Pewter Report’s Bucs Training Camp coverage is presented by
Synergy Outdoor Kitchens & More

Become the envy of the neighborhood – and the place to come for Tampa Bay watch parties and home tailgating – with a custom outdoor kitchen from Synergy Outdoor Kitchens & More! Get a FREE Coyote Portable Tailgate grill – an $800 value – with the purchase of a new outdoor kitchen Wesley Chapel • Sarasota/Bradenton • Tampa • Orlando / Call Synergy at 813-993-1531 or visit SynergyFL.com

Following the conclusion of the first day of the Bucs’ training camp, it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that they will be adding a new player to the 90-man roster. Veteran safety Ifeatu Melifonwu has agreed to sign a one-year deal.

Ifeatu Melifonwu Adds Experience To Bucs Secondary

The Bucs have made a move to address the Bucs’ secondary, but not at the position many assumed (yet).

Ifeatu Melifonwu brings plenty of experience, but he has exclusively played at safety since being drafted by the Lions in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Melifonwu has played in 53 game (22 starts) across five seasons. After spending his first four years in Detroit, he signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins worth $4 million in 2025. He logged the most playing time of his career in Miami, playing 16 games and set career highs by making eight starts and recording 53 tackles. Adding to that, Melifonwu also had an interception and sack.

New Bucs S Ifeatu Melifonwu – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Although he has yet to carve out a full-time role, that has not stopped him from showing flashes of being a playmaker.

Melifonwu won NFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 16 of the 2023 season, when his interception on Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens clinched the first division title for the Lions since 1993. In that same game, he added five tackles and two sacks in what was his best game in the league to this point.

New Bucs S Ifeatu Melifonwu – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Tampa Bay will hope that Melifonwu can showcase the same abilities as he joins the safety room just as training camp gets underway. The team is set with its starting safety duo with Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith, but behind them, there are depth concerns. Miles Killebrew was signed to be the team’s special teams ace and has not much defensively in several years. J.J. Roberts is also in the mix, but he has yet to play in an NFL game after suffering a knee injury during last season’s joint practice against the Steelers.

Melifonwu has the opportunity to claim a backup safety job, and the roster spot opened up after undrafted free agent safety Ja’Qurious Conley was waived on Monday. He does not fit the typical archetype of the kind of safety head coach Todd Bowles prefers, as he is much taller at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds.

The next few weeks will make or break his chances of making the 53-man roster or whether this summer is just a brief pit stop in Tampa Bay.

Will Bucs Be Addressing The Cornerback Room, Too?

The elephant in the room remains the Bucs cornerback position.

It did not do the defense any favors seeing cornerback Benjamin Morrison being quite limited on the first day of training camp. After practice, Todd Bowles made it sound like a move to add to the room was imminent.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“We’ll work some guys out and we’re still in the process of filtering that out, but hopefully we’ll have somebody in here,” Bowles said.

For now, Zyon McCollum, Morrison, and Jacob Parrish pace the depth chart. Kemon Hall, Chase Lucas, Josh Hayes, and undrafted free agent Ayden Garnes are the next options behind them, but no one wants to see them get tested on the field during the season.

Should the Bucs look to bring in another veteran free agent, adding a cornerback has to be next on the to-do list, right?