The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a roster that is paradoxically both filled with talent and riddled with holes. They have a talented quarterback in Baker Mayfield, a deep backfield, a loaded wide receiver corps, and some pretty darn talented defensive backs. And that offensive line, when healthy, is one of the better units in the league.
At the same time, the Buccaneers have one of the worst head coaches in the NFL in Todd Bowles, and his front seven is beyond putrid. It is hard to believe that this anemic pass rush is NFL quality, as only YaYa Diaby and Vita Vea look like they have any business starting for a playoff team in this league, especially with veteran linebacker Lavonte David looking more and more finished by the week.
The Bucs woeful pass rush is so poor that the organization even turned to a reunion with Jason Pierre-Paul as an option. And JPP has not played meaningful minutes in the NFL in years. So that is how low the bar is set when it comes to players the Bucs are willing to bring in to boost a pass rush that has just one player, Diaby off the edge, with even five sacks this season.
Thus, it was a bit surprising to see that the Buccaneers balked on trying to sign veteran edge rusher Matt Judon. Granted, Judon has been horrible this season and produced nothing (literally zero sacks) in 13 appearances and 3 starts for the Miami Dolphins this season, but his nothing would have still been something for the Buccaneers defense.
Instead, the four time Pro Bowler has been snapped up by one of the true Super Bowl contenders - and a Dolphins rival - who beat up on the Buccaneers a couple of weeks ago, the Buffalo Bills. After Judon went unclaimed off waivers, the Bills have reportedly the veteran edge rusher, who is expected to join their practice squad.
A former Atlanta Falcon, Judon may not be anywhere near his best and is probably finished at the highest level, based on the film he put together in Miami this season. But he is definitely a whole lot less finished than Pierre-Paul and less far removed from NFL relevancy than the ex New York Giants edge rusher. The Buccaneers, by not signing Judon and watching him join an AFC playoff rival in Buffalo, probably passed up on their only chance to conceivably upgrade one of the worst units of a playoff contender before December ends.