Pewter Report’s PR Roundtable
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A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough Bucs question. This week’s prompt: Who has been the Bucs’ best free agent acquisition?

Scott Reynolds: “Pretty Good” Melifonwu Has Helped Stabilize The Secondary

The Bucs entered the 2026 season pretty thin at depth at the safety position. Tampa Bay’s starters, Tykee Smith and Antoine Winfield Jr., are pretty elite players and comprise one of the league’s best safety duos. But what if an injury occurred to either one? Well, it might look pretty iffy at the safety position in Tampa Bay. As fate would have it, Winfield injured a rib against the Packers and missed three games. Yet instead of a fall off at play at free safety, Ifeatu Melifonwu, a free agent signing this offseason, stepped up and stepped up big time.

Bucs S Ifeatu Melifonwu – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Known as “Iffy” by his teammates, Melifonwu’s play was anything but iffy while subbing in for Winfield. No, Melifonwu didn’t make any splash player per se, but his play was solid and steady. Playing mostly centerfield in Todd Bowles’ Cover 1 and Cover 3 schemes, Melifonwu’s range and length at 6-foot-3 prevented any big plays deep down the field. He was reliable in both coverage and in run defense during Winfield’s absence, so much so that Winfield wasn’t really missed that much.

Opposing teams could have picked on Melifonwu, the backup, fill-in player. Instead, they really didn’t. We didn’t notice Melifonwu much because he didn’t make any real mistakes in coverage. There were busts in coverage or miscommunication in the secondary – even with a backup in the secondary. That’s a testament to his film study, attention to detail and high football I.Q. The players may call him “Iffy” but we at Pewter Report call him “Pretty Good” because his play was pretty good while filling in for Winfield as the team won two out of those three games.

Matt Matera: Alex Anzalone Keeps Making Impact Plays

It took him a little bit to start hitting up but in terms of making his imprint on games, the answer for me on who the best free agent signing as been is inside linebacker Alex Anzalone. His presence as a leader combined with his playmaking ability has been a huge benefit for the Bucs. Look how he’s helped usher along rookie middle linebacker Josiah Trotter, too. His qualities aren’t just statistical.

Bucs ILB Alex Anzalone – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

But if you want to go with the stats, Anzalone is now the team leader in interceptions with three. He had two picks in a row to begin the game in the Bucs’ 16-0 shutout win over the Falcons. His coverage ability has been a major turnaround for the Bucs, and a reason why they have a top five defense in the league.

Anzalone has also cleaned up his tackling as well after a slow start. There’s a tenacity to his game that has been really picked up by the rest of the unit. He’s playing downhill football, contributing to stopping the run along with his interceptions that have come at important moments. Clutch plays, including his game-winning interception at Dallas, have been the name of Anzalone’s game.

Adam Slivon: A’Shawn Robinson Has Been Worth Every Penny

A’Shawn Robinson received the Bucs’ largest free-agent contract on a per-year basis, but there is no question he has been worth every penny of the one-year, $10 million deal he signed. Robinson came to Tampa Bay as a 10-year veteran, someone who could provide much-needed leadership in the trenches and stabilizing play. He has exceeded even the loftiest expectations on both fronts as a key piece along the defensive line.

Bucs DT A’Shawn Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Starting with his leadership, look no further than him taking over the pre-game huddle responsibilities from Antoine Winfield Jr. When Robinson talks, other players listen. Even though he wasn’t named a team captain, he is every bit of a veteran leader on the unit. Vita Vea said as much discussing his impact last week.

“He’s one of those guys that comes in and brings a certain type of mentality to the defense and especially to our room,” Vea said. “He’s a very vocal guy in that sense, so he definitely brings a lot of energy for us, and it’s something that I feel like we’ve been missing in our room. He brings that intensity for us, so it’s definitely good energy to feed off of.”

It isn’t just Robinson’s presence that has made him worth his contract. He is playing some of his best football in his age-31 season. Robinson has played just 45% of the defensive snaps, but he has recorded 22 tackles, two interceptions, and a sack through eight games. He has as many interceptions as Zyon McCollum and Jacob Parrish, and at one point he had the team-lead in picks – as a defensive tackle.

Pro Football Focus has Robinson ranked as the team’s highest-graded defender, which says a lot given the defense’s dominance. When he signed with Tampa Bay, the thought process was that he should be an upgrade over Logan Hall and Greg Gaines. He has been that and much more.

