INTRO: The Bucs need to bounce back from Monday night’s loss to the Lions with a win versus the 1-6 Saints at New Orleans. Can Jamel Dean, who had a pair of picks at the Superdome back in 2022, continue his sensational season – and perhaps even get re-signed by Tampa Bay in free agency? I’ll also talk about the lesson Josh Grizzard learned in Detroit, and SirVocea Dennis admits he needs to play better in this week’s SR’s FAB 5 column. Enjoy!

FAB 1. Would The Bucs Consider Re-Signing Jamel Dean?

Don’t look now, but Jamel Dean is making quite a scene. The 29-year old cornerback is playing the best football of his career in a sudden contract year when the Bucs forced him to take a massive pay cut in a contract restructure that resulted in Dean getting the chance to become a free agent in 2026.

Dean, who has struggled with injuries and dropping interceptions in recent years, has missed a game and a half due to a hip injury, but is now healthy and has a career-high three – THREE – interceptions on the season to lead Tampa Bay.

“I don’t know, there must be something in the water, right?” Dean said with his ever-present smile when asked how he’s come down with three interceptions so far with 10 games to go. “It’s definitely experience because being in this system, you know how teams are going to attack you. I start cheating towards where I think the ball is going and then I just take my chances on it.”

Dean is the highest-graded Bucs defender in 2025, and the crazy thing is that the team is preparing to let him walk in free agency.

More on that in a moment, but let’s talk about the sensational season that Dean is having so far, and how this situation has unfolded.

The Bucs were so down on Dean, who couldn’t finish the last two playoff losses at Detroit in 2023 and versus Washington last year due to injury, that the team demanded that he take a pay cut and then drafted not one, but two cornerbacks on Day 2 – in Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison and Kansas State’s Jacob Parrish.

Parrish won the nickelback job early in camp and has showed some promise early, but Morrison has dealt with constant hamstring injuries since he’s arrived. Morrison missed the final day of mandatory mini-camp, followed by an entire month of training camp and all three preseason games, and then three games this season being hamstrung.

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

There is still more than half of the season to go, but the Bucs could be in quite a pickle if things keep trending in the current direction. If Dean continues at this pace, he could make his first Pro Bowl – and he’ll be in position to demand more than the $13 million per year contract the Bucs gave him back in 2023.

Through Week 7, Dean is Pro Football Focus’ second-ranked cornerback in the entire NFL. He has a career-high 86.4 overall grade with a 76.6 run defense grade, an 85.3 tackling grade, a 99.6 pass rush grade and a 76.5 coverage grade.

In addition to his three picks, Dean has yet to give up a touchdown in coverage. NFL quarterbacks have a 24.3 QB rating when throwing in his direction.

At the very least, Dean, who was making an average of $13 million on his latest contract with the Bucs, could absolutely cash in elsewhere in free agency. Dean’s former Tampa Bay teammate, Carlton Davis III, is also 29 and signed a three-year, $54 million contract with New England worth $18 million per season as a starting cornerback.

Dean is currently making just $4.25 million in base salary and has per game bonuses that can total up to an extra $750,000.

Interceptions have been hard to come by in Tampa Bay lately and Dean has been a culprit himself with just one over the past two seasons. The last time a Bucs cornerback had four interceptions was when Davis did it in 2020.

Of course that was the year where Davis, Dean and the Bucs’ “Gravediggers” secondary helped win a Super Bowl. So perhaps Dean’s sudden surge of INTs is a key indicator that Tampa Bay might be on the verge of a special season.

“Carlton – that gives me something to shoot for,” Dean said. “Now I have to go for five. I’m feeling great knowing I have a career-high three interceptions. It’s still in progress for the most part. I’m just feeling more confident and attacking the football. Still going for PBUs, but my mindset is to go for the interception. Now if I do drop it, knock on wood, it’s still a PBU. Can’t really lose in that situation.”

The Bucs are preparing to lose Dean in free agency by rotating Morrison, now healthy, in for a few series in each of the last two games. Most teams would not take their top-rated cornerback off the field for a play just to play an unproven rookie corner – let alone multiple plays. That seems foolish.

But the Bucs have to get Morrison ready to take over for Dean in 2026 in case he does indeed move on next year in free agency.

Bucs LB Lavonte David and CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: USA Today

What a weird situation Todd Bowles and the Bucs are in right now.

