Category: Latest Team News

Don’t expect an announcement on Jameis Winston’s future anytime soon

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said we shouldn’t expect to hear news about Jameis Winston’s future for a while.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have ended their season last Sunday with their Week 17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but the work is just beginning for this team as they head into the offseason.

The biggest question that needs answering is what to do with quarterback Jameis Winston, who had a year for the ages in 2019 (both good and bad). Winston threw for over 5,000 yards, becoming just the eighth quarterback ever to reach that mark and the first in franchise history. But, he also became the first player ever to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season.

The Bucs were hoping that at this point they’d have some clarity on what to do with the former No. 1 overall pick, who was playing on the final year of his rookie contract. But, after such an up-and-down 2019 campaign, the team still seems uncertain about what to do, despite reports that Winston is slated to return.

And, according to head coach Bruce Arians, it doesn’t seem like we’ll get an answer about Winston’s future anytime soon.

It’s very telling that Arians keeps sidestepping questions about Winston, given that he’s spoken about other players and their futures without hesitation.

It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for the Bucs and their franchise quarterback. One thing is for sure, though — if Winston returns in 2020, he won’t be given as much leeway as he was this year.

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Daniel Jeremiah’s 2019 rookie rankings shows little respect for Devin White

Daniel Jeremiah’s final rookie rankings for 2019 has Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White falling out of the top 10.

The 2019 regular season is in the books, and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they head into the offseason with a newfound sense of optimism. After a 3-7 start to the year, the Bucs finished 7-9 and now hold the 14th pick in April’s NFL draft.

One of the biggest bright sports of the Bucs’ season was the strong second half performance of rookie linebacker Devin White, who was sidelined for several games earlier in the year with a knee sprain. White had dominant performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and even returned a fumble 91 yards for a touchdown in Week 17, the longest fumble return in franchise history.

White also earned NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for both November and December, proving he is one of the league’s young emerging stars.

Which is why it is so surprising to see White ranked only at No. 11 on Daniel Jeremiah’s list of the top 25 rookies of 2019 over at NFL.com. DJ had White ranked at No. 8 on his list at the beginning of December, but dropped him three spots on his final list. Jeremiah moved New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones up 11 spots from 18 to 7 on the latest list. It’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that White, who has been as dominant as any rookie defender the past two months, would fall down the list and out of the top 10.

I’m sure any team in the league would jump at the chance to get a young star like him. Maybe White can use Jeremiah’s list as added motivation heading into the offseason.

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Bucs LB Devin White named Defensive Rookie of the Month

For the second-straight month, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White has been named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month.

For a brief time, it seemed as though the 2019 NFL season would be a nightmare rookie campaign for Bucs linebacker Devin White. The fifth pick in last April’s NFL draft had the perhaps the roughest start to his career you could imagine (minus a season-ending injury, of course). In the week leading up to Week 1’s opener against the San Francisco 49ers, White dealt with tonsillitis, losing up to 10 pounds. Then, in Week 2, he suffered a knee sprain that sidelined him for several games and saw his odds of winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year award drop.

But, since returning to the field, White has been one of the most dominant defenders in the league, and not just among rookies. He capped off his stellar finish to the 2019 season by returning a fumble 91 yards for a touchdown in Week 17’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. It was the longest fumble return touchdown in franchise history.

Now, White can add another big achievement to his ever-growing resume as he’s just been named Defensive Rookie of the Month for December.

White was named Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, as well, so it’s an impressive way for the former LSU star to finish the season.

The Buccaneers defense finished 15th in the league this year, a far cry from 2018 when they were ranked 27th. The team holds the No. 14 pick in April’s draft, and, if CBS Sports is right, White could soon be joined by his former LSU teammate.

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Jeremy Fowler of ESPN warns Bucs not to give Jameis Winston long-term money

See why ESPN writer Jeremy Fowler thinks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be unwise to offer quarterback Jameis Winston a long-term deal.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons ended in the only way it could have: a Jameis Winston pick-six.

The former No. 1 overall pick, who played this past season on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract in a “prove it” year, became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. Not only that, but he also became just the eighth quarterback ever to throw for 5,000 yards in a season.

But a 7-9 finish meant the Buccaneers missed the playoffs for the 12th-straight season, and with Winston as their quarterback, they’ve had just one winning year, 2016 when they were a surprising 9-7.

