Four Players on the Bucs’ FA List Could Receive Tender Offers | Updates inked a contract with the Jacksonvillehttps:/ Jaguars on April 30, 2018, after initially joining the NFL as an undrafted free agent. Added on September 2, 2018, to the practice squad. on October 25, 2018, became a member of the team’s roster. After Super Bowl LVIII, NFL teams will focus entirely on 2024, with the league season starting on Wednesday, March 13. A four-week window exists for teams to negotiate exclusively with their own pending free players between now and the start of the pre-free agency “negotiating period” on March 11.
A list of 22 players from the team’s 2023 roster who could be available for free on March 13 was released by Buccaneers.com on Monday. Of them, 18 are pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs). The remaining four can be classified as either restricted free agents (RFAs) or exclusive rights free agents (ERFAs), which may require documentation from the Buccaneers prior to the March 31 deadline.RFAs are players with expiring contracts who have accumulated three seasons of free agency credit. A player falls into the ERFA category if they have accumulated two seasons or less of free agency credit. But players only become RFAs or ERFAs if qualifying offers are extended to them by their teams prior to the commencement of free agency. In theory, if not in actuality, those who do not receive offers become undrafted free agents (UFAs), free to sign with any team.
There are two Buccaneers players in each category that have the potential to earn qualifying offers. While lineman Brandon Walton and wide out Deven Thompkins are awaiting ERFAs, guard Nick Leverett and cornerback Dee Delaney are awaiting RFAs.
A player can become an RFA by accepting a qualifying offer.After receiving a qualifying offer, a player can negotiate with other clubs to become an RFA. However, if the player signs a contract with a different team, their original team will have the option to match it or earn compensation in the form of a draft selection. Free agents with exclusive rights are limited to signing with their original team.
In 2023, Delaney participated in almost 500 defensive plays, including playoff games. He saw action at safety and cornerback and recorded 24 tackles, two interceptions, and five passes defensed. Leverett spent the entire season as a member of the active roster, but he rarely played during game days. In 2022, he started ten games at left guard.With an average of 9.4 yards on 25 punt returns and 20.4 yards on 16 kickoff returns in 2023, Thompkins managed all of the Bucs’ return responsibilities. In addition, he ran eight times for 56 yards and caught 17 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown. Walton participated in four special teams games while playing as a reserve lineman for the BucsEvery year, before the Super Bowl, hundreds of NFL stars assemble at the Resorts World Theater in Las Vegas for the NFL Honors presentation. Awards for Walter Payton Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and other categories were presented there.
Baker Mayfield, who was vying for one of the night’s biggest prizes, was present along with his spouse Emily, the quarterback for the Buccaneers. Even though Browns quarterback Joe Flacco won Comeback Player of the Year in the end for the 2023 campaign, Mayfield had a lot of support from voters..Ten of the 49 Associated Press voters who cast ballots to decide the winner selected Mayfield as their favorite. Damar Hamlin, a safety with the Bills, received the most first-place votes (21), while Flacco received 13. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy each received one vote, while Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa received four.
Mayfield received 10 votes for second place and 13 votes for third place out of a total of 33 of the 49 ballots cast. Mayfield received 93 total points after first place votes, which were worth five points each, second place votes, which were worth three points apiece, and third place votes, which were worth one point each.Votes were cast for five additional Bucs 2023 players and coaches who were eligible to win honors on Thursday night. The player that received the most attention was outside linebacker Yaya Diaby, a third-round pick in 2023, who received six total points from his one first-place vote and one third-place selection for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Calijah Kancey, a defensive lineman on his squad, also received one vote for third place. Among the 49 ballots, 10 rookies were present, including them. Security In the Defensive Player of the Year voting, Antoine Winfield Jr. scored seven points overall with two votes in the second place and one vote in the third place. Both head coach Todd Bowles and head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Dave Canales, a former offensive coordinator, received votes. Among the twelve nominees for Coach of the Year, Bowles received one vote, coming in third. Canales, one of the 11 coaches who were considered for the ballot, received two mentions in the third place for Assistant Coach of the Year.
View Baker Mayfield’s Mic’d up video from the Pro Bowl games by clicking this link.Liam Coen was hired by the Buccaneers to take Dave Canales’ position as offensive coordinator after the team conducted interviews with seven verified candidates. With Keith Armstrong’s retirement last week, they are also casting a wide net to fill the role of special teams coordinator.
