Packers Could Part Ways With CB Jaire Alexander
Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander may have just one more game with Green Bay. The two-time Pro Bowler has been suspended for the club’s Week 17 game against the Vikings, and while he is expected to return for the regular season finale, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com makes it clear that Alexander may not be in the Packers’ long-term plans.
According to Schefter, Green Bay’s decision on whether to retain Alexander will hinge on the $8MM roster bonus that he is due on March 20. If the team decides to keep Alexander in the fold, it will simply pay out the bonus and move on. However, Schefter reports that the Packers could explore a trade or even a release before the bonus comes due.
Alexander signed a four-year, $84MM extension in May 2022, a deal that made him the highest-paid corner in NFL history in terms of average annual value (though his $30MM in full guarantees only ranked 12th among his cornerback peers). The Louisville product did nothing to make the team regret its decision in the first year of his new contract, as he earned his second Pro Bowl nod, intercepted a career-best five passes, and earned a stellar 80.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2022.
Unfortunately, 2023 has not been as kind to Alexander. He has missed nine games due to injury this season, and in his return after a six-game absence last week, he unexpectedly joined the designated captains for the coin toss — despite not being chosen as a captain — and called out “tails.” Though he won the toss, he made a critical error by saying that the Packers wished to start the game on defense, which is not the same as deferring to the second half. In other words, the Panthers nearly started both halves with the ball, and would have done so if head coach Matt LaFleur had not communicated his intentions to referee Alex Kemp prior to the game, and if Kemp had not clarified Alexander’s decision.
Alexander also expressed no remorse for the gaffe, instead implying that it was “only suiting” for him to join the captains since the game was in Charlotte and since he is a Charlotte native (a fact that he believed LaFleur was unaware of). Schefter adds that the Packers, who prefer their players to participate in their offseason program in Green Bay, do not like the fact that Alexander does not do so; indeed, Alexander forfeited a $700K workout bonus in the spring so that he could train in Florida instead.
Despite that, Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) hears that Alexander is not considered a “problem child” within the organization. Although the injuries are a concern — Alexander also missed all but four games of the 2021 campaign — his abilities, age (he will turn 27 in February) and the fact that a trade or release would create a significant dead money charge would seem to indicate that he will be back in Green Bay in 2024. However, Russini, like Schefter, believes that a parting of the ways is a real possibility.
Bengals Unlikely To Re-Sign CB Chidobe Awuzie?
Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is in the final year of the three-year, $21.75MM contract he signed in March 2021. According to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic (subscription required), Awuzie is unlikely to be back in Cincinnati in 2024.
Dehner’s expanisve piece, which details Awuzie’s journey from his early success with the Bengals through his recovery from his 2022 ACL tear and to last week’s struggles in a loss to the Steelers, notes that Awuzie still views himself as a starting corner. Cincinnati, however, will want to move forward with recent draftees Cam Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner as its starting CBs on the boundaries, and the clear implication is that, unless Awuzie is unable to find a starter’s contract on the open market, he will be moving on.
Of course, there is a good chance that Awuzie’s market will not develop as he would like. He built on a stellar 2021 with a strong start to the 2022 campaign, but the ACL tear he suffered in Week 8 of that season derailed his career. The Bengals deployed something of a rotation with Awuzie and the rookie Turner to start the current season, and between that rotation and an early-season back injury, he was unable to get into much of a rhythm. He also conceded that he had not yet recaptured the speed that is such a key element of his game.
He did appear to be rounding into form from Weeks 11 to 15. Due to an injury to Taylor-Britt, Awuzie returned to a full-time role and yielded a modest 73.6 passer rating during that time. Then, in the Week 16 loss to Pittsburgh, he struggled mightily against wideout George Pickens, which negated that string of strong performances to some degree.
As such, the final two games of the regular season and, if the Bengals should qualify for the playoffs, any postseason contests will go a long way towards determining Awuzie’s next home, as well as the nature of his next contract. Should he play well, it would easy enough for interested clubs to point to his strong start to his Cincinnati tenure and the fact that he showed flashes in his first year following an ACL tear to justify a lucrative, multiyear deal. If he should struggle, then he may need to settle for a one-year, prove-it contract, which could theoretically increase the chances of a Bengals re-up.