The Bucs have indicated they are leaning towards bringing Winston back for at least one more year. But, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN says, giving Winston long-term money would be a bad idea.

“The Bucs have the best free-agent class seven wins can buy in Winston, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh and Shaq Barrett. Tampa Bay has smartly maintained one of the league’s youngest rosters while carving out healthy cap space, but keeping that defensive front seven together is prudent business. Since teams are allowed to double up with the use of franchise and transition tags in 2020 via the CBA transition, maybe use them on Winston and Barrett, while going all-in on a run for the playoffs next season. But don’t give Winston long-term money; you’d be competing against yourselves in that particular market.”

I doubt anyone is expecting the Bucs to actually give Winston a long-term deal. As impressive as it is that he threw for over 5,000 yards, he really has done nothing to warrant a long-term contract. No playoff appearances. An off-the-field incident that led to a suspension. One winning season.

Tampa Bay is likely hoping Winston will have a big Year 2 under Bruce Arians like Carson Palmer did. If they use either tag on him and he under-performs, it ultimately won’t hurt them in the long run financially.

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This stat further proves just how great Bucs LB Devin White was this season

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie linebacker Devin White had a tough start to his NFL career, but finished strong.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have finished just 7-9 — once again missing the postseason — but there are several reasons to be excited about this team heading into the offseason, something you haven’t really been able to say in years past about this franchise.

One of the biggest bright spots of the season was the emergence of rookie linebacker Devin White, who the team selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft. White, the former LSU star, got off to a rough start to his NFL career, dealing with tonsillitis in the week leading up to the season opener and then suffering a knee sprain in Week 2 that sidelined him for several games.

But, once White got back on the field and found his groove, he showed exactly why draft experts had him pegged as the best linebacker in last year’s draft class. From body-slamming punters to chasing down running backs, White is ready to take the league by storm and be a cornerstone of this defense for years to come.

And, if you want further proof of just how great he was this season, this stat says it all.

The Bucs defense came a long way in 2019 under first-year defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. After ranking 27th overall last year, the Bucs defense finished 2019 as the league’s 15th-best defense. If the Bucs can find a way to keep the franchise’s new single-season sack leader Shaq Barrett, they could make an even bigger jump in 2020.

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TMZ: Bucs investigating Rakeem Nunez-Roches for dog abandonment

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are investigating a case of animal abandonment by one of their players, Rakeem Nunez-Roches.

This is certainly not the type of situation the Tampa Bay Buccaneers want to be in now that their season is officially over.

According to TMZ, the Buccaneers are investigating DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches for dog abandonment at the beginning of last month. Nunez-Roches’ Cane Corso (pit bull) was abandoned on the side of a busy road for 36 hours before an animal rescue group found the dog and took it to the shelter on December 8. Per the report, officials contacted Nunez-Roches (who is also a dog breeder) to let them know they had his dog, Jitterbug.

Here’s what the official at the shelter said about the conversation:

“[Nunez-Roches] had responded back that he would pick her up on Sunday, which I thought was odd because they played Detroit on Sunday and they had a 4:25 game, so how would he get back in time to pick her up at 7? Was football more important?”

Nunez-Roches never picked up his dog.

The Bucs released a statement on the matter, too.

“We are aware of the issue regarding Rakeem Nunez-Roches and are in the process of gathering additional information. We will refrain from further comment until we have a better understanding of the situation.”

We’ll have to wait for the investigation to conclude before drawing judgement, but if this is a case of dog abandonment, let’s hope the Bucs and authorities take the appropriate measures when it comes to issuing punishment for Nunez-Roches. Only the most callous person would strand a poor defenseless animal on the side of a busy road and not think twice about it.

There is some good news to report, though. Jitterbug has found a new forever home! Here’s hoping she has several happy years ahead of her.

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The Buccaneers’ 2020 opponents are official

With the 2019 regular season behind us, the 7-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers opponents are locked in- physical schedule still to come. Coach, Bruce Arians and his coaching staff are looking forward to building upon a season which started off slowly, but …

With the 2019 regular season behind us, the 7-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers opponents are locked in- physical schedule still to come. Coach, Bruce Arians and his coaching staff are looking forward to building upon a season which started off slowly, but seemingly started clicking despite injury adversity.