LeVar Woods, who is presently the special teams coordinator at the University of Iowa, was interviewed virtually, the Buccaneers revealed on Tuesday. The Saints assistant special teams coordinator Phil Galiano and the former Seahawks special teams coordinator Larry Izzo were also confirmed for interviews earlier in the day by the teamThe Buccaneers had previously discussed matters with Thomas McGaughey and Craig Aukerman, the former special teams coordinators for the Giants and Titans, respectively. Keith Tandy, who has served as the Bucs’ defensive/special teams assistant for the previous four seasons, is another inside candidate that they have interviewed.
Having worked for his alma mater for sixteen seasons, Woods has spent the last six of those as the special teams coach. After working for four years (2008–2011) as an administrative assistant, he tutored linebackers for three seasons (2012–14) and oversaw the tight ends for three (2015–17). In 2017, he took on special teams responsibilities. In 2018, he gave up his post as coach and concentrated only on the kick-and-coverage game.In his six seasons in this role, Woods has assisted in coaching players to be named to the first team of the Big Ten, including wide receiver and return man Ihmir Smith-Marsette, kicker Keith Duncan, kicker Caleb Shudak, punter Tory Taylor, and return man Charlie Jones. In 2019, Duncan was a unanimous choice for the first team All-American, while in 2020, Taylor was a Ray Guy Award semifinalist.
Woods was a linebacker with the Cardinals, Lions, and Titans during his seven seasons in the NFL. He signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent and played for the Cardinals for his first four seasons before splitting the next three between Detroit and Tennessee. Over 88 games, including 11 starts, Woods totaled 183 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two interceptions, and two touchdowns..A coach with prior experience working with Tampa Bay’s special teams units has met with the Buccaneers as their sixth applicant for the position of special teams coordinator.
The group acknowledged on Tuesday that it had spoken with Phil Galiano face-to-face at the AdventHealth Training Center. Galiano served as Greg Schiano’s assistant special teams coach for the Buccaneers in 2012 and 2013. The previous special teams coordinators for the Seahawks, Titans, and Giants, respectively, Larry Izzo, Craig Aukerman, and Thomas McGaughey, have also been questioned by the Buccaneers. Keith Tandy, an internal candidate who has served as the Bucs’ defensive and special teams assistant for the previous four seasons, was interviewed for the fifth time.Galiano has spent the last five seasons (2019–23) as the Saints’ assistant special teams coach. The return game has helped New Orleans overall over that time. The Saints scored twice on punt returns and were sixth in kickoff return average (23.2 yards) and punt return average (10.1 yards). The Saints were ninth against kickoff returns (21.4) and third against punt returns (7.0) in coverage. During that time, the combined net average of New Orleans’ punters was 41.6 yards, good for tenth place.
All of the Saints’ special teams groups have often placed highly in the extensive special teams rankings that NFL writer Rick Gosselin produces each year. New Orleans topped the list in 2019 and came in fifth in 2020 and 2021.For the past 24 years, Galiano has served as a collegiate or NFL coach. He started in 2000, attending Dickinson, New Haven, Villanova, and Rutgers for the first of four one-year terms. In 2004, after serving as a graduate assistant for one season at Rutgers, he was elevated to the job of defensive ends/linebackers coach, a role he retained for three years. Following Schiano to Tampa Bay, Galiano returned to Rutgers in 2010–11 as the defensive line and tight ends coach after serving as the defensive coordinator at Florida International for three years. After then, he made two more stops at Rutgers: in 2016 with the Miami Dolphins and in 2017–18 at Penn State. The Buccaneers held an in-person interview with Larry Izzo, who has long been an NFL special teams ace and most recently served as the Seattle Seahawks’ special teams coordinator. Izzo is the fourth candidate to talk with the Buccaneers about taking over for the retiring Keith Armstrong, as the team acknowledged the interview on Monday.
Izzo joins former Titans Special Teams Coordinator Craig Aukerman and former Giants Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey as the third external candidate to be interviewed in Tampa. Additionally, Keith Tandy, the Bucs’ current defensive/special teams assistant, was interviewed.Izzo joined Pete Carroll’s staff as an assistant special teams coordinator in 2018 and served as his temporary coordinator until Brian Schneider left the organization for personal reasons six seasons later. In 2021, Izzo was hired on a full-time basis. Before securing his first coordinator post with the Texans in 2016–17, he began his coaching career with the Giants, where he worked as an assistant special teams coordinator for five seasons (2011–15).
