Antoine Winfield Jr. has run into further injury trouble in 2024. The All-Pro safety is expected to miss multiple weeks with a knee sprain, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said on Monday.

Winfield suffered an ankle and foot sprain in Week 1, and that injury led to missed time. After missing four games, the 26-year-old returned to the lineup and had remained healthy until going down during Sunday’s game. His absence will once again be felt in the Tampa Bay secondary.

Over his first four seasons in the league, Winfield established himself as one of the league’s most productive defensive backs, and it came as little surprise when he received the franchise tag this offseason. That move was used to provide additional time for negotiations on a long-term deal, and in May the sides agreed to a four-year, $84.1MM extension. The contract is the most lucrative one in NFL history for safeties.

The former second-rounder has not enjoyed as productive of a season as 2023, but Winfield has remained a full-time starter and a key member of the Bucs’ secondary when healthy. He has amassed 60 tackles and a pair of sacks this year, and while his coverage statistics have not been impressive the team will be shorthanded down the stretch while attempting to improve against the pass. Tampa Bay is averaging 253 yards allowed through the air per game, which ranks 30th in the NFL.

Efforts to take a step forward in that regard will depend on other options on the backend, although Winfield’s injury is not the only one the team is dealing with at the moment. Fox Sports’ Greg Auman notes fellow safety Jordan Whitehead will miss Week 15, while Mike Edwards‘ status is in the air. That will leave Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather in place to handle a large defensive workload for the time being. Veteran Ryan Neal recently returned to Tampa Bay on a practice squad deal.

The Buccaneers’ win on Sunday (coupled with a loss by the Falcons) has left them alone atop the NFC South. The 7-6 outfit still has plenty of work down the stretch to do to clinch another division title, and that process will not feature Winfield for the time being.

Tampa Bay’s secondary will without its highest-paid member for the time being. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is dealing with an ankle and foot sprain suffered on Sunday, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports.

Winfield is set to miss a “couple weeks” as a result of the ailment, Schultz adds. Tampa’s cornerback depth was tested in Week 1, and Bryce Hall is likely out for the season. Missing Winfield for any period of time would deal a more notable blow to the Buccaneers’ defense, of course. Fox Sports’ Greg Auman notes Winfield’s timeline may actually be in the three-to-four week range.

The 26-year-old was a full-time starter throughout his first four seasons with Tampa. In 2023, he set career highs in tackles (122), sacks (six), interceptions (three) and pass breakups (12) while leading the league with six forced fumbles. Filling that statsheet to that extent earned him a first-team All-Pro nod and cemented his status as a prime extension candidate.

Winfield was one of many Buccaneers who received a long-term deal in the offseason keeping him in place for the foreseeable future. The Minnesota product landed $84.1MM on a four-year extension, making him the league’s highest-paid defensive back at the time. The lead in terms of AAV briefly went to Patrick Surtain before returning to fellow corner Jalen Ramsey, but the lucrative nature of Tampa’s Winfield commitment underscores his importance to the team’s defense.

The Buccaneers brought back Jordan Whitehead in free agency after he spent two years with the Jets. The 27-year-old played every snap in the team’s win over the Commanders, and he will be counted on to remain a full-time starter with Winfield temporarily out of the fold. Christian Izien worked as a safety in training camp this year after he played as a slot corner during his rookie campaign; the former UDFA ended Sunday as a boundary corner due to injuries, but he could return to the backend as early as Week 2.

Tampa Bay also has veteran Tavierre Thomas and third-round rookie Tykee Smith in place. Both players have experience at multiple spots in the secondary, and the team’s healthy defensive backs may need to wear multiple hats depending on the health situation at corner. No one player will be expected to duplicate Winfield’s versatility while he is away, but the Bucs will need to find a means of replacing his production for the coming weeks.

Much of the heavy lifting has already taken place this offseason for the Buccaneers. The team managed to retain both quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Mike Evans on multi-year deals and in doing so clear the way for safety Antoine Winfield Jr. to receive the franchise tag.

The latter is currently set to earn $17.12MM in 2024, but that would only be the case if team and player were not able to hammer out a long-term agreement. Such a pact will carry a much higher price tag, of course, given Winfield’s age (25) and All-Pro status. A report from last month indicated the Buccaneers are optimistic a pact putting him atop the safety market will be worked out, and general manager Jason Licht recently confirmed that sentiment.

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Licht said there has been “positive movement” with respect to Winfield extension talks (video link via JC Allen of Bucs Gameday). Plenty of time remains before the mid-July deadline for tagged players to sign long-term deals. If no pact can be worked out before then, Winfield would enter the 2024 campaign as a pending free agent.

The two-time Pro Bowler’s tag ranks him third in the league amongst safeties with respect to annual average compensation. Only Derwin James ($19MM) and Minkah Fitzpatrick ($18.25MM) are higher in the pecking order, and Xavier McKinney‘s Packers contract is the lone one signed this offseason which comes close in terms of value. 2024 has seen the safety position devalued, leaving plenty of notable veterans unsigned well after the draft.

