The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed defensive lineman Eric Banks to a one-year, $1.03 million deal Friday, Fox Sports reported.
Banks played for the Arizona Cardinals from 2022-23 before missing the entire 2024 season with a torn triceps.
Banks, 27, has recorded four tackles in six games (zero starts) with the Los Angeles Chargers (2021) and Arizona.
–Field Level Media
Top Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agent Chris Godwin opted to re-sign on Monday rather than depart for more money elsewhere, according to multiple reports, signing a $66 million, three-year contract.
Godwin was a hot commodity despite ending last season on injured reserve. But he was also the top free agency priority for general manager Jason Licht, who has been maniacal about re-signing players developed by the organization.
Godwin’s agent was also in negotiations with other teams. The New England Patriots made the strongest push for Godwin, according to ESPN, before he turned down more money to stay with the only NFL team he has known.
Licht re-signed linebacker Lavonte David last week, brought back guard Ben Bredeson with a three-year deal on Monday, and with Godwin has resumed the path he established last offseason with new deals for safety Antoine Winfield Jr., wide receiver Mike Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield, tackle Tristan Wirfs and kicker Chase McLaughlin.
While Godwin runs it back in a sea of familiar faces, for the third time in three seasons, the Buccaneers enter the offseason with a new offensive coordinator. Liam Coen, who replaced Panthers head coach Dave Canales last year, was hired as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Godwin, 29, returns for his ninth season with the Bucs as the running mate Evans in the Tampa Bay offense. Godwin had a league-leading 50 receptions for 576 yards and five touchdowns at the time of his season-ending ankle injury on Oct. 21 against the Baltimore Ravens. Licht said last month that Godwin was expected to be ready for training camp.
He has 579 career catches for 7,266 yards and 39 touchdowns.
–Field Level Media
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing back starting left guard Ben Bredeson on a three-year deal worth $22 million, NFL Network reported Monday.
Bredeson, 27, played the 2024 season in Tampa on a one-year deal worth $3 million.
Bredeson started all 17 games last season. He has played in 62 career games (42 starts) with the Baltimore Ravens (2022), New York Giants (2021-23) and Bucs.
The Ravens selected Bredeson in the fourth round of the 2020 draft.
–Field Level Media
Less than four years after removing Jon Gruden from their Ring of Honor, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers restored the distinction for the Super Bowl-winning coach on Thursday.
Gruden was removed from the Ring of Honor in October 2021 after leaked emails showed he used misogynistic, racist and homophobic language. The scandal prompted Gruden to resign from his job as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Buccaneers wrote in a statement on Thursday, “Jon Gruden was initially inducted into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor based on his many accomplishments during his seven seasons as our head coach and he remains a significant figure in the history of our franchise. Upon further reflection, we have decided to reinstate him into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.”
When the Buccaneers took Gruden out of the Ring of Honor, they stated that “his actions go against our core values as an organization.”
Gruden, 61, coached Tampa Bay from 2002-08, guiding the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in his first season. He compiled a 57-55 regular-season mark as Tampa Bay’s head coach, plus a 3-2 postseason record.
He also coached the then-Oakland Raiders from 1998-2001, and he was back with the Raiders from 2018-21 (through their move to Las Vegas in 2020) before his resignation.
Overall as an NFL head coach, Gruden has a 117-112 regular-season record and a 5-5 postseason record.
–Field Level Media
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have declined their option on starting safety Jordan Whitehead, who was injured in a car accident early last month, NFL Network reported Wednesday.
The move saves the team $4.5 million, though Bucs general manager Jason Licht said this week they hope to re-sign him. As it stands, Whitehead is set to become a free agent next month.
“Jordan is a great guy. Love to have him back. Just need to make sure he’s healthy,” Licht said Tuesday.
Whitehead suffered injuries in the accident that kept him out the regular-season finale against the New Orleans Saints. He also missed the Bucs’ playoff loss to Washington.
Whitehead, 27, started 12 games for the Bucs last season, missing four due to a pectoral injury. He had 79 tackles and three passes defensed, and he played 91 percent of the defensive snaps when active.
