Buccaneers Get Devastating Injury News Ahead of Week 17

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have dealt with injuries all year — almost no position has been immune to a debilitating run of players going down and missing games.

The final 2 games of the regular season don’t look like they’ll be any different.

Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles announced on December 27 that 2 of the team’s best players and another key role player will be out for a critical Week 17 game against the Carolina Panthers with tight end Cade Otton, NFL All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and wide receiver Sterling Shepard.

“It will be Winfield’s third consecutive missed game since suffering a right knee sprain against the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 8,” ESPN’s Jenna Laine wrote. “He has not practiced since. Otton suffered a knee injury at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15 and has not practiced since, missing the Bucs’ 26-24 loss at the Dallas Cowboys last week that snapped a four-game winning streak. Shepard, who has helped fill the void left after Chris Godwin sustained an ankle injury in Week 7, suffered both hamstring and foot injuries at Dallas.”

The Buccaneers are currently 8-7 and almost certainly need to win their remaining 2 games against the Panthers and New Orleans Saints in Week 18 to make the NFC playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

Lost Season for Winfield After Massive Contract

It’s hard to say at this point that 2024 has been anything but a lost season for Winfield, who signed a record-setting 4-year, $81.4 million contract extension in May.

At the time, the contract made Winfield the highest paid defensive back in NFL history.

Winfield was coming off a career-year in 2023 as he earned NFL All-Pro honors for the first time, is having a career-worst year in 2024. After Week 17, he will have missed a career-high 7 games and is on pace to record career lows in almost every single statistical category — including his first season as a pro without an interception.

PFF’s Zoltan Buday put Winfield Jr. at No. 1 on his list of the NFL’s Top 32 safeties headed into the 2024 season.

“Winfield, who became the NFL’s highest-paid defensive back this offseason, was the highest-graded safety in the league last season (90.7),” Buday wrote. “The 25-year-old’s 92.0 PFF overall grade over the past three seasons leads the position, and his run-defense and pass-rush grades rank first among safeties, too.”

Otton Having Career Year for Buccaneers

Otton has been having a breakout year for the Buccaneers in his third season after they drafted him in the fourth round (No. 106 overall) in the 2022 NFL draft.

After Godwin and leading receiver Mike Evans both went down with injuries in Week 7, Otton stepped up in their absence and became the No. 1 target for quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Through 14 games, Otton has career highs of 59 receptions, 600 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns and is second on team in receiving behind Evans. Otton may have also set him up for a lucrative contract extension in the offseason as he has just 1 season left on the 4-year, $4.49 million contract he signed after he was drafted.

While Otton is in the Top 10 in the NFL among tight ends for receiving yards, he’s not even among the Top 50 highest paid tight ends in the league, according to Over the Cap.