The Buccaneers finally threw their hat into the free agent frenzy by adding 3 players to the defensive side of the ball. To help bolster one of the leagues worst pass rushes the Buccaneers signed defensive tackle Henry Melton to a 1-year 3.75 million dollar deal and is expected to platoon with Clinton McDonald. Melton’s career stats of 104 tackles, 20.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles don’t jump off the page at you, but are respectable.
Looking to fill a hole at linebacker, the Bucs signed Bruce Carter to a 4-year 17.0 million dollar deal.
Carter is expected to start immediately. Carter has career stats of 231 tackles, 3 sacks and 5 ints. Carter seems to be a good fit for the Lovie Smith version of the Tampa 2.
The Buccaneers secondary wasn’t that good last year. Especially the play from the safety position. Look no further than the trading of former first round pick Mark Barron. To address this the Buccaneers signed safety Chris Conte to a 1 year deal terms not yet disclosed. Conte had career stats of 231 tackles, 21 passes defensed and 9 ints.
To re-cap the Melton & Conte deals are basically “prove it” deals and the Carter deal has an “escape” clause after one year. Looks like the Bucs might have learned a lesson from last years free agency debacle.
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