He signed a two-year, $9 million free-agent deal with the Buccaneers in March 2024 after two seasons with the New York Jets. He began his career with four seasons in Tampa Bay before returning.
Whitehead has appeared in 105 career games (101 starts) and made 557 tackles (31 for loss). He also has 2.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 45 passes defensed.
–Field Level Media
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are working toward a new contract for wide receiver Chris Godwin as general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles rained praise on him when speaking to reporters at the scouting combine Tuesday in Indianapolis.
Godwin, who is coming off a dislocated left ankle that limited him to a career-low seven games in 2024, is a pending free agent due to an upcoming automatic void year in his contract. The Bucs and Godwin’s camp pushed that void date back to March 12.
“Obviously, Chris is a great player, and I love him to death, and we want him back here every way possible,” Bowles said. “Obviously, we have to heal and there’s medical things going on right there and they’re trying to work through that but hopefully we can get them back because he was on a tear before he got hurt.”
Godwin racked up 50 receptions for 576 yards and five touchdowns in his seven games in 2024. He suffered his injury late in a Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
That put Godwin in a similar situation to 2022, when he was recovering from ACL and MCL tears and entered unrestricted free agency. He returned to Tampa Bay on a three-year, $60 million deal after receiving the franchise tag as a placeholder.
“If there was anybody on the team I thought could come back from an injury that I would pick, that I would bet on, it would be him,” Bowles said of Godwin. “Because his work ethic, his confidence, the way he attacks treatment, the way he tries every day to be the best he could be. … He’s probably the best at it on our team.”
As for Licht, he said the calculus for evaluating a free agent recovering from an injury doesn’t change at all.
“The facts are he had a serious injury, missed a lot of time and there’s still some uncertainty with any injury like that at this point,” Licht said. “We moved the void so it gives us more options and more flexibility as it pertains to him. We’ve just got to make a good decision.
“We, hopefully, can come to an agreement with him because Chris means the world to this organization — to all of us individually, but to the organization as a whole, nobody has been more resilient than him. We’ve been down this road before, a similar path with him. Nobody has been more resilient and works harder than him.”
Godwin, who turns 29 on Thursday, was the Bucs’ third-round draft pick in 2017 and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2019, when he posted career highs of 1,333 yards and nine touchdowns to go with 86 receptions. He won Super Bowl LV with the Bucs and has amassed 579 catches for 7,266 yards and 39 TD receptions, plus two rushing touchdowns, in 111 career games (84 starts).
–Field Level Media
Tight end Rob Gronkowski may be interested in coming out of retirement once again, according to a report by DenverSports.com on Tuesday.
Gronkowski spent nine years with the New England Patriots prior to retiring after the 2018 season — only to come back and play two more years with Tom Brady when the quarterback went to Tampa Bay.
A five-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro selection and four-time Super Bowl champion (three with the Patriots, one with the Buccaneers), Gronkowski will turn 36 in May.
The DenverSports.com report indicated Gronkowski may be interested in joining the Denver Broncos, where his brothers Chris and Dan Gronkowski had brief stays during their playing careers.
Rob Gronkowski currently works as an NFL analyst for Fox and overlapped there for one year with Sean Payton, now the head coach in Denver.
Gronkowski had 621 receptions for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns in 143 games (128 starts) over his 11-year career in New England (2010-18) and Tampa Bay (2020-21). He never finished with fewer than 540 yards in a season despite missing large parts of the 2013 and 2016 campaigns due to injury.
–Field Level Media
With Liam Coen out the door for a head coaching opportunity, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers promoted Josh Grizzard to fill their offensive coordinator post Friday.
Grizzard, 34, joined the Buccaneers’ staff last year as Todd Bowles’ pass game coordinator. He spent the previous seven seasons in a variety of roles on the Miami Dolphins’ staff, including wide receivers coach in 2020-21.
With Grizzard helping OC Liam Coen on the Tampa Bay passing game, quarterback Baker Mayfield had the best statistical season of his career, racking up 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and a 71.4 percent completion rate. Mayfield was named to his second Pro Bowl in three seasons.