Saints Likely To Retain HC Dennis Allen
About three weeks after we heard that Saints head coach Dennis Allen could be on the hot seat, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com offer a contrasting view. The duo report that Allen is likely to get a third season as New Orleans’ HC in 2024.
Of course, the same caveat that these types of reports typically contain is also applicable to this situation: if there is a “late-season debacle,” the organization could elect to move on from Allen. However, barring such a catastrophe, Rapoport and Pelissero are hearing that Allen is safe for at least one more year.
At present, the Saints are 7-8 and in third place in the NFC South. However, they have the same record as the second-place Falcons and are just one game behind the first-place Buccaneers and will take on both clubs over the final two games of the season. They therefore have a real chance to win the admittedly weak division and secure a home playoff game, a scenario that would obviously boost Allen’s job security in a big way.
Regardless of whether New Orleans qualifies for the postseason, owner Gayle Benson and GM Mickey Loomis recognize the difficulties that Allen has faced — the early-season suspension of Alvin Kamara and the injuries to quarterback Derek Carr, the O-line, and the defensive front seven, for instance — and have nonetheless been unwavering in their support of him. During Allen’s run as the Saints’ DC from 2015-21, he helped transform a defense that had generally struggled prior to his arrival into a formidable unit, and it appears he still has a great deal of goodwill with the franchise’s top decision-makers.
Even if Allen is retained, some coaching changes may be on the horizon. In the earlier report indicating that Allen’s job could be in jeopardy, it was suggested that Benson and Loomis would seek a replacement with an offensive background, and Rapoport and Pelissero concede that the offensive operation will get a “thorough examination” after the season. Although they do not say so explictily, OC Pete Carmichael could be on the outs irrespective of New Orleans’ decision on Allen.
Back in October, we learned that Carmichael is on the hot seat, although the offense’s performance has improved since then. The team currently ranks in the top half of the league in terms of both total offense and points per game.
Matt Patricia Replaces Sean Desai As Eagles’ Defensive Play-Caller
The Eagles are in the midst of a two-game losing streak that has put their chances of winning the NFC East, to say nothing of securing the conference’s No. 1 seed, in serious jeopardy. Philadelphia has surrendered at least 33 points in each of its last three games, and as it seeks to right the ship, it is making a major change on the defensive side of the ball.
Per Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia has replaced Sean Desai as defensive coordinator, which includes assuming Desai’s play-calling duties (though Desai will remain with the Eagles in a different capacity). As Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, a team source has confirmed the move, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, among others, says that Desai will retain the formal title of defensive coordinator. Rapoport adds that Desai will head to the coaches’ booth while Patricia will man the sidelines, and all reporters are in agreement that Patricia will take over as defensive play-caller.
Patricia’s lengthy stint as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator from 2012-17 preceded a forgettable tenure as the Lions’ head coach from 2018-20. He rejoined the Pats the following year and was curiously chosen to serve as New England’s offensive play-caller in 2022, a decision that was criticized at the time and that only got worse from there. This offseason, he was a candidate to join Sean Payton‘s first Broncos staff as defensive coordinator, though he eventually wound up in Philadelphia after Denver went in a different direction.
According to Rapoport, as relayed by Kevin Patra of NFL.com, Patricia has served as a consultant for all three phases of the Eagles’ operation this year despite his official title of senior defensive assistant, and he has earned the respect of the players. By contrast, Brooks Kubena of The Athletic reported just yesterday that safety Kevin Byard had persuaded Desai to allow the secondary to handle its own scouting report of the Seahawks, the club’s upcoming opponent.
Desai was the Bears’ defensive coordinator in 2021, and Chicago finished that season sixth in terms of total defense, though it’s points-per-game and defensive DVOA rankings were not as impressive. When head coach Matt Nagy was let go at the end of the 2021 season, his defensive-minded replacement, Matt Eberflus, elected not to retain Desai, who subsequently became associate head coach and defensive assistant for the Seahawks.
Still, Desai’s one season of relative success as defensive coordinator and his long track record as a defensive assistant at the collegiate and NFL levels made him a popular DC target in the 2023 hiring cycle, and he took interviews with five different clubs. He ultimately chose the Eagles and became the replacement for Jonathan Gannon, who left Philadelphia to take the Cardinals’ head coaching gig.
