Buccaneers lose free agent starter to Kansas City Chiefs

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers streak of being able to bring back too free agents has officially come to an end thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs.

After beginning the offseason by bringing back two of the team’s top free agents, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers luck has run out.

Not only were the Bucs able to bring back two top free agents, but they brought back two key members of the defense. Jamel Dean and Lavonte David were brought back on incredibly team-friendly deals, something that didn’t seem like it would be possible due to a nasty salary situation that required the team to dump $55 million to get back under the cap.

Despite that, Jason Licht was able to bring two of his top defensive stars back, but missed out on a third.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, starting safety Mike Edwards is signing a free agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. 

“The Chiefs are signing former Bucs safety Mike Edwards, source said,” Rapoport reported on Friday. “Coming off his best season with 82 tackles and two picks, he now lands in Kansas City.”

It’s a tough blow for the Bucs, but they can’t win them all. As great as he was for the team last year, bringing back David and Dean far outweighs losing Edwards.

He was great, though, which is why losing Edwards is a tough pill to swallow. Last season he had one his the best years of his career, and amassed 149 tackles and nine interceptions — with three of those in the last two years going for pick sixes — in his career with the Bucs.

Edwards heads to Kansas City on a one-year deal that will pay him $3 million, which seems like the type of deal the Bucs could have matched.

Hiwever the team entered the offseason without a ton of money to spend, and handed our $52 million to Dean, $7 million to David, and another $4 million to Baker Mayfield. All of that meant not being able to afford even a low priced deal for Edwards, who joins a phenomenal defense and has a chance to truly cash in big next offseason if he balls out in Kansas City.