“Josh is bright and innovative and was instrumental in our game planning and play design over the last year,” Bowles said in a statement. “After interviewing several outstanding candidates throughout this process, it ultimately became clear that our best option was here in our building. We had a lot of success offensively last season and during our conversations, Grizz provided some great ideas on how we can build on that. His familiarity with our offense, our players and the staff will ensure the continuity that is crucial for sustained success.”
Coen departed Tampa Bay to take over the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
–Field Level Media
Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting safety Jordan Whitehead suffered injuries in a car accident Sunday that will keep him out of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the New Orleans Saints.
Whitehead was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list, and the Buccaneers signed Ryan Neal from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
The team said the accident occurred as Whitehead was heading to practice. Details about his injuries were not released.
Whitehead, 27, started 12 games for the Bucs this season, missing four due to a pectoral injury. He had 79 tackles and three passes defensed, and he played 91 percent of the defensive snaps when active.
He signed a two-year, $9 million free-agent deal with the Buccaneers in March after two seasons with the New York Jets. He began his career with four seasons in Tampa Bay before returning.
Whitehead has appeared in 105 career games (101 starts) and made 557 tackles (31 for loss). He also has 2.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 45 passes defensed.
The Buccaneers (9-7) will play for the NFC South title on Sunday. A victory against the Saints seals the division and a playoff spot. If the Buccaneers lose and the Atlanta Falcons (8-8) defeat the Carolina Panthers, the Falcons win the division.
–Field Level Media
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a simple scenario for extending their season.
If the Buccaneers (9-7) defeat the visiting Saints (5-11) on Sunday afternoon, they will be NFC South champions for the fourth consecutive season and will host a playoff game next weekend.
“We have a chance to control our own destiny, which is all you can ask for,” coach Todd Bowles said. “So we’ve to go out and take it.”
If Tampa Bay loses it can still win the division if the Atlanta Falcons fall to the Carolina Panthers. If it wins, it can move up from the No. 4 seed to No. 3 if the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams. But the main thing is to win and get in.
And the Buccaneers have been winning a lot lately, going 5-1 since their bye week, including a 48-14 romp over the visiting Panthers last Sunday.
“We shouldn’t respond any other way than the way they responded last week,” Bowles said. “It’s a division opponent. We know it’s going to be a dogfight. We had to win the last game of the season last year to get in. It was a dogfight with Carolina. So we expect the same thing.”
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield is the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week and has won that award twice in the last three weeks. He completed 27 of 32 passes for 359 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions and a near-perfect passer rating of 153.0 against the Panthers. Rookie Bucky Irving added 113 rushing yards on 20 carries.
“I think that was probably the most consistent we’ve played for four quarters,” Mayfield said.
Reaching the playoffs has been a long shot for the Saints for a while, and it became mathematically impossible two weeks ago.
They lost seven consecutive games earlier in the season, leading to the firing of head coach Dennis Allen and the promotion of special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi to interim head coach.
New Orleans won three of its first four games under Rizzi, but has lost its last three — a 25-10 loss to Las Vegas in the home finale last week, a 34-0 rout at Green Bay on Dec. 23 and a 20-19 home loss to Washington on Dec. 15.
“It’s just been a tough season overall,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “We just want to go to Tampa Bay — we know those guys have to win that game — so we know it’s going to be like a prime-time game. I think we need to show up with that intensity knowing that.”
Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler is expected to make his sixth start in place of injured Derek Carr. Rattler’s first start came in a 51-27 loss to the visiting Buccaneers on Oct. 13.
Tampa Bay took a 17-0 lead after one quarter, the Saints grabbed a 27-24 halftime lead, then the Bucs outscored New Orleans 27-0 in the second half.
Three Saints starters — Carr, running back Alvin Kamara (groin) and linebacker Pete Werner (concussion protocol) missed practice Wednesday. Three Bucs starters — safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (knee), cornerback Jamel Dean (knee) and tight end Cade Otton (knee) — also missed practice.
As the Saints were reporting for practice Wednesday morning they were learning of the terrorist truck attack in the French Quarter overnight that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.
Rizzi said the team prayed together and reflected on the attacks during its team meeting.
“I feel like we’re playing this last game for this community,” Rizzi said.
–Field Level Media