The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have some tough decisions to make down the home stretch of the regular season. Mainly, that means figuring out what they’re willing to do in order to give them the best chance to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder thinks that should include signing free agent cornerback and 2-time NFL All-Pro Xavien Howard to help boost one of the NFL’s worst secondaries for the final 6 games of the regular season.
The Buccaneers currently rank 29th in the NFL in passing defense at 255.5 yards per game and have allowed 20 passing touchdowns — tied for 28th in the NFL.
After a 30-7 win over the New York Giants in Week 12 snapped a 4-game losing streak, the Buccaneers are 5-6 and have the NFL’s easiest schedule down the stretch.
“While premier defensive players aren’t exactly lying around, waiting to be signed, Xavien Howard might be a valuable late-season addition,” Holder wrote. “The 31-year-old started 13 games for the Dolphins in 2023 and recently had a workout with Cincinnati that did not lead to a contract. Howard allowed an opposing passer rating of only 81.3 in coverage last season.”
While Howard would definitely boost the secondary, he comes with the type of baggage that has scared NFL teams away to this point.
Howard’s Dominant Decade Led to $90M Contract
Howard was an All-Big 12 pick at Baylor in 2015 and had 10 interceptions in 3 college seasons before the Miami Dolphins selected him in the second round (No. 38 overall) of the 2016 NFL draft.
Howard, who is also a 4-time Pro Bowler, led the NFL in interceptions in 2018 and 2020 and has 29 career interceptions in 100 career games. Howard cashed in with a 5-year, $75.5 million contract extension in May 2019 and re-upped with the Dolphins on a 5-year, $90 million restructured contract in April 2022.
Howard missed a total of 6 games due to injuries in 2022 and 2023 and was released by the Dolphins in March 2024. Sharp Football Analysis has Howard listed as the No. 1 free agent cornerback currently available.
The real problem in signing Howard for the Buccaneers would likely come in blowback from the community due to Howard’s off-field issues.
In June 2024, Howard was named in a lawsuit in Florida accusing him of using revenge porn against a woman he’d been in a sexual relationship with in 2022 after the woman refused to get an abortion. Howard has denied all of the accusations in the lawsuit.
“A court filing alleges former Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard sent a sexually explicit photo of a woman to her underage son ‘for the purpose of manipulation and/or revenge,’ ” The Athletic’s Lukas Weese wrote. “The motion, filed Thursday in Broward (Fla.) Circuit Court, seeks to add the boy to a woman’s lawsuit who alleged, in a separate incident, that Howard recorded and distributed sexual videos involving the two of them to a third party without her consent.”
Buccaneers Secondary Suffers Another Setback
The Buccaneers suffered a serious setback to their secondary when starting strong safety Jordan Whitehead suffered a season-ending injury in the win over the Giants.
“#Bucs S Jordan Whitehead is feared to have torn his pec, an injury that would end his season, sources say. He’s getting an MRI to confirm the diagnosis. Last week, Tampa claimed S Mike Edwards, who won a Super Bowl ring with them. Now, he’ll provide key help in the secondary,” the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account.
Whitehead was second on the Buccaneers with 76 tackles at the time of his injury.
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