Nevertheless, Tampa Bay would be investing in Winfield’s prime years on a multi-year agreement. Working out a lucrative pact would keep a foundational defensive contributor in the fold for years to come, something which will be the case on the other side of the ball if a monster extension with left tackle Tristan Wirfs is worked out. Licht is also confident on that front.

As the Buccaneers seek a fourth straight NFC South title in 2024, Mayfield, Evans and fellow re-signee Lavonte David will all have crucial roles to play. The same will of course be true of Winfield, especially if he has a market-resetting deal in hand by the time the campaign begins. If Licht’s optimism is well placed, an agreement could be hammered out relatively soon.

With Josh Allen becoming the seventh franchise- or transition-tagged player to sign an extension this offseason, the NFL’s annual mid-July news surge will not be as eventful. Only two tagged players — Tee Higgins and Antoine Winfield Jr. — remain.

Higgins has requested a trade, and the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase plans and record-setting Joe Burrow extension complicate their WR2’s long-term future in Cincinnati. While the Bengals may well have Higgins play on the tag, the Buccaneers may be making progress on a Winfield deal. Optimism exists an extension will be reached this offseason, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Winfield remains tied to a $17.12MM tag.

The Bucs, who have been busy retaining talent over the past several weeks, are working on a Winfield deal that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid safety, Schefter adds. This would surpass Derwin James‘ mark ($19MM per year); the Chargers and James agreed to that deal in summer 2022. Considering the hits the safety market has taken since that point, it would be interesting to see the Bucs feel comfortable handing out a deal that approaches or exceeds $20MM per year for their All-Pro safety.

This offseason has already seen two of 2023’s top five safety contracts — those given to Jamal Adams and Justin Simmons — removed from payrolls. Quandre Diggs, Eddie Jackson, Kevin Byard, Marcus Maye and Jordan Poyer received walking papers as well. This unexpected market surplus led to younger safeties like Kamren Curl and Julian Blackmon signing for lower than expected. That said, the Packers were the outlier, authorizing a $17MM-per-year deal for Xavier McKinney. Considering Winfield’s resume eclipses the four-year Giants defender’s, his camp is understandably aiming higher.

At 25, Winfield is coming into his prime. The 2020 second-round pick tallied six sacks and three interceptions while forcing an NFL-leading six fumbles last season. This included a pivotal strip of DJ Chark in the Bucs’ Week 18 win over the Panthers, which clinched them the NFC South title. While snubbed by the Pro Bowl, Winfield landed a more impressive accolade later by becoming a first-team All-Pro. Winfield did receive a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 and has been an important player for the Bucs, who used him as a starter during their Super Bowl LV-winning season as well.

In an offseason that seen a bit of a market correction at the safety position, the prospect of the Bucs extending Winfield at a record rate will be a storyline to monitor. The recent cap spike has benefited several young players, though McKinney scored the only needle-moving safety deal.

Thanks to the extensions for Allen, Brian Burns, Jaylon Johnson, Justin Madubuike, L’Jarius Sneed, Michael Pittman Jr. and Kyle Dugger, this promises to be one of the least eventful tag deadlines since the NFL introduced the tag in 1993. If Winfield signs early, that would magnify the Bengals’ situation with Higgins. The Bucs, however, still have more than three months to hammer out a deal.

An agreement with Winfield would follow Bucs accords with Mike Evans, Baker Mayfield and Lavonte David. With Tristan Wirfs on track for a potential left tackle-record deal, the Bucs’ payroll may look quite different by Week 1. A second Winfield contract would continue one of the more notable roster-retention efforts in recent memory.

The Buccaneers have already taken one major priority off their to-do list. A new deal is in place for wideout Mike Evans, and the same could soon be true of safety Antoine Winfield Jr.

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The latter has long been considered a franchise tag candidate as the expiration of his rookie contract approaches. Tampa Bay has until tomorrow afternoon to apply the one-year tender, which will cost just over $17MM. After delivering a first-team All-Pro campaign last season, though, Winfield could command a higher price on a long-term pact. On that note, Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline reports traction was gained on a new deal during last week’s Combine.

Pauline adds that the sides are “zeroing in” on an agreement which will check in at an annual average value of $20MM on a three- or four-year pact. That would allow Winfield to reset the top of the safety market, overtaking Derwin James ($19MM per season) as the highest-earning player at the position on an annual basis. Such a deal would also allow the Buccaneers to keep one of the foundational members of their defense in place for years to come and avoid having to use the franchise tag.

Winfield already had a Pro Bowl on his resume entering the 2023 season, but he upped his market value considerably over the course of the year. The 25-year-old set a new career high in tackles (122), interceptions (three), pass deflections (12) and sacks (six) while leading the league with six forced fumbles. Those figures have him on track to secure a major raise on his next pact, either one negotiated following the application of the tag or a deal hammered out in the immediate future.

Players who are tagged can continue negotiating with their respective teams until July 15. If no deals are reached by that point, they are required to play out the season on the tag (or, as Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs demonstrated last offseason, a one-year deal taking its place). Winfield’s case will be one to watch closely as the franchise tag deadline approaches, particularly if he and the Bucs are indeed moving toward a long-term agreement.