With a tight cap room we saw a lot of veterans leave the ship to hit free agency or the retirement home. Some of those names being Ndamukong Suh, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Josh Norman. Trades also brought in some new faces, with some of those instantly solidifying themselves as starters; while others would need to prove their fit into the system. That being said the Tampa staff will be busy this offseason setting the roster in stone. That includes a few interesting position battles to look out for.
Strong Safety:
We spoke about Josh Norman walking to free agency in the offseason. However, even with his impressive 2021 showing, no teams gave him the call. This lead to Tampa reaching out for his return on a discount and a frustrated Norman took the deal, looking to prove hes still got it once again. Norman was orginally signed to provide depth in the cornerback room, but when fellow teammate Jordan Whithead struggled in coverage with sub par speed the Tampa staff asked Norman to step up. Step up is exactly what he did, and at age 34 had a career high in interceptions with 7 on the year. He even took one 70+ yards to the house.
Whitehead’s status with team may have seemed to be up in the air after he was demoted to backup 4 games into the season, but those in the organization knew they had not lost faith in Whitehead. That was confirmed when he was offered a long term deal in the offseason. Despite the struggles in coverage Whitehead offers a solid run support option, and he is known to lay down some hits with his 89 hit power. The coaches and Norman have complimented his work ethic, and at age 25 there is still plenty of room for growth.
Both of these players will get some reps this preseason and it will be an interesting position battle to watch out for. We want to see to see if Whitehead has made any strides in coverage. That would be a huge step in his progression and would lead to a lot more downs played for the young safety. It’s also important to see Norman in action, because even after a career season you never know how long an aging body will allow him to perform at that level.
