4 free agent cornerbacks Buccaneers could sign to replace Sean Murphy-Bunting

After losing Sean Murphy-Bunting to the Tennessee Titans, there are a few potential sleeper options on the free agent market the Buccaneers could sign to replace him. 

NFL Free Agency is starting wind down, but the work is far from done for most teams around the league. The first wave has crashed and rolled back, but there’s still value to be found with remaining free agents, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be in the market to add some potential high-impact players for next season.

To be clear, any move the Bucs make will require a move to free up some cap space. Tampa Bay stunned everyone by entering the offseason with almost no cash to spend yet managed to re-sign Jamel Dean, Lavonte David, and a handful of other players while also giving deals to Baker Mayfield and Chase Edmonds.

Right now the Bucs have less than $1 million in cap space to play with, as Spotrac has the team about $733k above the cap. That’s not a ton of wiggle room, and the NFL Draft will complicate the situation if the Bucs make more moves, but holes on the roster need to be filled.

Specifically, Tampa Bay lost cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting to the Tennessee Titans in free agency. While the Bucs were able to keep their top cornerback duo of Dean and Carlton Davis together, the loss of SMB creates a need for a No. 3 corner.

Here’s a quick look at recent cornerback deals this offseason to get an idea of how affordable the remaining free agents might be:

• Emmanuel Moseley: 1-year, $6M
• Chauncey Gardner-Johnson: 1-year, $8M
• Sean Murphy-Bunting: 1-year, $5M

Jamel Dean was brought back to Tampa Bay on a four-year, $52 million deal that averages about $13 million per year. Jonathan Jones signed a two-year, $19 million deal with New England that averages about $9.5 million while Byron Muprhy’s deal with the Vikings averages about $8.7 million.

All of this is to say, it’s not an overpriced market at cornerback and the price on remaining free agents doesn’t appear to be going up. We’re only a week into the new league year, but it’s starting to look like the crop of corners who remain might be able to get reeled in on one-year deals that set them up for bigger paydays next season.

That’s good news for the Bucs, who might still be able to get some value out of the market and add a solid No. 3 or No. 4 cornerback at the right price.

Key Metrics from 2022

• Targets: 53
• Passes Allowed: 38
• Interceptions: 0

Next to Dean, Rock Ya-Sin was the youngest cornerback hitting the market this offseason. Unlike Dean, he remains unsigned despite having a rather productive year with the Raiders.

Ya-Sin regressed a bit according to his PFF grade, taking a step back from a 69.9 grade in 2022. He has posted 27 pass defenses and 2 interceptions in 52 games during his career, but might figure to be a slot or two higher on other team’s depth charts than what the Bucs might be looking for out of him.

Still, the market hasn’t been as great as some might have expected, which could put Ya-Sin in a position to find the best one-year deal he can find in order to set himself up for a bigger payday next offseason. There’s reported interest from Baltimore, which might be a better situation than Tampa Bay, as well as a potential reunion in Indianapolis.

A year with Dean, Davis, and working with Todd Bowles could be a win-win situation, though.