The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are re-signing running back Leonard Fournette to a one-year, $3.25 million deal worth up to $4 million, per Ian Rapoport. This brings back a solid running back tandem of Fournette and Ronald Jones II as the top two guys in the backfield for the Bucs.

Reports came out that Fournette had been in discussions with both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, but Tom Brady was able to help recruit him back to Tampa for another season.

Many believed that Fournette would be the odd man out when it came to Tampa Bay re-signing a long list of their best players, with the thought that the asking price would be too high for the running back position. This is just another example of the tremendous job that GM Jason Licht and the front office have done to keep so many talented players around and still stay under the cap.

Fournette made his mark in Bucs history with a great playoff run on the way to winning Super Bowl LV. Once he took the starting job from Jones II after the Bucs second rounder came down with COVID and a separate quad injury, Fournette rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns in four playoff games and also added 148 receiving yards and a score. The run he went on coined the moniker “Playoff Lenny” which then grew into”Lombardi Lenny” after the Bucs’ Super Bowl win.

While the Bucs keep their best two running backs on the roster, they may not necessarily be done acquiring players at that position. LeSean McCoy is not expected to return to the team this season, which opens up another spot that the Bucs might address in the draft as they would still like a player with more receiving ability. Currently the Bucs have Fournette, Jones and Ke’Shawn Vaughn under contract.

Since the new NFL season has started, the Bucs have been able to re-sign Fournette, Shaq Barrett, Ryan Succop, Ndamukong Suh and Rob Gronkowski already. That leaves just wide receiver Antonio Brown as the only unsigned starter from the Bucs’ Super Bowl Championship team.