Buccaneers Urged to Create All-Pro Safety Duo With $61 Million Free Agent

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers found themselves in dire straits when it came to their safeties in 2024 after NFL All-Pro Antoine Winfield Jr. missed a career high 7 games. He was perhaps the one player the team couldn’t afford to be without on that side of the ball.

While the Buccaneers recovered from a 4-6 start to finish 10-7, win the NFC South and make the playoffs, they might not want to leave so much to chance in 2025.

That’s why ESPN’s Matt Bowen thinks 3-time NFL All-Pro safety and free agent Justin Simmons is the best fit for the Buccaneers among the top remaining free agents — an enticing pairing alongside Winfield.

” … Simmons fits really well as an interchangeable safety opposite Antoine Winfield Jr. in Todd Bowles’ defense,” Bowen wrote on May 19. “The Bucs played the most zone coverage in the league last season (71.7% of the time), and Simmons can spin to the post or walk down in Cover 3. He’s an excellent communicator with field awareness. Simmons has picked off 32 passes over his nine-year career, including two last season.”

That Simmons is even a free agent right now speaks more to the incompetence of another franchise than anything to do with his talent.

Simmons Starred in Truly Terrible Run in Denver

Simmons had the bad luck of joining the Denver Broncos in 2016 — just months after they won Super Bowl 50. He played 8 seasons there, with the last 7 of those coming with a losing record and zero playoff appearances in his tenure.

Somehow, Simmons still thrived. He was named NFL All-Pro 3 times and a 2-time Pro Bowler and even signed a massive 4-year, $61 million contract extension in 2021.

Financial realities led to his exit from the Broncos because of the disastrous Russell Wilson contract and the $85 million in dead cap space it incurred. Simmons was a salary cap casualty before the 2024 season despite earning All-Pro honors in 2023.

The Atlanta Falcons signed Simmons to a 1-year, $7.5 million contract for 2024 and he was his usual, awesome self on another terrible team.

“Simmons proved last year that he can still play at a high level,” Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote on March 23. “He started 16 games for the Falcons and was one of their few defensive bright spots. He allowed an opposing passer rating of only 81.9 in coverage and logged 62 tackles, seven passes defended and two interceptions. Simmons can likely expect another short-term contract, but he can add a playmaking presence to the back end of a defense.”

One starting offer for Simmons in Tampa Bay might be trying to get him on a 1-year, $8 million contract — a slight raise over what he was paid with the Falcons.

Winfield Fell Short After Signing Massive Contract

No one wants to say it quite yet, but it’s hard to look at Winfield’s 2024 season as anything other than a massive disappointment. That was underlined by the fact Tampa Bay made him the highest paid safety in NFL history with a 4-year, $84.1 million in contract in May 2024.

If Winfield can’t stay healthy and produce big numbers like he did in 2023, when he was named NFL All-Pro for the first time, he might find the spotlight getting a little uncomfortable.