The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Antoine Winfield Jr. was one of the best (if not the best) safeties in the league in 2023. The Buccaneers have benefitted from his stellar play since drafting him 45th overall in the 2020 NFL draft. Now, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there is a sense of extreme optimism that the Buccaneers and Winfield will reach an agreement and get this done. Winfield has been working towards a new deal for a while now that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid safety, which is currently Derwin James of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Working On Making Sure This Deal “Will Get Done”
Tampa Bay placed the franchise tag on their young star safety with the intent of continuing talks on a new deal. It seems to be on the right track to that being the case, it’s just a matter of when, which could be very, very soon. With Jaguars linebacker Josh Allen becoming the seventh franchise-tagged player to sign an extension this offseason, only two tagged players remain: Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Antoine Winfield Jr.
Winfield Jr is only 25 years old and is entering into his prime. The young star tallied six sacks and three interceptions while forcing an NFL-leading six fumbles last season. That includes a pivotal strip of DJ Chark Jr in the Bucs’ Week 18 win over the Carolina Panthers, clinching the NFC South title. Winfield Jr received a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 but was snubbed this past year. Winfield was and continues to be an important player for the Bucs, as Winfield Jr started for the Buccaneers during their Super Bowl LV winning season.
Antoine Winfield Jr is Looking To Get Paid And Become The League’s Highest Paid Safety
This Buccaneers team has been very busy retaining talent over the past several weeks in this 2024 offseason. The Bucs and Winfield Jr deal in the works would make him the NFL’s highest-paid safety according to Adam Schefter on X. This would surpass Los Angeles Chargers’ Derwin James which is $19 Million a year, which the Chargers and Derwin agreed to back in 2022.
Considering all of the hits the safety market has taken since the Derwin James deal, it would be very interesting to see if the Buccaneers even feel comfortable handing out a deal like that. It would be a deal that would approach, if not exceed $20 Million per year for their All-Pro Safety. It would be a large risk for what hopefully will be an even larger reward in the long run for the Bucs, who still have more than three months to hammer out and finalize a deal.
Deal Remains Optimistic Because of What’s Going On In NFL’s Safety Market
There’s no question that the safety position is trending toward becoming the defensive equivalent of the running back position in terms of market and market value. Teams around the league feel that the safety position generally isn’t worth the money, and you can see that around the league with decisions like the Denver Broncos releasing four-time All-Pro safety Justin Simmons. How about letting your young star just walk out of the door after an amazing season like the New York Giants did with Xavier McKinney?
Other examples are the Seattle Seahawks releasing Quandre Diggs, the Jacksonville Jaguars letting go of Rayshawn Jenkins, or even the Buffalo Bills’ release of Jordan Poyer. These may all be individual decisions within each team, but this speaks volumes about how teams feel about safeties, saving $103 million across the league in 2024 at the position. This makes the safeties worth paying like Derwin James, Antoine Winfield Jr, or even Kyle Hamilton in a few years extremely valuable in the market and that’s why the Winfield Jr camp is understandably aiming higher in negotiations to get this record-breaking deal done.