Unfortunately for Desai, the Eagles presently rank in the bottom-10 in terms of both total defense and points-per-game after finishing in the top-10 in both categories in 2022 (Philadelphia actually surrendered the second-fewest yards per game in 2022). While none of Patricia’s Detroit defenses were successful, and while Bill Belichick had a major role in the quality New England defenses that Patricia coordinated, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni clearly felt a change was in order.
And Sirianni is no stranger to such a move (although he did tell reporters at the beginning of this week that no coaching changes were on the horizon, as McLane observes). During Sirianni’s first season as Philadelphia’s HC in 2021, he ceded offensive play-calling duties to then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, which triggered dramatic improvements from quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense as a whole.
Patricia will have a chance to engineer a similar turnaround beginning tomorrow night, when the Eagles take on a Seattle club that may be without QB1 Geno Smith. Philadelphia faces the Giants twice and the Cardinals to close out the season, and those teams have fielded two of the league’s worst offenses in 2023.
Latest On Chargers’ Upcoming HC Search
The Chargers fired head coach Brandon Staley on Friday after an embarrassing loss to the division-rival Raiders. Even before the firing, there was already plenty of speculation as to who the club’s next head coach would be, as it became increasingly clear that Staley would not be retained for the 2024 season. Now that Staley is officially out, that speculation has naturally ramped up.
Of course, legendary Patriots HC Bill Belichick has been rumored as a possible target for the Bolts, and Armando Salguero of Outkick.com acknowledges that the connection makes plenty of sense. The last three head coaches the club has hired were first-timers, and Salguero says the team wants a proven leader. Belichick certainly fits that description, and his hiring could generate excitement for a team that has struggled to create much of a connection to Los Angeles fans since moving from San Diego.
And assuming Belichick leaves New England at season’s end, he will not want to go to a rebuilding club or one without a top-flight quarterback. The two other teams who have fired their head coaches this year, the Raiders and Panthers, would not necessarily offer Belichick — who will turn 72 in April — the chance to win right away. The Chargers, on the other hand, have a Pro Bowl-caliber QB in place in Justin Herbert and a fair amount of talent on both sides of the ball, and as Salguero writes, the team wants to stop wasting Herbert’s prime years and wants to bring in a coach who knows how to maximize a signal-caller’s abilities.
However, Salguero hears that there is resistance to a Belichick pursuit within the organization, and one of the reasons for such resistance is the fact that Belichick would want to remake the franchise as he sees fit. That would include, perhaps, displacing president of football operations John Spanos, son of owner Dean Spanos. Salguero’s sources believe it is unlikely that Belichick would agree to leave the team’s current infrastructure in place and report to John Spanos, so the fit between Belichick and the Chargers may not be as perfect as it might appear.
Salguero also hears that Jim Harbaugh could be a more viable candidate for the post. A recent report said that a “Spanos family confidant” reached out to people connected to Harbaugh to gauge his interest, and while Harbaugh is rumored to want a great deal of control over football operations should he jump back into the professional ranks, Salguero believes the former 49ers HC may be more amenable than Belichick to keeping the Bolts’ current front office framework in place.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) says the Chargers’ job is a coveted one, primarily due to the presence of Herbert. He reports that the team will keep an open mind with respect to its impending HC search and will consider CEO-style coaches along with those who would double as the offensive or defensive coordinator. Rapoport names Cowboys DC Dan Quinn and Lions OC Ben Johnson — both of whom are expected to be among the hottest names in the 2024 hiring cycle — as realistic candidates.
Recent reports have suggested that there is mutual interest between Johnson and the Chargers, though it is worth noting that the 37-year-old has never served as a head coach before. Quinn, meanwhile, spent over five years as the Falcons’ head coach and came up heartbreakingly short of winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl during his second season at the helm.
Wink Martindale Addresses Future With Giants
Earlier this month, Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale addressed the November 26 report from Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer suggesting that there is palpable tension between Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll. The report, which surfaced just two weeks after Martindale and Daboll engaged in a heated exchange during New York’s Week 10 loss to the Cowboys, was supported by Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News and even indicated that Martindale could be fired before the end of the season.
When speaking about his relationship with Daboll, Martindale said, “[w]e’re fine. It’s the same thing as it was last year. It was just different because we were winning more games” (via Leonard).
