Jordan Whitehead And Potential Return
March 3rd, 2022
Safety Jordan Whitehead.
Joe thinks the player that had a breakout season in 2021 was Bucs hard-hitting safety Jordan Whitehead.
Oh sure, he has good games in his first three seasons. The 2020 NFC title game against the Packers springs to mind. But last year Whitehead turned into an absolute force. There were games where he was the best player on the field. He looked like a short Ed Reed.
Alas, Whitehead is a free agent. So his future is uncertain. Tuesday, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht spoke about the team’s hopes for Whitehead.
“He’s one of those players I mentioned, [that] I didn’t want to mention anybody by name because I didn’t want to leave any out,” Licht joked. “But, Jordan has become a very good player for us. Just his presence on defense when we didn’t have him due to injury, you could see that we were missing a little bit of juice from him. He provided that.
“He’s been a good player for us. He’s been a great pick for us. I’m proud of our staff for where we drafted him and what he’s become. Ideally, he’s another player – and I’ll keep saying it – ideally, we’d love to have him back. But, we’ll have to see how it goes with all these players.”
There are pros and cons to trying to bring Whitehead back. The first, of course, is that Whitehead can be a game-changer. The con is that safety may be the Bucs’ deepest position. If Whitehead goes, the Bucs still have Antoine Winfield and Mike Edwards.
If Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski bolts for the Bills as was reported last night, Joe wonders if perhaps the Bucs can use some of that Team Glazer loot to help keep Whitehead?
March 3rd, 2022 at 5:33 am
Whitehead is more important than CD. Most important defensive player to re-sign. Young, Buc drafted stud that sets the tone. CD is overrated and not as disciplined. WH is priority.
March 3rd, 2022 at 5:54 am
He’s not the sturdiest of safties. Get’s injured a lot do to his hard hitting style. Love to have him back at the right price. As we talk about all our pending FA’s, we can see we need players across the board. No way this isn’t a rebuild.
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:05 am
Sign Gpdwin, Cappa, Whitehead & Davis….in that order.
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:06 am
Love his game. He brings the pain. To this day still John lynch is my favorite players because he put the fear of god into people who ran across the middle and whitehead is similar.
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:12 am
Dude is a game changer. If he wasn’t on the roster, we would have lost another game or two last season. Well worth paying for some depth on a not so great secondary
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:15 am
I feel you have to bring back Whitehead, love Winfield’s all around game, Edwards is ok when he’s isn’t suspended for being an idiot, however neither one of those guys have the dog in them like JW.
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:44 am
Unless Whitehead tries to break then bank, Bucs will bring him back I’m convinced. Edwards is a suitable replacement, BUT … he’s much more valuable as a ‘Swiss Army knife’ IMO. He seems to have very good anticipation (a good ball hawk), but he’s not as good as Whitehead at playing ‘Thumper’ back there (and the team needs a Thumper). Edwards is great IMO coming in as that extra DB when we go with five in the Secondary. I think he makes a reasonably effective Nickel.
Also think that we need to bring back Andrew Adams (assuming that he’s gotten over his slap on the head from BA). He knows Bowles’ system vey well it seems, and although he doesn’t set the world on fire when he fills in as a starter, he’s still been reasonably effective back there when he’s had to fill in.
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:45 am
Do not let him out of Tampa. He improves every single year and might be our best defensive player overall. Bowles needs to figure out how to use more 3 safety looks to get JW, Mike, and Twan on the field at the same time and a bit less SMB.
March 3rd, 2022 at 7:56 am
Whitehead has to be a top priority. You could call him Hammerhead with the hits he lays down! Letting him walk takes a massive bite out of the bite of our defense.
March 3rd, 2022 at 9:33 am
@ TBBF
Agreed. Cappa moved up my priority list after Marpet’s retirement…
March 3rd, 2022 at 9:43 am
Keep Jordan and let CD walk, we will get a comp pick and hopefully they use that to trade up in the 1st or 2nd.
March 3rd, 2022 at 10:12 am
our safety situation is good if we resign whitehead…
as a group i like all 4…bring back adams too – i think he’s great in his role and will be a bargain…and he doesn’t mind getting smacked up the head if the coach is craving a drink mid-game…
at corners, just franchise cd3 and after next year figure it out…
2 out for 3 ain’t bad – meaning keep 2 of the 3 main corners after 2022…
then bring back injury security, whether its desir and or one of the others, someone reasonable on the market, draft a guy, etc…
and go from there…
you kind of have to let things marinate a bit because this was a very young group and thye are all coming of age now as nfl players…
sure one or two might disappoint, but a couple might surprise you as well…
let’s see who blossoms, or blossoms even more in 2022
March 3rd, 2022 at 1:15 pm
On Defense in my opinion Whitehead is the priority and on Offense that priority is Godwin. Both of these guys need to be back more than anyone else as they both set the tone for the offense and defense. No need to break up a good think Whitehead and Winfield are one of the best Safety tandems in football just like Evans and Godwin are one of the best WR tandems in football.
March 3rd, 2022 at 6:09 pm
How the Bucs win in 2023 without a marquis QB …
1. Create a great offensive line that can run the ball.
2. Create a disruptive defensive line.
3. Add disruptors to the defense.
Re-sign Cappa, Stinnie, Jensen, Davis and Whitehead. Then draft defensive gamechangers and a stud RB. Trask can handle the role of game manager.