Buccaneers Called ‘Best Fit’ for Projected $24 Million Safety

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers almost saw their season come apart in 2024 thanks to the absence of just a few players — one of them being NFL All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr.

With Winfield sidelined for a career high 7 games with injures following a record-breaking 4-year, $84.1 million contract extension in the offseason, the Buccaneers were 4-6 before a late season surge lifted them to 10-7 and into the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

The Buccaneers made sure to revamp their defense in the offseason. That came with a high profile free agent signing in edge rusher Haason Reddick on a 1-year, $14 million contract and a pair of cornerbacks with consecutive picks in the second and third rounds of the 2025 NFL draft in Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish, but one position they failed to address was safety.

Considering that’s what almost ruined their season last year, they might want to consider bringing in another proven veteran. Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton thinks the best fit could be former Indianapolis Colts safety and free agent Julian Blackmon.

Blackmon started 16 games for the Colts in 2024 with 86 tackles, 3 interceptions and 4 pass deflections.

“Still in his prime, Julian Blackmon should be on a team by now,” Moton wrote on May 21. “Though he’s spotty with his consistency in deep coverage, the 26-year-old has made several plays on the ball over the last two seasons, recording 12 pass breakups and seven interceptions. In recent years, Blackmon has also made plays in run support. In 2023, he logged a significantly higher number of total tackles compared to his first three seasons and registered a career-high five tackles for loss.”

Blackmon Might Be Open to 1-Year Contract

Blackmon is a free agent after spending the first 5 seasons of his career with the Colts. Spotrac projects his market value at a 3-year, $24 million contract — which seems like a massive overpay for someone who played 2024 on a 1-year, $3.7 million contract.

It’s also a contract that hasn’t materialized this offseason. That means for the Buccaneers, one place to start at might be an offer of a 1-year, $4.7 million contract with some wiggle room to go up, but not much.

From All-American to Plug-and-Play NFL Starter

Blackmon played 3 years at cornerback before becoming an All-American and All-Pac-12 season at safety for the University of Utah in 2019 and the Colts selected him in the third round (No. 85 overall) in the 2020 NFL draft — the same year the Buccaneers selected Winfield in the second round (No. 45 overall).

The Colts used Blackmon as a plug-and-play starter as a rookie, when he started 14 games. He bounced back from a torn ACL that cost him the final 11 games of the 2021 season to start 11 games in 2022 and has been playing the best football of his career the last 2 seasons.

In 2023 and 2024, Blackmon started 31 games with 7 interceptions, 174 tackles and 12 pass deflections in that stretch. What’s evaded Blackmon to this point has been a big time contract — he “only” has $10.2 million in career earnings through 2024.

Right now, third year safety Christian Izien is listed as the other starting safety next to Winfield. Izien played in 14 games with 10 starts for Tampa Bay in 2024, with 75 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 interception and 4 pass deflections.