HEADLINES

Tampa Bay Buccaneers News & Rumors

Latest On Buccaneers’ Antonio Brown

January 20th, 2021 at 10:57am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown is considered day-to-day with a knee injury, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Brown was forced to the sidelines on Sunday against the Saints, but his Tuesday MRI showed that he has not suffered any serious structural damage (via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com). 

[RELATED: Bucs Designate Vita Vea For Return]

Brown was limited to just 27 snaps against New Orleans, but the Bucs still managed to come away with the 30-20 victory. The Bucs hope to have Brown in action this Sunday as they take on the Packers in the NFC Championship Game.

AB might not be the player that he once was, but he’s still an explosive receiver who can stress any defense. The potential for a monster game is still there, as shown in the Bucs’ regular season finale against the Falcons. Brown hauled in eleven catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns, his best showing since joining Tampa Bay in Week 9.

Through two playoff games this year, Brown has totaled three grabs for 59 yards and one score. For his career, the multiple-time All-Pro has amassed 54 catches for 896 yards and five TDs in the postseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/19/21

January 19th, 2021 at 6:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

New York Giants

  • Suspended six games: WR Corey Coleman; Coleman violated NFL’s PED policy, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rob Gronkowski To Return In 2021, Hopes To Play For Bucs

January 17th, 2021 at 1:08pm CST by Rory Parks

Earlier this month, Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski said he wasn’t sure whether he would retire at season’s end. In an interview on the NFL Network today (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk), Gronkowski indicated he would be back on the playing field in 2021.

The 31-year-old will be eligible for free agency this offseason, but if he has it his way, he will return to Tampa. When asked if he was going to be back with Tom Brady and the Bucs next year, Gronk said, “Yeah, you got to.”

“I feel like this team was built to win right now,” he added. “I could definitely see this team having a lot of talent come back and having another successful run next year, as well, with me.”

Of course, the Bucs will also have a say in the matter. Brady will be under contract for another year and would doubtlessly like to see his favorite tight end return, but Tampa’s TE room could be crowded. Though O.J. Howard missed most of the season due to an Achilles tear, the team did exercise his fifth-year option for 2021, and since the option is guaranteed for injury, it seems as though the Bucs will have no choice but to keep Howard and his $6MM salary on the books.

Cameron Brate, meanwhile, is under contract through 2023, but the team could release him and save $6.5MM against the cap with no corresponding dead money charge. Assuming Gronkowski does decide to continue playing, the Bucs could part ways with Brate and re-sign Gronk. However, the team has plenty of other high-profile free agents to worry about, like WR Chris Godwin, OLB Shaquil Barrett and ILB Lavonte David. So Gronkowski probably can’t bank on the same $9MM salary he earned this season.

That probably doesn’t matter too much to him, as he was perfectly content to walk away from that salary completely when he announced his retirement in 2019. He returned only when he saw the opportunity to reunite with Brady in sunny Tampa, and he showed he still has some gas in the tank, catching 45 passes for 623 yards and seven scores in 16 regular season games. Pro Football Focus was not as high on his blocking prowess as it has been in years past, but he was certainly passable in that regard.

The moral of the story is that Gronkowski and the Bucs look like a good bet to continue their partnership for one more season, regardless of what happens in their divisional round bout with the Saints this evening.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/16/21

January 16th, 2021 at 3:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the minor moves from divisional-round Saturday:

Cleveland Browns

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/15/21

January 15th, 2021 at 4:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the latest NFL minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Green Bay Packers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2021 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

January 15th, 2021 at 1:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Exiting the regular season, six teams are searching for new head coaches. That number is up from last season but not quite as high as 2019, though there may well be more vacancies that emerge during the playoffs.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 1-27-21 (7:05pm CT)

Atlanta Falcons

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Bucs Sign Earl Watford

January 15th, 2021 at 12:02pm CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers have signed offensive lineman Earl Watford. He’ll take the roster spot of guard Alex Cappa, who has been placed on injured reserve with a season-ending ankle fracture. 

