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Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
ORLANDO, Fla. — Bucs coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht both spoke with reporters at the NFL meetings on Tuesday, touching on a wide variety of topics. Much of the headlines for the Bucs in the past few weeks has focused on the team’s success in keeping their own best free agents, but this was a chance for them to speak about newcomers and their likely roles.
Ten things we learned Tuesday …
1. Jordan Whitehead made a welcome return
A starter on the Bucs’ Super Bowl team in 2020, safety Jordan Whitehead was one of the few key players from that team to get away, spending the past two years with the Jets. Tampa Bay brought him back on a two-year, $9 million deal, and he’ll go right back to starting opposite Antoine Winfield and bringing a physical presence to the secondary.
“It kind of seemed like since the day we let him out of the building that we were counting down the minutes until he came back,” Licht said. “When he came back, there wasn’t a person in the building that wasn’t smiling.”
Bowles said Whitehead will improve on-field communication, working especially well with Lavonte David before plays and get the defense set correctly.
“I’m happy to have him back,” Bowles said. “The whole team’s happy to have him back in the fold. I just look forward, with the experience he’s gotten in New York, to help us get better on the back end.”
2. Carlton Davis hurt himself with injuries
It made sense that part of the reason the Bucs traded Davis to the Lions (with two sixth-round picks) for a third-round pick was that the cornerback was consistently limited by injuries, missing 16 games over the past three seasons. They’re excited about getting to play third-year pro Zyon McCollum more as well, but Licht wasn’t even subtle in referencing the injuries.
“We felt like it was an opportunity for us to get a really good pick and to add some youth,” Licht said. “We wish Carlton the best….
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/bucs-happy-to-have-jordan-whitehead-back-fine-with-being-underdogs
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Publish date : 2024-03-26 19:29:21
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