After his rookie contract reached its end, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s time with the Bucs is officially over, as he is signing with the Cleveland Browns, per Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports. The deal is reportedly for one year and $4.75 million.

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s Time In Tampa Bay

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs drafted Tryon-Shoyinka in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He was considered a high-upside player with great physical tools. But after sitting out the 2020 season due to Covid, he was also considered a raw project. Tampa Bay was willing to take that bet as they had two established pass rushers at outside linebacker in Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett.

Tryon-Shoyinka spent his rookie season working behind the two veterans while head coach Todd Bowles moved him around the defense in a hybrid joker role. He posted respectable numbers with 33 pressures and four sacks. The Bucs allowed Pierre-Paul to move on following that season and JTS moved into the starting lineup.

His pressure rate increased from 8.9% to 10.7%, but his sack rate remained static. Still, Tryon-Shoyinka displayed solid coverage skills, which are a plus in a Todd Bowles system, as well as strong run defense. The biggest issue with him that season was an inability to convert pressures into sacks. His 21.7% missed tackle rate was better than his rookie season, but still entirely too high as he left several sacks on the table.

The 2023 season was similarly disappointing, and the Bucs reduced his snap count from 884 to 625 as the team relied more on rookie Yaya Diaby down the stretch. Despite the reduced playtime, he improved his sacks to a career-high 5.0, while his pressures dropped from 48 to 30.

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

At the close of the season, the team decided not to pick up his fifth-year option. This would be the first time a Jason Licht first-round draft pick would not have his option exercised or receive an early contract extension.

The 2024 season would be a contract year for the former first-rounder. He was back in the starting lineup as the team moved on from Barrett. He came out of the gate strong with a Week 1 sack, but would not record his next until Week 10. He would once again lose his starting role following the Bucs’ Week 11 bye and he would miss Weeks 13 and 14 due to injury. He finished the season with the lowest pressure and sack totals of his career at 24 and 2.0, respectively.

Asked at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine about Tryon-Shoyinka, Bowles said he did a lot of things right, except for the overall main job of an outside linebacker in his system: get to the quarterback.

“I think Joe did everything right for us except get to the quarterback on a consistent basis,” Bowles said. “I thought from a run standpoint he was fine, from a drop standpoint he was fine, from a toughness standpoint, he was fine. He did everything [we asked of him]. Obviously, when you think edge rushers, you want to think get to the quarterback first.

“And that didn’t show up from a double-digit standpoint and some of it – we drop differently than normal teams and some of it is you have to turn the corner at some point but just rushing the passer a little bit more will be the only thing. Everything else, he did okay.”

Drafting Diaby in the third round of the 2023 Draft and Chris Braswell in the second round of the 2024 Draft combined with the declining of his option meant the writing was on the wall for Tryon-Shoyinka regarding the team’s lack of interest in continuing the two parties’ relationship beyond his rookie deal.

While he never lived up to his impressive draft ceiling, Tryon-Shoyinka is still a serviceable rotational edge. He can play early downs as a run defender and is a good dropper in a league that is increasingly using fire blitzes and simulated pressures. He will slot into a depth role with the Browns.

For his career, Tryon Shoyinka has 138 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 15.0 sacks, eight passes defensed, two forced fumbles and 135 pressures over four years.