“Dean has been playing great ball – we love where he’s at right now,” Bowles said. “It’s okay still to bring Morrison along and get him some series in there between them, but Dean plays the bulk of the game. We’re happy with the reps we’re getting him and we’re happy with the reps we’re getting Morrison with. It’s been going pretty [well].”

Dean is one of the easiest-going teammates around. He doesn’t seem to mind getting a series or two off each game – at least that’s what he’s saying publicly.

“It don’t really bother me,” Dean said. “I just take advantage of the opportunities I get when I’m on the field. It really didn’t make a difference for me. Alright, I’m just on the sidelines.”

Dean had to watch fellow cornerback Zyon McCollum get a new three-year, $48 million contract worth $16 million per year back in August. McCollum has been solid this year, but not spectacular. He missed the 49ers game after having thumb surgery, but returned to action against the Lions. McCollum has a 67.8 PFF grade, including a 66.1 coverage grade. He has yet to record an interception, while surrendering three touchdowns.

So why isn’t Bowles rotating Morrison with McCollum instead of Dean?

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

“It’s been Dean’s side,” Bowles said. “As he gets that side down, we’ll start to rotate him on the other side.

“[Dean] is in a good place. We started this at the beginning of the year as soon as Morrison got healthy. It’s something he’s used to – Dean is used to it, Morrison is used to it. The guys understand their roles very well. It helps with the competition over there, as well. Dean has been playing great football. Morrison has been playing solid football when we put him out there. Right now, we’re very happy with where we’re at, and I think both guys are benefiting from that.”

So in 2026 Tampa Bay could lose the great cornerback in free agency and then be stuck with the solid cornerback – and hope Morrison eventually develops into a great cornerback one day. More important, the Bucs have to hope that Morrison’s injury-riddled rookie season isn’t a sign of things to come.

To add another layer of angst to this situation is the fact that if Dean continues to play well and signs elsewhere in 2026, the Bucs won’t even get a compensatory pick because they restructured his contract, shaving off a year of his contract.

And Tampa Bay would be forced to draft another cornerback for depth to replace Dean on the roster in 2026.

In some ways, this has become a dream scenario for the Bucs regarding Dean, who seems to play better with competition – think of the constant battle for the starting job between he and Sean Murphy-Bunting from 2019-2021. Maybe Dean got too complacent since signing his contract extension in 2023. Perhaps he needed to be backed into a corner this season to play his best ball, having to fend off Morrison in training camp for the right to continue to start.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that I bet on myself,” Dean said. “I take it very personal, but it’s a great feeling that I’m trending in the right direction.”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

Maybe the Bucs look at this sensational season that Dean is having as an anomaly more than a sign of things to come, and won’t run the risk of even attempting to re-sign him in the 2026 offseason.

Or maybe Bucs general manager Jason Licht and Bowles will realize that they would be better off with Dean moving forward and roll the dice on him again at age 30, rather than depleting the talent at the cornerback position and having to find another one in the draft or free agency next offseason.

I asked Dean if he would even consider re-signing with the Bucs next season if they wanted to keep him after forcing him into a pay cut and a sudden contract year.

Dean’s smile quickly faded, and he told me that’s something that he’s not even thinking about right now.

He loves playing for Bowles and with his Buccaneers teammates, but it’s pretty clear that he did not like being put in this situation contractually speaking this year.

Even if it has forced Dean into playing his best football.

FAB 2. Josh Grizzard’s Big Lesson Learned From The Loss To The Lions

Sometimes in games where not much is working offensively, pass game coordinators will default to what they know – which is the passing game, of course.

When in doubt, pass the football, especially when a team has a serious NFL MVP candidate playing quarterback like Tampa Bay does in Baker Mayfield, right?

Well that’s not always the correct answer.

And now Josh Grizzard, who replaced Liam Coen as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator after being the pass game coordinator last year, knows that dropping back to pass the ball 54 times while only running it 11 times was not the recipe for success in Monday’s loss at Detroit.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

As if he didn’t realize it after the game, that point was made clear to the rookie play-caller in a meeting with head coach Todd Bowles on Tuesday.

“We know that’s not a good formula for success,” Bowles said. “We can’t run the ball 11, 12 times and throw it 50-plus times. We’ve got to be more balanced than that. We were in the game enough – 14–3 at the half – for us to run it a little bit more. The circumstances got crazy at the end, but we’ve got to be more balanced than that and we’ve got to establish more of a run game.”

Bowles saw former offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who was an NFL quarterback during his playing days, do that too often in 2022, which led to his firing. Bowles wanted the Bucs to lean on Leonard Fournette and Rachaad White in the running game more than Tom Brady’s arm, especially with Brady being 43 years old.