Watford was with the Bucs throughout 2019 season, starting in four of his 15 appearances. He’s a favorite of Bruce Arians, having played in 43 games (21 starts) for him in Arizona from 2014-2017 .

The Bucs beat the Washington Football Team on Saturday, but they lose their a starting lineman when Cappa was forced out. Between the regular season and the Wild Card game, Cappa logged 17 starts for Tampa Bay this season. Cappa, in his second year as a first-stringer, helped the unit place second in sacks while aiding the offense to 30.8 points per game, good for third in the NFL.

Watford, in his eighth year, will be eligible to play against the Saints on Sunday.

“He can walk in any play four positions for us,” said Arians of Watford. “[We’ll] just get him back in a little bit of football shape; he stayed in pretty good condition. Just like [with] Ted Larsen – guys that have been in this system for a while, veteran players – when you lose a guy, you try to look for veteran players rather than young guys who might not be ready.”

Aaron Stinnie will start in Cappa’s place, but Watford will be on call if needed.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/11/21

January 11th, 2021 at 4:36pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor transactions:

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Bucs RG Alex Cappa Suffers Fractured Ankle

January 10th, 2021 at 8:56am CST by Rory Parks

The Bucs snuck past the Washington Football Team in an unexpectedly exciting wildcard showdown last night, but they did sustain one major casualty. Head coach Bruce Arians told reporters after the game that starting right guard Alex Cappa suffered a fractured ankle, which almost certainly will rule him out for the remainder of Tampa’s playoff run.

Cappa, a product of D-II Humboldt State, has turned himself into an effective NFL O-lineman. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 18th-best guard in the league this year (out of 84 qualifiers), and when he exited last night’s game, his absence was noticeable.

Ted Larsen filled in for Cappa, though as Greg Auman of The Athletic notes, the Bucs could also turn to Aaron Stinnie or Joe Haeg for their divisional round contest against either the Saints or Rams (Twitter link). Haeg is easily the more experienced of the two, as he has appeared in 67 games (38 starts) in his pro career. Stinnie has appeared in 12 games with no starts.

As a fourth-round selection in 2018, Cappa will be eligible for an extension at the end of the year. One wonders if GM Jason Licht will consider a new contract for his small school find, or if he will make Cappa sustain his success through a platform season.

Lions, Falcons Expected To Interview Todd Bowles For HC Vacancies

January 9th, 2021 at 11:48am CST by Ben Levine

Todd Bowles will apparently be a popular name on the head-coach circuit. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that the Lions requested an interview with the Buccaneers defensive coordinator. The interview hasn’t been scheduled as the two sides await the outcome of Tampa Bay’s playoff game tonight. Garafolo notes that Bowles is also expected to meet with the Falcons about their head coach opening.

Following his stint as HC of the NYJ, Bowles caught on as the defensive coordinator down in Tampa Bay in 2019. His first season in the role saw the unit rank sixth in defensive efficiency, and the team improved to fifth in the same metric in 2020. This year’s squad also ranked top-1o in takeaways, sacks, points allowed per game, and yards allowed per game (all despite having only one Pro Bowl defender in Jason Pierre-Paul). Of course, Bowles defensive prowess isn’t in question; he previously led stellar units in Arizona, and his Jets defenses weren’t all that bad. What was bad was his record as head coach; in four years with the Jets, Bowles had only 24 wins (and that included a 10-win campaign in 2015).

Both the Lions and Falcons are searching for new head coaches following in-season firings to Matt Patricia and Dan Quinn (respectively). Both teams have interviewed Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy and Titans OC Arthur Smith, and they’re both considering their interim coaches (Darrell Bevell and Raheem Morris, respectively). Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald has also emerged as a candidate for both jobs.

For Tampa Bay, it’s sounding like the coaching staff could be seeking a new defensive coordinator once their season has come to an end. Greg Auman of The Athletic opines (on Twitter) that defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers or linebackers coach Larry Foote could take over in Bowles’ stead, although Auman also cautions that either of those coaches could join Bowles’ staff if he’s hired elsewhere.

Load More Posts