Reunion with free agent pass-rusher would benefit Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could use pass-rush insurance, and a reunion with one particular free agent may be the best thing for the Buccaneers.

The roster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is beyond solid, to the point where it is arguably the best in the entire NFL top to bottom. However, that doesn’t mean the roster is perfect, because at the end of the day no roster is. There are still some holes to fill, or at the very least patch up, on the Buccaneers roster and one area is not being talked about as much as the rest, but would have a cheap and simple solution.

Unlike last season, the Bucs come into this training camp and season as a whole having to deal with a handful of departures from a championship roster. One of those departures, and perhaps one of the more under the radar for some reason, is Jason Pierre-Paul. His exit from Tampa Bay opens the door for last year’s first round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to step in as the starter with a chance to really break out. Beyond that though, there could be some room for improvement from a death perspective.

Tryon-Shoyinka and Shaq Barrett are the penciled in starters, with Anthony Nelson providing serviceable depth, but you can never have too many pass-rushers in today’s pass-happy NFL.

For this reason, the Buccaneers bringing back someone they used to call their own could be the perfect move.

Carl Nassib spent two seasons in Tampa Bay in 2018 and 2019, just missing out on a Super Bowl championship ring. Before that, he spent two years with the Cleveland Browns, and after his time with the Buccaneers, two years with the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, he finds himself looking for a new NFL home, but perhaps that new home could be in an old neighborhood.

Nassib’s two best seasons were the two he played with the Bucs, recording a career high 6.5 sacks in 2018, followed by six sacks in 2019 while starting about half the games he played in Tampa. Now a free agent, Nassib is ready to find a new home, and says he has a lot left in the tank.

Nassib is a good player, but his production is wildly better with the Buccaneers. Sometimes that happens with NFL players. They are just randomly superior with one franchises opposed to others. The curious case of Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles is a prime example of this phenomena. With this being the case, the Bucs and their $12 million in cap space wouldn’t exactly have to break the bank and spend the big bucks in order to bring Nassib back as a reserve pass-rusher role. Plus, he’s familiar with the culture and system, as well as new head honcho Todd Bowles.

Sure, this may not be the most “exciting“ or “splash“ signing like a veteran tight and that everyone so worked up about, however it could provide the Tampa Bay buccaneers with necessary death to wreak havoc on the veteran quarterbacks they will almost surely face come playoff time. A reunion with Carl Nassib could be just what the doctor ordered.