In a 41-31 loss to Kansas City in Week 4 during the 2022 season, Brady threw the ball 52 times and Leftwich ran the ball just six times for three yards in that game. Brady wound up leading the NFL with 733 pass attempts as Tampa Bay went 8-9 in Bowles’ first year as head coach. Leftwich was fired after the 2022 season.

Consider Monday night’s lopsided play-calling a lesson learned by the 35-year old Grizzard.

“Yeah 50 throws in a game cannot happen,” Grizzard said. “It’s got to be through leaning on the run, trusting the run, and sticking to that – especially in the first half – being able to establish it. Once you got into the fourth quarter and it was, what, 13-14 minutes left and it essentially turned into a two-minute drill, then you’re really forced to throw it. If we can handle that earlier on and keep that thing closer, that way we can now turn the fourth quarter into having an opportunity to run some of them, I think it evens the game out a little bit.”

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Grizzard admitted that he got impatient, seeing the Bucs trail 14-0 early in the first half.

“I’d say as much as anything, the patience and how the game started and how well the defense was playing and trying to stick to some of the things we wanted to hit going in – lean on the run a little bit earlier,” Grizzard said. “Then, a lot of the things we harped on going into the week: handling the crowd noise, not getting into some second-and-longs, and the turnover battle. This is really at the second game where we’ve had turnovers and now it’s the second one we’ve lost.

“But, just the patience, trusting in the guys that it’s going to be there, and again trying to establish the run a little earlier and just keep rolling with that.”

Grizzard and the Bucs offense lost star wide receiver Mike Evans for the rest of the regular season with a broken clavicle. Evans had surgery this week, and veteran receiver Chris Godwin Jr. remains out with a fibula injury. Fixing a running game that has stalled over the last four games, averaging just 76.3 yards on the ground, is the clear priority for the offense at One Buc Place this week.

The Bucs offense has to be more balanced to take some of the pressure off Mayfield and a wide receiving corps that is now starting a pair of rookies in Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson.

“First of all, we want to run the ball regardless of who’s out on the field,” Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. “But you know now, hopefully, we can put that on our shoulders and let Tuck (Sean Tucker) and Rachaad [White] do their thing. I mean they’re really good running backs, so we want to get them out in space and get them up to the second and third level where they can make guys miss and fly around out there. So yeah, I’d say we’ve got to get the run game going, but you know it starts with up front with us.”

That’s music to Mayfield’s ears.

Bucs RB Sean Tucker – Photo by: USA Today

“A lot of those passes – a ton of them obviously [came] in that two-minute situation or the 19-play drive,” Mayfield said. “I think the numbers are a little bit more skewed, but yeah, [we] still want to be able to be a little bit more balanced.

“That is just [because] receivers are going to be tired, offensive line is going to be tired, and with that [Lions] defensive front, you never want to drop back 50 times. It is not really fair for anybody, but it is just the nature of the game – the way it was flowing. If we can prevent getting into that situation, it would be best.”

Grizzard also has to get backup Sean Tucker more involved in the running game, as White played 90% of the snaps last week in Detroit.

“We definitely want to get Sean more snaps – we talked about that as a staff and we understand he has to get more snaps,” Bowles said. “Rachaad can’t take that much of a load, week in and week out, or something is going to happen to him as well. So, we’ve got to get Sean’s reps up.”

The good news is that the Bucs will be facing a Saints team that ranks 23rd in run defense, allowing 129.4 yards per game on the ground, including 222 yards at Chicago last week. Led by Tucker, Tampa Bay ran wild the last time the team played in New Orleans, rushing for 277 yards in a 51-27 win over the Saints in 2024.

FAB 3. SirVocea Dennis Knows He Has To Be Better In Coverage

Regardless of what you might think, Bucs middle linebacker SirVocea Dennis is playing better football. Yes, Dennis was once again in a trail position while covering a back out of the backfield on a swing pass in Tampa Bay’s latest game, a 24-9 loss at Detroit on Monday night.

Jahmyr Gibbs, who is one of the league’s fastest running backs, blazed past Dennis and a few other Bucs defenders on a 30-yard catch-and-run on the Lions’ opening touchdown drive.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson scored on a swing pass that he took 50 yards for a touchdown in Week 1. The next week, Texans rookie running back Woody Marks had a 37-yard catch-and-run and Nick Chubb gained 27 yards on a screen pass.

