Deals continue to trickle in as we enter the second (or maybe third?) wave of NFL free agency. All has remained quiet for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who ended last week with a barrage of depth signings that came on the heels of a ton of reunions.
Tampa Bay focused on bringing players back, rather than adding outside help, reaching deals with Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans before the legal tampering period opened. After free agency started, the Bucs landed new deals with Lavonte David, Chase McLaughlin, and a handful of other players who were set to hit the market.
It was a successful free agency for the Bucs, with even the team's external signings staying with the reunion theme. The biggest player Tampa Bay added was Jordan Whitehead, who is coming back after having spent the last two years with the Jets.
Whitehead's return goes to show just how deep the respect former players have for Tampa Bay, and it almost created a situation where the Bucs could have run back its Super Bowl-winning secondary.
Leave it to the Buffalo Bills to ruin everything.
Buffalo Bills end any hope of a full Buccaneers Super Bowl reunion this offseason
On Wednesday the Bills officially announced that Mike Edwards had signed a deal in free agency, thus ending any hope of the Bucs landing one final piece of a Super Bowl reunion.
Edwards was one of the many cap casualties Tampa Bay had to endure last offseason as it tried to navigate a $55 million situation that was complicated by over $80 million in dead cap. He ended up signing with the Kansas City Chiefs, and winning another Super Bowl, but there was hope that he might find his way back to the Bucs.
Buffalo intervened and the reunion was spoiled.
A new face on defense! 😁
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) March 20, 2024
We’ve signed S Mike Edwards to a one-year deal: https://t.co/6CiQEcXQYe pic.twitter.com/C2nJAF24tG
Had Edwards returned, he would have rejoined a safety room that has Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Whitehead, and second-year stud Christian Izien. Two of those guys he knows pretty well, with Izien being someone who could have benefited greatly from the wisdom the three veterans possess.
Instead, Edwards is joining the Bills to help replace Jordan Poyer being a cap casualty this offseason for Buffalo. It stinks that a reunion won't be happening, but at least the Bills finally won something involving a Super Bowl.