Indeed, the 5-8 Giants, who surprisingly advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs during the first season of the Daboll-Martindale partnership, have just a 4% chance of qualifying for the postseason this year (and that is despite the club’s current three-game win streak). Martindale’s unit ranks in or just outside the bottom-10 in total defense, points allowed per game, and defensive DVOA, which is largely why he was reported to be on the hot seat even before the Glazer report (though those rankings are not appreciably worse than they were in 2022, and by measure of DVOA, the Giants’ defense is actually performing better this season).
Losing obviously creates tension, and if the relationship was not in a great place even during a winning season, it stands to reason that it would deteriorate during a disappointing campaign. For what it’s worth, Martindale — who says that Daboll was the one to bring the Glazer report to his attention — indicated that he would like to be back with the Giants in 2024, though his remarks were not especially emphatic.
“Yeah,” Martindale said when asked if he wants to remain with the team. “Yeah.”
However, the 60-year-old coach also acknowledged that he could not say what would happen at the end of the season.
“As far as where I’m gonna be at, no one knows that,” Martindale said. “I say we, [my wife Laura] and myself, worked long enough and hard enough in this league that you hope you have all kinds of choices. I might be grabbing my golf clubs and go to play golf in Florida. … So you just don’t know what’s gonna happen. I can’t predict the future.”
Martindale interviewed for the Colts’ head coaching job last year and also interviewed for the Giants’ HC post back in 2020, but it seems unlikely that he will be on the head coaching interview circuit in 2024. He is under contract with New York for one more season, and given how popular he is in the locker room — and given how it would look for Daboll if he were to have to replace all three of his top coordinators in one offseason, which is a distinct possibility — Dan Duggan of The Athletic believes ownership will intervene and try to keep the relationship between Daboll and his DC in a tolerable place (subscription required).
Duggan does go on to say that such an intervention may not happen if the Daboll-Martindale rift is, as Glazer suggested, unable to be mended. And Duggan, who acknowledges that Glazer “doesn’t miss,” has heard nothing that would contradict the Fox personality’s report.
Therefore, Daboll could indeed be looking to replace Martindale, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka in short order. Like Martindale, Kafka’s job security was called into question in November, and Duggan suggests that Daboll could seek to more firmly take the reins of the offense as he enters his third season with the Giants, which would lead to a parting of the ways between Kafka and the team.
Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy In Line For Extension
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is under contract through 2024, and it stands to reason that the team would not want him to go into the 2024 campaign as a lame duck. To that end, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says McCarthy is in line for an extension in the offseason.
When asked about the possibility of such an extension at last week’s league meetings, owner Jerry Jones said, “[t]hat’ll have a course that seeks its own time frame. I don’t do anything of that sort until the season is over.”
That hardly sounds like a guarantee that a new deal will be consummated in the coming months, but it is nonetheless difficult to imagine any other outcome. McCarthy bet on himself to a degree by parting ways with former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore this past offseason and taking over play-calling responsibilities, and that decision could not have gone much better for him. Under McCarthy’s watch, quarterback Dak Prescott is enjoying the finest season of his career and is firmly in the MVP discussion — thereby setting himself up for a lucrative extension of his own — and the Cowboys presently rank first in scoring offense, fourth in total offense, and sixth in offensive DVOA.
As Rapoport observes, McCarthy’s job security is always a talking point in Dallas, and merely qualifying for the playoffs has not compelled Jones to retain a head coach in the past. Before last season’s playoffs got underway, however, Jones unequivocally stated that the outcome of the postseason contests would not influence his decision with respect to McCarthy, and while the Cowboys were ousted by the 49ers for the second consecutive year, there were no serious rumblings that McCarthy’s job was in jeopardy.
Last month, Peter King of NBC Sports suggested that Jones — who was long rumored to covet Sean Payton for Dallas’ HC post — might make a run at current Patriots head coach Bill Belichick if Belichick should, as expected, become available in the offseason. King said that in order for Belichick or any other candidate to become a serious consideration for Jones, the Cowboys would have to lose the NFC East, have a questionable showing or two down the stretch of the regular season, and go winless in the playoffs.
