4:14pm: The Buccaneers have formally announced their deal with Grimes.
12:25pm: Grimes’ two-year deal has a base value of $13.5MM, and can be worth up to $16.5MM with playing-time and Pro Bowl incentives, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
11:51am: Brent Grimes will head over to the NFC for the 2016 season, but he’ll be staying in Florida. According to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (via Twitter), Grimes has agreed to terms with the Buccaneers on a two-year deal worth $16.5MM.
Grimes, 32, is coming off his third straight Pro Bowl season, having picked off at least four passes in each of his three years in Miami. In 2015, he intercepted four passes to go along with 49 tackles, and was ranked 41st out of 111 qualified cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus.
Despite his solid performance in Miami, the Dolphins decided to move on from him earlier this week, releasing him with two years left on his contract after acquiring Byron Maxwell from the Eagles. If Grimes plays out his new deal, he should earn more over the next two seasons than he would have had he stayed with the Fins.
The veteran corner had been on track to earn $15MM in salary in 2016 and 2017 in Miami. Of course, that money was non-guaranteed, and he’ll presumably get a decent portion of his new deal guaranteed, so he’s in better financial shape going forward.
By joining the Buccaneers, Grimes will reunite with his old head coach — he played under Mike Smith, Tampa Bay’s new defensive coordinator, during his years as a Falcon. With Tampa Bay corners Sterling Moore and Mike Jenkins eligible for free agency, and Moore not expected back, the Bucs had been in the market for some help at the position.
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