Bucs make Winfield highest-paid DB ever
Tampa Bay is making Antoine Winfield the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.
The All-Pro safety agreed to a four-year, $84.1 million deal that includes $45 million fully guaranteed, his agents confirmed to NFL Network on Monday.
It marks the first time in NFL history that a safety is the league’s highestpaid defensive back.
At $21.025 million per season, Winfield’s deal tops the $21 million average annual value for Green Bay cornerback Jaire Alexander. The league’s second-highest-paid safety is Derwin James of the L.A. Chargers with an AAV of $19.133 million, per Spotrac.
Winfield, 25, made the All-Pro first team in 2023 with a league-high six forced fumbles, and career highs in sacks (six), tackles (122) and interceptions (three) in 17 starts.
He has seven interceptions, 11 forced fumbles, 15 sacks and 384 tackles in 59 games since Tampa Bay drafted him in the second round in 2020.
GAME 1 OF SEASON: RAVENS AT CHIEFS
Game 1 of the 2024 NFL regular season features the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5.
The first week’s headliner was confirmed by the league as the build-up begins for a full schedule release Wednesday night.
The Chiefs beat the Ravens, 17-10, in the AFC
Championship game to reach the Super Bowl, where Kansas City topped the San Francisco 49ers.
The Thursday night prime-time game has become a traditional spotlight game for the defending Super Bowl champions. Last season, it became a springboard for the Lions when Detroit left Arrowhead Stadium with a 21-20 win.
Previously the NFL confirmed Game 2 of the NFL season would feature Green Bay versus Philadelphia on Friday, Sept. 6, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It’s the first time a regularseason game is being played in South America and the first game on a Friday of the NFL’s opening week since 1970.
FORMER GM DIES
A.J. Smith, former general manager of the then-San Diego Chargers, died Sunday at 75 after a seven-year battle with prostate cancer.
He began his NFL personnel career as a scout with the New York Giants in 1977. He became the Chargers’ GM in 2003 and held that job for 10 seasons.
Smith selected Eli Manning with the No. 1 overall pick in 2004 despite Archie Manning requesting that the team not pick his son. Smith then traded Manning to the New York Giants for quarterback Philip Rivers (the fourth pick) and also obtained draft picks used to select linebacker
Shawne Merriman and kicker Nate Kaeding.
After Rivers’ second season, Smith allowed
Drew Brees to leave as a free agent and turned the club over to Rivers. Brees had injured his shoulder in the 2005 season finale and underwent major surgery before recovering to become a star with the New Orleans Saints.