It hasn’t helped that Todd Bowles has played more man coverage this year, and that Dennis, a fifth-round pick with 4.6 speed, has been matched up with some of the NFL’s elite running backs in coverage.

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

“Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey and Jahymr Gibbs – all three were top 10 picks,” Dennis said. “They’re fast – they’re just world class guys. What do you do? They’re just great athletes honestly. What we’re asked to do in this defense is a lot, but at the end of the day we just have to go out there and perform.

“No excuses, regardless of what happens – how we do it, how we play it out there. We just have to go make plays, me especially. I’m not taking anything away from those guys. Those guys are great. I just have to be better.”

Bowles has called more for man coverage this year as opposed to zone to help his cornerbacks play more effectively on the outside. Jamel Dean has been a big beneficiary and leads the team with three interceptions.

But as opposing offenses are running their receivers downfield that’s clearing out the alleyways along the sidelines for swing passes to some pretty fast running backs. Bowles called more zone defense against McCaffrey because he was truly the 49ers’ lone threat on offense in Week 6, and he was held in check by Dennis, gaining just 57 yards on seven catches.

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis and 49ers RB Brian Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Preventing running backs from turning into deadly receivers against Dennis and linebacker Lavonte David, who is a step slower at age 35, is paramount for Bowles and his coaching staff.

“It’s been three a game – at least three or four a game – and then they play great defense,” Bowles said. “We’ve talked about that as a group. It’s just one thing, but it can’t be one thing on the defensive side of the ball for you to play great defense. We give up about three plays for 150-plus yards, and the rest of the game you look solid – [it] can’t happen. We’ve got to be better there. They understand that, coaches understand that, and we’ve got to get that fixed.”

Up next is Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who at 30 isn’t the threat he used to be. But he still has 598 career catches for 4,885 yards and 25 receiving touchdowns in his nine-year career in New Orleans.

“We’ve got to take away their space,” said Bucs outside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote. “We [have] to adjust, we’ve got to know our leverage, know how to attack those guys. But we’re giving them too much space. We [have] to close in a little bit; we are trying to do too much.

“At the end of the day, we get paid to keep those guys on the ground. Those guys are hard, they are dynamic, as we know, but you [have] to fill the zone and [have] to vice tackles, do those things but we definitely have to address that.”

Dennis is coming off a season-high 12 tackles and his first sack of the season against the Lions, which also matches his career high in terms of stops. Yet he missed four tackles per Pro Football Focus and needs to be better covering running backs out of the backfield.

Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Foote is encouraged with how Dennis is settling into his new role of middle linebacker this season, replacing K.J. Britt.

“He is doing well,” Foote said. “I think he had his first sack, he was ‘geeked up.’ I thought the last two weeks have been his best games. We know the weapons those guys [have], you are going to make some plays, but you have to stay confident. I thought his last two weeks he’s been playing well for us.”

Dennis agrees with Foote’s assessment.

“The momentum is coming and I’m settling down,” Dennis said. “I have to remind myself sometimes that I haven’t played in a year. Things are a little different – they’re not the same as they used to be last year.

“It’s a tough job making the calls and then doing your assignment, but I take it on the chin and wear it with pride. I’m trying to do everything I can do out there. I just have to be better with certain things, and I can be better. It’s just fundamental things – angles, breaking down, not playing with too high of a pad level, bending my knees more and being in the right position. I just have to be better – and I will.”

FAB 4. Tez Johnson, Kool-Aid McKinstry Renew Their Rivalry On Sunday

Sunday’s game in New Orleans will be the first time that Bucs rookie receiver Tez Johnson squares up against Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry at the professional level.

But six years ago, Johnson and McKinstry battled every day in practice at Pinson Valley High School in Birmingham, Ala. Together, Johnson, McKinstry and quarterback Bo Nix helped the Indians win an Alabama state championship in 2018.

Saints CB Kool-Aid McKinstry – Photo by: USA Today

“It’s going to be a big rivalry right there,” Johnson said about facing off against McKinstry at the Superdome. “It’s going to be fun seeing him. It’s about time we meet up again. I’m looking forward to it. No bad blood – it’s all love. We competed a lot in high school and this game is just showing where we came from together. There is going to be a lot of talking back and forth.”

McKinstry was a star cornerback at Alabama and was the Saints’ second-round pick last year. He started 15 games as a rookie, and now leads New Orleans with two interceptions in his second season.

McKinstry was Johnson’s friend and foe as a two-way star back in high school. Johnson and McKinstry were Nix’s go-to weapons at wide receiver in the passing game, but McKinstry was also the team’s top cornerback on defense.