Since King’s piece was published, the Cowboys have rattled off four straight victories to bring their current win streak to five and their record to 10-3. That stretch includes a 33-13 thumping of the division-rival Eagles last week, and while Philadelphia (also 10-3) has the easier schedule over the last four games of the season, Dallas currently has momentum on its side.
Over his first three-plus seasons with the Cowboys, McCarthy has compiled a 40-23 regular season record and a 1-2 mark in the playoffs. Of course, he spent the better part of 13 seasons as the Packers’ head coach, capturing a Lombardi Trophy during his tenure in Green Bay.
Latest On Panthers’ HC, GM Positions
Consistent with a report that surfaced in the immediate aftermath of head coach Frank Reich‘s dismissal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com says that the Panthers will be targeting an offensive-minded coach when they conduct a search for Reich’s full-time replacement this offseason. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — who had emerged as the frontrunner for the Carolina HC post during the 2023 hiring cycle before he withdrew his name from consideration — is likely to be on owner David Tepper‘s short list once again, per Schefter. Ditto Eagles OC Brian Johnson.
Schefter’s ESPN colleague, Dan Graziano, agrees that Tepper’s search will lean towards a coach with an offensive background given the franchise’s investment in Bryce Young (subscription required). However, both Graziano and fellow ESPN scribe Jeremy Fowler believe that a candidate’s leadership abilities could be more critical than their offensive acumen. After all, new Texans HC DeMeco Ryans is a defensive-oriented coach, but his club — guided by rookie QB C.J. Stroud — boasts one of the league’s most prolific offenses. Likewise, the defensive-minded Steve Wilks led the Panthers to a 6-6 finish as interim head coach in 2022, but Tepper elected to move on from Wilks and chose not to aggressively pursue Ryans.
Regardless of which qualities Tepper prioritizes in the upcoming cycle, it remains to be seen if he will be able to land his top choice, thanks to his growing reputation as an impatient and meddlesome owner. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Tepper’s comments at a press conference in the wake of Reich’s firing will not help his cause.
During that presser, Tepper noted that the decision to select Young over Stroud in the 2023 draft was unanimous, though Florio finds that hard to believe. That is not because he is looking at the matter through a revisionist lens skewed by the two players’ performances in their rookie campaigns, but rather because the sheer number of people involved in such a franchise-defining choice is almost guaranteed to generate contrasting viewpoints. So even though Tepper says the call was unanimous, Florio believes the reality is that any Stroud supporters realized that Tepper preferred Young and ultimately chose to side with their employer.
Indeed, while all owners natually have the power to veto any decisions made by their staff, Tepper drove that point home when reporters asked him about the Young-Stroud issue.
“The process was done the way the process was done,” Tepper said. “And again, even though if there was a process with five people in the room and the way the votes came in it was Frank was the first choice [as head coach], I always could veto that choice. And even if [it[ was Bryce [as the first overall pick] and the votes came in unanimously in this particular case, I could have vetoed that choice.”
In Florio’s view, the fact that Tepper openly avowed that he wields veto power even if there is unanimity among his football staff is telling. It also underscores his willingness to meddle, which could drive away candidates that might otherwise be interested in the Carolina HC gig. Dianna Russini of The Athletic, who says that Stroud’s success was a key factor in Tepper’s decision to fire Reich, also reports that some members of the organization have been texting Ben Johnson to tell him how “complicated” it is to work for the Panthers at the moment (subscription required).
Another high-profile target is Jim Harbaugh, but as Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda recently observed, Tepper’s propensity to drive decision-making obviously would not be appealing to a candidate like Harbaugh, who will likely want a high degree of autonomy over football operations. Plus, as a source told Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, “[Harbaugh’s] just as mercurial as Tepper. You want a coach that way, too?”
That said, other sources have told Jones that Harbaugh is a legitimate candidate for the job. While Harbaugh and Tepper did speak about the position in late December 2022/early January 2023, that conversation did not evolve into an interview. According to Jones, Tepper — who had recently fired Matt Rhule — did not want another coach who ran the entire football operation, but it sounds as if he may be more amenable to a Harbaugh hire this time around. And no matter how Tepper may be perceived around the league, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports makes it clear that there will be plenty of coaches who will want the Panthers’ post (video link).