Bailey Adams: We’re Starting To See It With Kenny Gainwell

When the Bucs signed Kenny Gainwell to a two-year, $14 million contract this offseason, it felt a little rich for a No. 2 running back behind starter Bucky Irving. But soon enough, head coach Todd Bowles made it clear that they were viewing Irving and Gainwell as a 1A/1B rather than a No. 1 and No. 2. Now, the first portion of the regular season didn’t exactly give anyone any real insight into what Tampa Bay’s front office personnel and coaches were envisioning with the former Eagles and Steelers running back.

However, over the last two weeks, Gainwell has emerged as an absolute force with his two best games of the season – which just so happened to be in conjunction with two of Irving’s best games of the season and two Buccaneers wins. All of a sudden, we’re seeing what the team was envisioning with these two backs, and it’s safe to say that Gainwell has played an important role alongside Irving in establishing an offensive identity for this Tampa Bay team.

Bucs RB Kenny Gainwell – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

First, Gainwell broke out with a season-high 88 yards on 14 carries in a win at Carolina, averaging a very healthy 6.3 yards per carry and helping to wear down the Panthers defense. The Bucs ran for 258 yards on the day, and while Irving came away as the leading rusher, Gainwell wasn’t far behind and played a critical role in keeping Carolina on its heels.

Then, this past Sunday, Gainwell was once again right there with Irving as the two helped Tampa Bay set a new single-game franchise record of 324 rushing yards in a win over Atlanta. This time around, the 27-year-old rushed for a career-high 140 yards on 25 carries, averaging 5.6 yards per attempt. The Bucs won 16-0, and as the second half wound down, it was Gainwell who continued to punish the Falcons defense and find yards to help salt away the victory.

As much as A’Shawn Robinson has stood out as one of the best free agent signings all season long on the defensive side of the ball, I think we’re starting to see the best of Kenny Gainwell – and we’re starting to see the Bucs’ vision for their backfield. If offensive coordinator Zac Robinson can find more creative and successful ways to put Gainwell’s receiving ability to use, too, that could take things to a completely new level. For now, though, I have to give the veteran running back his props for the role he’s playing alongside Irving and the offensive line to establish this offense’s identity.

Josh Queipo: Jalon Daniels Helped Get The Bucs Off Of Life Support

A bit of a non-traditional choice, but Jalon Daniels was an undrafted free agent signing for the Bucs, not a draft pick. Tampa Bay was winless when he took over for an injured Baker Mayfield. And it was Daniels who was at the helm of the offense when the Bucs beat the Dallas Cowboys for their first victory of the season. That win in primetime on Thursday Night Football, was the catalyst that took the Bucs from their previous trajectory towards the first overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, to their current path of driver’s seat for the NFC South crown.

Bucs QB Jalon Daniels – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Daniels went 1-2 as a starter, but the win was a crucial one. Since taking over for Mayfield in the waning moments of Week three, Daniels completed 61.8% of his passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns to five interceptions. He’s added 126 yards on the ground (not counting his two kneel downs at the end of the Bucs’ 43-13 win over the Panthers).

A good backup is someone who can save a season. The Eagles have been unable to win a game since Jalen Hurts was put on IR earlier this season. The Bears are in the thick of the NFC playoff picture after holding serve with multiple backups while Caleb Williams was injured. Daniels kept hope alive within the Bucs locker room. The team believed they could still win with him directing the offense. He proved their faith was well founded. At the most important position on the field, Daniels provided enough life to keep the Bucs’ season alive.

Nick Geddes: Al-Quadin Muhammad Has Been A Steal For Tampa Bay

Al-Quadin Muhammad wasn’t the high-priced free agent pass rusher that many Bucs fans wanted general manager Jason Licht to sign. He did, however, come with great value coming off a career-high 11-sack season with the Lions. Licht got him for up to $6 million for one year and so far, the 31-year-old has easily outplayed that contract.

Bucs OLB Al-Quadin Muhammad – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

Through eight games, Muhammad has two sacks, six tackles, and two quarterback hits, to go along with seven pressures. The numbers might not jump off the page, but Muhammad has been solid against the run and is currently Pro Football Focus’ ninth-highest graded outside linebacker. He also has proven to be a huge upgrade over both of last year’s disappointments at outside linebacker – Haason Reddick and Chris Braswell.

For a rotational piece, Muhammad is playing his role tremendously well for the Bucs. With Yaya Diaby perhaps set to miss some time, look for Muhammad to continue to see more opportunities alongside David Walker and Rueben Bain Jr. He’s been the right piece to the Bucs’ pass rush puzzle this year.