Jordan Whitehead has flown under the radar for far too long with the Buccaneers.
Homers are dangerous in sports. Being so rabid in support of your team that you can’t see flaws has caused fans to spout all sorts of nonsense for decades on mediocre players. This blind support can cause major problems with support, but it is far from what is going on with Jordan Whitehead and the Buccaneers.
Bucs fans have been saying for years that Jordan Whitehead is one of the best safeties in the NFL, and they are absolutely right. Opposing fans and analysts shrug this off as an act of homerism in practice, but this is a provably-terrible take.
Whitehead has proven the haters wrong in every key opportunity, and even Bucs greats see it too.
There are few greater in Buccaneer history than Ronde Barber, and if he says something, that means everything for a DB.
Barber had nothing but great things to say about a career performance from Whitehead in the playoff game versus the Eagles. The future Hall of Fame corner was right; Whitehead was the best player on the field during that game, and this status wasn’t confined to that game.
Whitehead is the epitome of a do-everything guy in the secondary. He can play in the box, blitz the quarterback, or drop into coverage, and he excels at all of it. During a time where recognizable names like Jamal Adams make the news every week, one has to wonder why Jordan Whitehead is left out of the media cycle when he is better at his position than his solely pass-rushing competitor.
Regardless of the way, the Buccaneers have an obvious decision coming up with Whitehead. There may be some free agents on the team that Tampa can let walk, but Whitehead isn’t one of them. The money may be tight, but losing one of your best defensive players right after losing your best offensive player is not a great start to an offseason.
Jordan Whitehead is dominant, and it is time the Buccaneers acknowledge that with an appropriate payday.
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