Whitehead back with Bucs via free agency
TAMPA — Jason Licht’s focus this offseason has been on retaining many of the Bucs’ own free agents, including a few who helped them win a Super Bowl.
It’s no surprise that the first signing by the general manager outside the organization is a player he drafted but who departed soon after confetti fell on his head.
Free-agent safety Jordan Whitehead, a key cog in Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl 55-winning defense, agreed to a two-year, $9 million contract to return to the team that drafted him in the fourth round out of Pittsburgh in 2018.
According to Spotrac, Whitehead’s deal includes $4.5 million guaranteed. He can earn as much as $10.5 million.
Whitehead played the last two seasons with the New York Jets, who opted to let him hit free agency. He will only turn 27 later this month.
Whitehead earned a reputation as a hard-hitter as soon as he entered the NFL but had only five interceptions in his four seasons with the Bucs.
The Jets put him in a position to make more plays on the ball, and he responded with six interceptions over the past two seasons, including three in a win over the Bills in the 2023 season opener. He had 97 tackles and four interceptions last season for New York.
Whitehead over the past week had been posting highlights from his time with the Bucs on social media.
“Already shown what I do in the box,” he wrote in a post that has since been deleted. “Had 10 tfl the year I went to Super Bowl. Word was I couldn’t play the ball … Went to a different scheme played deep safety showed y’all 6 picks 18 pass deflections in 2 years.”
The signing will solve a big problem for the Bucs, who have been unable to suitably replace Whitehead. They swung and missed the past two seasons with one-year deals for veteran safeties Logan Ryan and Ryan Neal.