The return of safety Jordan Whitehead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appeared to have delighted the locker room. In terms of free agency, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been masters at their craft. In addition to working outside of One Buc Place, general manager Jason Licht and company have done an outstanding job of keeping their core players. They recently completed a trade with the Detroit Lions and signed former safety Jordan Whitehead to a two-year, $9.5 million contract.
Whitehead’s return to Tampa Bay was a cheap trade, and since he’s played in Todd Bowles’ defense before, he should take over at safety opposite Antoine Winfield Jr. Whitehead was a free agent this offseason and probably had a lot of suitors, but for some reason, everyone thought he would return to the Bucs, especially after starting running back Rachaad White began actively pursuing him.
Jordan Whitehead coming back to Buccaneers
The players in the Bucs’ locker room were overjoyed to see Whitehead back in Tampa Bay after a two-year absence when the trade finally came to pass on Wednesday.
In the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Bucs selected Pittsburgh’s Jordan Whitehead. From 2018 to 2021, he played 3,619 snaps for Tampa Bay, appearing in 59 games with 55 starts. He racked up 292 tackles (222 solo), 22 tackles for loss, two sacks, five interceptions, 25 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in those four seasons.
Whitehead raised his overall Pro Football Focus grade from 42.9 to 70.0 during the team’s 2020 Super Bowl season, demonstrating a significant improvement in his play. In 16 games (all starts) during that season, he recorded 74 tackles (53 solo), nine tackles for loss, two sacks, and two interceptions.
