is a part of the Bucs’ game that has always struggled. Tampa Bay has experienced a revolving door of various return men from across the league, yet none seem to pan out.
This situation was similar to what the Buccaneers experienced at kicker, but they finally buckled down and took the proven entity to great success, and they should do the same thing with Cordarrelle Paterson to fix their return game and add another set of hands for Brady to throw passes to.