The Seahawks finished first in opponent punt return average (6.7 yards), seventh in opponent kickoff return average (20.6), and fifth in net punting average (43.3) during his three seasons as the team’s full-time coordinator. Although such figures point to strong covering units, the Seahawks were also fifth throughout that span.Izzo played for the Patriots for eight seasons, the Jets for one, and Miami for five seasons (with one stint on injured reserve). He was always among the NFL’s greatest special teams players, and he was invited to three Pro Bowls in that capacity. Izzo had 298 kick-coverage tackles in his career, having signed with the Dolphins in 1996 as an undrafted free agent. He played for three New England teams that won Super Bowls. The Buccaneers may try to promote someone from within to take over as special teams coordinator in their new role.
The Buccaneers announced on Monday that they had interviewed Keith Tandy for the job, continuing the process of finding a replacement for retiring Keith Armstrong. As a defensive and special teams coach, Tandy has worked with Armstrong for the past four seasons (2020–03).
Three applicants have now been interviewed by the Buccaneers for the position, including Craig Aukerman and Thomas McGaughey, who are outside candidates. Keith Armstrong, the special teams coordinator for the Titans for the most of the last six seasons, was formerly held by McGaughey for the Giants (2018–23), Panthers (2016–17), 49ers (2015), and Jets (2014).In 2020, Tandy started his NFL coaching career in Tampa, the same city where he started his NFL playing career in 2012 as a sixth-round draft pick. Tandy was a safety and an ace on special teams who spent the first six of his seven seasons with the Buccaneers. In 2018, he played six games with the Falcons. Before rejoining the Buccaneers, he coached high school football for a year.
The Buccaneers’ special teams groups tied for sixth place in field goal percentage (93.5%), fourth place in gross punting average (50.1), and fourth place in average kickoff return yards allowed (18.9) in 2023.Tandy was renowned as a player for his analytical style and ability to seize opportunities. During his six seasons with the Buccaneers, he only started 15 games, but during that time, he recorded eight interceptions—more than any other defensive back in Tampa Bay history. At the AdventHealth Training Center, the Buccaneers conducted interviews with two candidates for the position of special teams coordinator. The second candidate was former Titans assistant Craig Aukerman. After longtime special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong retired, Aukerman emerged as the second contender for the job. Last Friday, the Bucs also spoke with Thomas McGaughey, the former special teams coordinator for the Giants.
Before the Tennessee Titans made a move at the job in December of last year, Aukerman served as their special teams coordinator for the most of the previous six seasons. With a net punting average of 41.9 yards and a gross punting average of 48.2 yards, the Titans were fourth in the NFL during that time. Under Aukerman’s guidance, punter Brett Kern appeared in two Pro Bowls andAukerman served as an assistant special teams coordinator for the Titans from 2013 to 2015, working under head coaches Mike Munchak, Ken Whisenhunt, and Mike Mularkey. In 2017, Aukerman returned to his role as assistant coordinator in Tennessee after serving as the special teams coordinator for one season with the Chargers. In 2018, upon taking over as the Titans’ head coach, Mike Vrabel elevated Aukerman to the coordinator role. After starting his NFL career in 2010 as a defensive assistant in Denver, Aukerman worked as an assistant special teams coordinator and as a defensive assistant in Jacksonville for the next two seasons. He worked as a collegiate coach for ten years before joining the Broncos. He started in 2000 at his alma school, Findley, and later coached at Miami (Ohio), Western Kentucky, and Kent State. With Keith Armstrong’s retirement, the Buccaneers have commenced their search for a new special teams coordinator. Thomas McGaughey, who has been with the New York Giants for the past six seasons in the same role, was interviewed in person by the organization on Friday. McGaughey was first brought on by the Giants in 2018 to work under Head Coach Pat Shurmur, but he was later signed by Brian Daboll in 2022 and Joe Judge in 2020. In terms of field goal percentage (87.1%), opponent kickoff return average (21.2), and opponent punt return average (7.8), the Giants were fifth in the NFL during his most recent tenure. From 2007 to 2010, McGaughey also worked as the Giants’ assistant coordinator of special teamsWith stops with Kansas City (2002), Denver (2005–06), the New York Jets (2014), San Francisco (2015), and Carolina (2016–17), McGaughey has 17 years of total NFL coaching experience. He has spent the last ten years working as a coordinator. In addition to playing defensive back at the University of Houston, McGaughey was a member of the Bengals and Eagles from 1996 to 1997. He was also an NFL Europe player for the Barcelona Dragons. In 1998, he started his coaching career at his alma university as a graduate assistant. In 2003 and 2004, he returned to Houston to coach cornerbacks and special teams. In addition, he served as LSU’s special teams coordinator from 2011 to 2013. Armstrong left the NFL after 30 seasons as a coach, the last five of which were spent in Tampa. As they look to replace Dave Canales, who resigned to take a head coaching position in Carolina, the Buccaneers will have two new coordinators in 2024.
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