The Bucs have added a big addition to their pass rush today, as the team reached a deal with former Lions and Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
Buccaneers officially have reached agreement with former Rams’ DT Ndamukong Suh on a one-year, $9.25 million deal that with incentives is worth up to $10 million, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 23, 2019
The 32-year-old had 4.5 sacks last season for the NFC Champion Rams, in nine seasons he has 56 total sacks with four forced fumbles.
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and the Buccaneers are finalizing a one-year deal, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Suh would replace Gerald McCoy, who was released by the Buccaneers on Monday. Suh (second) and McCoy (third) were taken with consecutive picks in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft.
Suh was interested in playing for Tampa’s new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, the source said.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was asked about Suh earlier on Tuesday. “I can’t talk about him. He’s not on my team,” Arians said.
The first day of the Bucs organized team activities, reporters observed starting cornerback Vernon Hargreaves watching from the sidelines.
Following practice, new Bucs coach Bruce Arians fielded questions on why Hargreaves wasn’t with the first-team unit, and the response proved rather blunt, Herbie Teope of NFL.com reports.
“You’ll have to talk to Vernon,” Arians told reporters, via Greg Auman of The Athletic. “He’s got to get his mind right for practice.”
A follow-up question requested clarification, but Arians didn’t budge.
“You’ll have to ask him,” the head coach told reporters.
Media didn’t have that opportunity, as Hargreaves was not among the small group of players to talk after practice. But that’s not uncommon during OTAs when considering teams are not obligated to open the locker room to media during the offseason. Players who do talk to media after an OTA practice are typically predetermined outside of special requests given to a team’s media relations department.
Still, Arians’ comments are sure to draw the spotlight going forward when considering the team recently exercised a fifth-year option on Hargreaves, whom the Buccaneers selected in the first round in 2016.
The season may already be over for Bucs pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul, as TMZ Sports reports that the accident he was in early Thursday will likely have him missing the ENTIRE 2019 season as he’s suffered a fractured neck.
Jason Pierre-Paul’s car crash was worse than initially thought — the Tampa Bay Bucs star reportedly broke his neck in the accident and will likely miss the 2019 season.
TMZ Sports broke the story … JPP was the driver in a single-car crash in Florida early Thursday morning. He was transported to a local hospital but released a short time later.
Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter says Pierre-Paul fractured his neck in the crash will likely require season-ending surgery. He’s currently visiting neck specialists.
As we previously reported, the 30-year-old was not accused of any wrongdoing and he was NOT speeding — we’re told it was merely an accident.
Pierre-Paul is in the middle of a 4-year, $62-million deal with the Bucs, and as a key member of the defense.
This isn’t the first time JPP has had an off-field incident — he infamously had a fireworks accident in 2015, and later returned to the field to perform at a high level.
TMZ Sports reports that Buccaneers star Jason Pierre-Paul was involved in a single car accident in Florida early Thursday morning.
Here’s their report on the latest with JPP:
JPP crashed his SUV around 5 AM in Broward County … and emergency personnel rushed to the scene to take him to the hospital.
The 30-year-old is not accused of any wrongdoing and he was NOT speeding — we’re told it was merely an accident.
Sources close to the Super Bowl champ tell us he was released from the hospital and is doing fine.
Pierre-Paul is in the middle of a 4-year, $62 million deal with the Bucs, and as a key member of the defense, we’re assuming the team is monitoring the situation.
This isn’t the first time JPP has had an off-field incident — he infamously had a fireworks accident in 2015, and later returned to the field to perform at a high level.
The Buccaneers as predicted went defense with the fifth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, selecting inside linebacker Devin White with their first-round pick.
Here’s some highlights on White:
Bucs Krewe, meet Devin.
Devin, meet Bucs Krewe. pic.twitter.com/G66c9vyWfo
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) April 26, 2019
Here’s a scouting report on White from Walter Football:
Strengths:
Superb instincts
Excellent run defender
Sideline-to-sideline speed
Good tackler
Hard hitter
Very physical
Quick
Diagnosis skills
Read-and-react skills
Fits a 4-3 or 3-4 defense
Always around the ball
Quick to the flat
Closing speed
Rangy
Advanced pass-coverage linebacker
Can help cover against tight ends and running backs
Can drop into zone coverage
Dangerous blitzer
Strong, thick build
Durable
Athletic upside
Locker room leader
Upside; continues to improve
Weaknesses:
Good speed, but not rare speed
Summary: In 2017, White went from being a backup to one of the best linebackers in the nation. He had only 30 tackles with one sack and forced fumble in 2016, but he exploded onto the scene as a sophomore. His 2017 production exploded, as White was all over the field for the Tigers. He totaled 133 tackles with 14 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, three passes broken up and one interception. White didn’t get the attention of other SEC linebackers like Roquan Smith and Rashaan Evans, first-round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, but team sources say that White was as good if not better than either of them in 2017. That is a bold statement considering Smith was a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
White then totaled 123 tackles with 12 for a loss, six passes broken up, three sacks and three forced fumbles in 2018. He played well, but teams schemed for him more and tried to limit him with extra blocking attention and trying to move plays away from him. Still, White played really well for LSU.
As a linebacker, White is the complete package. He has excellent instincts and is very fast to read his keys to get in position to make plays. For a big and thick linebacker, White has shocking speed to get to the perimeter, and he eats up space in a hurry. That speed was given numerical proof at the combine when White ran a phenomenal 40 time of 4.42 seconds, a tremendous time for a big middle linebacker.
Best Player Available is a tried a true method of stockpiling the top talent possible in the NFL draft.
Teams that worry less about “need” and select the best player available give themselves the greatest chance of nailing the selection, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports.
New Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians believes BPA is the only way to go. If that player lines up with your “need,” so be it.
“You can’t draft for need,” Arians said this week, via the team’s official website. “You draft for need, you get fired. Draft the best player, and if you’ve got two of them now you’ve got three of them. Just take the best players available for you. Now, if you’ve got four players right there together and one of them is a need, that’s the home run. That’s the home run.”
The Bucs own the No. 5 overall pick and have been linked almost exclusively to defensive players — like linebacker Devin White or rusher Josh Allen — a huge need. It’s also a draft loaded with defensive talent.
There is a good chance the best player available when the Bucs are on the clock tonight will fill a massive need.
And while there have been some rumors about teams trying to move into the top five for a QB — i.e. the Washington Redskins — Arians suggested the Bucs won’t be moving from their pick unless they get bowled over by an offer.
“It would have to be some hellacious picks, because there are five guys on the board I love,” he said. “You’d have to throw the bank and open a vault for me and Jason to probably move back. That’s not saying that we wouldn’t…just looking at the guys that are there. Really, [it’s] six guys that are once-in-a-generation type players. I feel great about this draft.”
The NFL Draft is now 48 hours away, and in the latest video on ESPN, their latest Mock has the Bucs going QB in round one, taking LSU’ Devin White.
May 23rd, 2019 
Matt Loede 
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