Buccaneers make perfect move to keep defense intact
By Rob Leeds
After missing on keeping Alex Cappa, the Buccaneers were able to stay on a roll in free agency by re-signing Carlton Davis.
This has been a great 24 hours, and it is only gets better for the Buccaneers.
Tom Brady is back. Tampa has Ryan Jensen to protect him. The future is looking up for the Buccaneers, and free agency hasn’t changed that for the worse at all.
After finding a way to keep Chris Godwin in place for the future, the next major focus for the Bucs became locking down their starting corner. They finally accomplished this task by signing Carlton Davis to a three-year deal.
Buccaneers keep their most important defensive free agent
Davis was likely the most important free agent for the Buccaneers this offseason. Some fans may see him as replaceable, but trying to move someone new into your CB1 role during a season with Tom Brady at quarterback is a waste.
Davis is familiar with the system and has found success at the highest level. Paying $15 million per year for a player like this is a steal in this market.
While the Buccaneer defense wasn’t perfect last season, a huge part of that was due to the revolving door at the corner position. Letting Davis walk in free agency wouldn’t have helped that issue at all, and the Bucs smartly realized this before it was too late.
This decision almost assuredly means the Bucs won’t target any other high-profile free agent defensive backs other than Jordan Whitehead, and the cap is getting much smaller for any splash signings.
Hopefully Tampa can find a way to work things out with Whitehead as one of their best defenders, but the decision to keep Davis is still justified by the consistency that will bring to the defense.
We’ve seen some excellent seasons from Davis already in his career with some great production against top-tier talent. We’re excited to see more of this as the Bucs remain one of the best teams in the league.
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