HEADLINES

Keith Tandy

Bucs Cut Bruce Carter, Re-Sign Keith Tandy

March 8th, 2016 at 6:11pm CST by Zachary Links

6:11pm: It’s a two-year deal for Tandy, tweets Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.

4:25pm: The Buccaneers have released one defensive notable while re-signing another. The Bucs have officially released Bruce Carter and re-signed safety Keith Tandy, as Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com writes. "<strong

Tampa Bay rarely employs signing bonuses, and because it didn’t use one when signing Carter prior to last season, the club won’t incur any dead money. Instead, the Buccaneers will not only avoid paying a $750K roster bonus, but they’ll clear Carter’s scheduled base salaries of $4.25MM over the next three seasons. Following Carter’s release, Tampa will have roughly $50MM in cap space when the free agent period begins.

Carter, 28, will last only a single season with the Buccaneers after spending the first four years of his career with the Cowboys. An outside linebacker in Dallas, Carter was expected to serve as Tampa’s middle linebacker, but quickly lost the job to rookie Kwon Alexander, and ended up playing less than 30% of the Bucs’ defensive snaps.

Tandy, an unrestricted free agent, has long been expected to return to Tampa Bay. Last season, Tandy appeared in 14 games (2 starts) and racked up 38 total tackles, 1 sack, and 1 pass deflection.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

FA Rumors: Whitehead, Clayborn, Vikings, Jags

March 7th, 2016 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

With Kiko Alonso set to head to Miami once the trade between the Dolphins and Eagles becomes official, Philadelphia will be in the market for a new linebacker. And Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com hears that the Eagles are targeting a player with whom new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is familiar.

According to Shorr-Parks, the Eagles have expressed interest in Lions linebacker Tahir Whitehead, who can become a free agent this week. Whitehead ranked as our top non-rush outside linebacker when we examined 2016’s top defensive free agents over the weekend, and he’d represent an upgrade over Alonso. However, he’ll also be more expensive, so we’ll see if Howie Roseman and the Eagles can make it work.

Here’s more updates on free agents around the NFL:

  • Free agent defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn, who has experience playing inside and outside, is drawing interest from a few teams, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Rapoport identifies the Giants, Jaguars, Cowboys, and Dolphins as some of the clubs “lurking” on Clayborn.
  • Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press passes along a couple updates on the Vikings‘ free agent prospects, reporting (via Twitter) that the team has inquired on safety Reggie Nelson, who previously played for Mike Zimmer in Cincinnati. Tomasson adds (via Twitter) that he’s hearing offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele may be too expensive for Minnesota.
  • Could defensive lineman Malik Jackson be a top target for the Jaguars this week? Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains why it could be a good match, noting that Jacksonville is believed to have several targets for the first wave of free agency.
  • Free agent wide receiver James Jones tells Josina Anderson of ESPN (Twitter link) that he wants to keep playing for “at least three more years”
  • Buccaneers safety Keith Tandy, an unrestricted free agent, has been in talks to return to Tampa Bay, and there’s a good chance he re-signs with the team within the next few days, says Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).