Of course, there may be a new voice in Tepper’s ear when the calendar flips to 2024. GM Scott Fitterer is reportedly on the hot seat, and while Schefter reports that Carolina may prefer to retain him, he has been given no assurances about his future with the club.
Jets RB Dalvin Cook Will Not Ask For A Release Or More Carries
Like most players on the team’s offense, Jets running back Dalvin Cook is slogging through a disappointing 2023 campaign. In 11 games, he has recorded just 50 carries and is averaging a meager 3.2 yards per carry, which is by far a career-worst mark.
For what it’s worth, Cook was not hoping to be traded at the deadline — it sounds as if he did not generate much interest anyway — and will not ask for his release or for more carries, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. Although Cook presumably would prefer to catch on with a legitimate contender and would likely clear waivers and become a free agent if the Jets were to cut him, he says that his family has settled in New Jersey.
That said, he is frustrated about his usage. “For any guy that has produced in this league, it’s frustrating,” Cook said. “You want to be productive. I was hoping just to be in the right situation for me. Like I said, I want an opportunity. I feel great. My body is ready to roll. I was just hoping for a great opportunity.”
Cimini points out that Cook, who saw just one carry last week and two the week before, has at least looked more like his old self of late (41 yards on his last seven totes), and that it may make sense to give him a larger role in light of RB1 Breece Hall‘s struggles. Hall (hamstring) and Cook (shoulder) were both dealing with injuries in advance of today’s game against the Falcons, but both are active.
And as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported (video link), the plan was for Cook, who has been “looking better and better in practice,” to see a heavier workload against Atlanta and perhaps to get more carries than he has all season (the 13 carries Cook received in Week 1 represent a season-high). As of the time of this writing, Hall has four carries for two yards in the Falcons matcup, while Cook has three carries for 22 yards.
Barring a late-season explosion, Cook will likely not match the $7MM salary he is earning from the Jets this year on his next contract. The 28-year-old nonetheless has a chance to prove that he is still capable of playing at the level he established during his lengthy tenure with the Vikings — he earned a Pro Bowl nod for four straight seasons from 2019-22 — and to make himself more attractive to RB-needy clubs.
Bucs To Start YaYa Diaby Over Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
The Buccaneers have made a switch at outside linebacker. Head coach Todd Bowles said on a recent appearance on the Buccaneers Radio Network that third-round rookie YaYa Diaby, who earned the first start of his pro career against the Colts last week, will start opposite Shaq Barrett moving forward, thereby relegating Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to reserve duty (via JoeBucsFan.com).
Tryon-Shoyinka, a 2021 first-rounder, solidified himself as a starting OLB at the end of his rookie season and started 16 of Tampa Bay’s 17 games in 2022. He posted four sacks and 10 QB hits in 2021, but despite playing nearly twice as many snaps the following season, he again registered four sacks and just 14 QB hits. Thus far this season, he has again tallied four sacks to go along with six QB hits.
The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus consider Tryon-Shoyinka a slightly above-average edge defender in 2023, assigning him a 67.1 overall score and a 63.5 mark as a pass rusher, which are nearly identical to the grades he earned in 2022. That is a respectable enough performance, but at this point, the Bucs probably expected more from a former first-round pick in his third professional campaign. As Bowles said, Diaby “does some things better than Joe” and “probably is the [physically] strongest [outside linebacker] we have out there.”
In roughly 150 fewer snaps, Diaby has matched Tryon-Shoyinka’s sack total and has recorded just one fewer QB hit. He turned in a two-sack performance in Tampa Bay’s Week 11 loss to the 49ers, which is what prompted Bowles to elevate him to the starting lineup against Indianapolis in Week 12.
The hope, of course, is that Diaby can provide more of a consistent threat to opposing quarterbacks, especially since Barrett — who suffered a torn Achilles in the middle of last season — is struggling to match the level of production he has enjoyed for much of his Bucs tenure. Buoyed by strong showings from D-linemen Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey, the club at least has managed to remain in the middle of the pack in terms of total sacks.
While Bowles did say that Tryon-Shoyinka would still see playing time, the demotion comes at a very bad time for the Washington product. Tampa Bay will have to make a decision on his fifth-year option by May 2024, and it seems unlikely the team will exercise it. The option would give Tryon-Shoyinka a fully-guaranted salary of $12.8MM in 2025.