“I only played receiver, and Kool-Aid was the only one who played both sides – receiver and cornerback,” said Johnson, who has scored his first two NFL touchdowns in Tampa Bay’s last two games. “Who was the better receiver? We’ll leave that up to the people to decide (laughs).

Bucs WR Tez Johnson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“My dad (Pinson Valley high school coach Patrick Nix) was really good to have Kool-Aid and I go at it in practice. Some days he had to separate us because it was getting too intense. I’m pretty sure this Sunday is probably going to be that way, too. There’s going to be a lot of intensity between us, but I love him to death. That’s my brother and I wish him the best – except for this week, of course.”

The trash talking between Johnson and McKinstry has already begun as the two have been texting all week leading up to the Week 8 clash in the bayou.

“We’re already at it – and we’ll have a jersey swap after the game,” Johnson said. “We already know what’s at stake because it’s a rivalry game for us – as teams and as players.”

FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• Tampa Bay has 20 sacks through the first seven games of the season, which would put Todd Bowles’ defense on pace for 48 this year. The Bucs’ annual goal is to reach 50 sacks, which is something they have just fallen short of each year since Bowles has been running the defense, which began in 2019. But only seven teams have more sacks than the Bucs, who have racked up 10 sacks in the last two games.

Still that’s not enough for outside linebackers coach Larry Foote, who will now have to play several games without Haason Reddick, who leads the Bucs with 26 pressures, in addition to 1.5 sacks.

Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby and Lions QB Jared Goff – Photo by: USA Today

“Still need more,” Foote said. “[It’s] just the juice; when you watch those guys and you talk to those guys and mention it to them, ‘Hey, energy [and] juice.’ All of the top sack leaders in this league are the best conditioned guys and you [have] to be able to go all day.

“[If] that quarterback [has] the ball [for] three seconds, you’ve got to be hitting him. That is just the standard in that room, but I am looking for energy [and] they [have] to play on fire. As pass rushers, you have to be the best conditioned guys, and you have to be able to go all day. That takes a lot of energy out of you. You have to bull and power [those] big guys, but that is the standard. You [have] to have energy.”

• Anthony Nelson will replace Haason Reddick and start opposite Yaya Diaby, who leads the Bucs with four sacks and has 23 pressures. Nelson picked up his first sack of the season in the second half against Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

“I got confidence in Anthony Nelson,” Bucs outside linebackers coach Larry Foote said. “I showed the guys [that] there [are] banners in that indoor [practice field] because of him. He made some key plays for us through the years. We know what he brings, and he is confident and what an opportunity. He is going to make the most of it.”

Chris Braswell and Markees Watts are going to be the reserves, but there is a chance that practice squad edge rusher Mohamad Kamara will be elevated for the first time for Sunday’s game at New Orleans.

• The Bucs are only 7 games into the season and the team already has 13 different defenders with at least half a sack. That’s an incredible amount of sack diversity, which has been a staple of Todd Bowles’ blitzing defenses over the years.

13 different players with at least half a sack in 2025 (so far)
15 different players with at least half a sack a sack in 2024
14 different players with at least half a sack a sack in 2023
15 different players with at least half a sack a sack in 2022
14 different players with at least half a sack a sack in 2021
13 different players with at least half a sack a sack in 2020
12 different players with at least half a sack a sack in 2019

Bucs SS Tykee Smith and Lions QB Jared Goff – Photo by: USA Today

“I really like being able to get two sacks this year without being able to get them last year, so a big change in that department,” said Bucs strong safety Tykee Smith.

2025 Buccaneers Sacks

OLB Yaya Diaby – 4 sacks
DT Vita Vea – 2.5 sacks
ILB Lavonte David – 2.5 sacks
SS Tykee Smith – 2 sacks
OLB Haason Reddick – 1.5 sacks
DT Elijah Roberts – 1 sack
FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – 1 sack
NCB Jacob Parrish – 1 sack
CB Jamel Dean – 1 sack
ILB SirVocea Dennis – 1 sack
DT Greg Gaines – 1 sack
OLB Anthony Nelson – 1 sack
DT C.J. Brewer – o.5 sack

With two more Bucs defenders getting sacks, the Bucs will tie last year and 2022 for having the most players register at least half a sack since Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay to call the defense in 2019. Chris Braswell, Logan Hall, Elijah Simmons have yet to record their first sack up front – as well as defensive backs Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison and Christian Izien and reserve linebacker Deion Jones.