4 moves Buccaneers need to make after signing Jordan Whitehead
By Josh Hill
Sign a cornerback
Bringing Jordan Whitehead back helped address a dangerously thin safety room, but it's not the last move the Bucs should make to improve the secondary.
Tampa Bay's only other external move this week was trading Carlton Davis III to the Detroit Lions, a deal that netted a nice Day 2 draft pick but depleted some talent at cornerback. It's been a rough few years for Davis, who has missed sixteen games over the last three seasons, but he was a key piece of a defense that won a Super Bowl in 2020. That's the guy the Lions are hoping they're getting but it's also the player Tampa Bay needs to replace.
It could be argued that the Bucs needed to replace Davis even while he was still here, but that's semantics. With him officially gone, the need becomes one of the biggest that the team needs to address -- likely more than once. The belief is that the Bucs will use one of its four Top 100 draft picks on a cornerback, perhaps even as early as the first round. That shouldn't be the only addition, though, as using some of the team's remaining cap space to pluck a veteran from free agency feels like a must.
Kendall Fuller is the top available cornerback on the market, but he could get pricey. He's projected for a $40 million deal (a tick above $13 million AAV) which would be a hefty swing for the Bucs to take. That being said, Tampa Bay gave Jamel Dean a $52 million contract last offseason so it's not out of the question.
Stephon Gilmore is another intriguing option as he'd add some veteran wisdom to the room. He's spent successful stints with Buffalo, New England, and Dallas; coming to Tampa Bay could the team get more out of Dean and possibly help coach up whoever ends up in the secondary as part of the rookie class.