Away- Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants

Home- Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams

Collectively the Buccaneers opponents finished 103-104 in 2019 with five of their future opponents being playoff teams this season.

The Buccaneers will have the 14th overall draft pick, have a lot of expiring contracts of current players on their roster, namely Jameis Winston and Shaq Barrett, so to say they have their work cut out for them this offseason is an understatement.

Did Bruce Arians just throw shade at Jameis Winston?

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians had some interesting things to say when talking about the team’s quarterback situation on Monday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season ended with a Jameis Winston pick-six in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. It was Winston’s 30th interception of the season, making him the first quarterback ever to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same year.

It was a tumultuous year for the former No. 1 overall pick, who also threw for over 5,000 yards. Given that Winston was playing on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, the team is under no obligation to bring him back next season. And, while reports have indicated that the team plans to bring Winston back in some capacity, nothing is certain as of right now.

And, when asked Monday if he thinks the team can win with a quarterback other than Winston under center, head coach Bruce Arians provided an answer that some may view as a shot at Winston.

“Another quarterback? Oh, yeah. If we can win with this one, we can definitely win with another one too. We’re gonna have a defense.”

First, referring to Winston as “this one” instead of by name is a bit of a slight in and of itself, but to say “we can definitely win” with another quarterback makes it sound like Winston is nothing special.

Maybe that’s not how Arians meant it, but it has to be frustrating for a head coach to see his team suffer losses because of the quarterback’s erratic play.

Arians also admitted that the injury to backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert provided Winston with more leeway than he otherwise would’ve gotten had a healthy and experienced backup been available.

“A big part of it was [backup] Blaine [Gabbert] getting hurt and we had to find out [if] this was the franchise [quarterback]. We had to find out.”

Arians said he and management will look over film from all 16 games in the coming weeks before deciding what direction to head in. Should Winston be back next year, you can bet the team won’t be as patient with him when it comes to his turnovers.

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Breshad Perriman joined his father as 1 of only 8 players to achieve this feat

See what feat Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Breshad Perriman achieved yesterday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Week 17 saw a number of record-breaking performances from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, from quarterback Jameis Winston throwing for over 5,000 yards — and becoming the first quarterback ever to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season — to Shaq Barrett breaking the franchise’s single-season sack record. Even rookie linebacker Devin White got in on the action with his 91-yard fumble recovery touchdown, the longest fumble returned for a touchdown in Buccaneer history.

But, let’s not forget about wide receiver Breshad Perriman. The first-year Buccaneer had a relatively quite first half of the season while dealing with an injury. But, ever since Mike Evans and Chris Godwin went down with hamstring injuries, Perriman has stepped up in a big way.

In Week 17’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the receiver had five receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown. It was the third-straight 100-yard game for Perriman. And, as it turns out, he achieved something only a few NFL receivers have before, including his father.

Take a look.

While the Buccaneers didn’t make the postseason, there’s no denying that they were fun to watch this year. Winston, especially, made every game (and throw) an edge-of-your-seat moment.

Hopefully, the Buccaneers can find a way to bring Perriman back next year. He’s clearly found a niche in this offense and can further strengthen the Bucs’ already dangerous receiving corps.

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Shaq Barrett wants to stay with the Bucs, and why not?

After a record-setting performance against the Falcons in Week 17, linebacker Shaq Barrett made it clear where he wants to play in 2020.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season ended with a Jameis Winston pick-six (surprise, surprise) in an overtime loss Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons. The Bucs finish the season at 7-9, an improvement over their 5-11 record from the past two seasons.

The Bucs now head into an offseason needing to address a number of issues, primarily, how they can retain linebacker Shaq Barrett, who finished the season with 19.5 sacks after collecting three in yesterday’s loss to the Falcons.

Barrett entered yesterday’s game with 16.5 sacks, which was tied with Warren Sapp (2000) for the single-season franchise record. His three-sack performance shattered that mark, something nobody could’ve predicted when Barrett signed with the Bucs on a one-year deal in the offseason.

Now a pending free agent, Barrett has made it clear where he wants to be next year.

Why wouldn’t Barrett want to stay in Tampa? He’s thrived under defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and has a chance to be a cornerstone of this defense alongside Devin White. Plus, Barrett has said how much he and his family hate moving.

It seems clear that the Bucs want Barrett back, too. The only question now is how much it will ultimately cost the team to keep him around for the long term.

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