FAB 3. Every Buccaneer Should Know Minter’s Tale About Free Agency

Bucs middle linebacker Kevin Minter has a tale that all 18 of Tampa Bay’s pending free agents should know about as they consider their looming financial decisions in the 2020 offseason.

The grass isn’t always greener elsewhere – even if the cash is momentarily.

Instead of re-signing with Arizona, the team that drafted him in the second round in 2013, Minter signed a one-year deal worth $4 million with Cincinnati. It was a move that would nearly derail his NFL career.

Former Cardinals ILB Kevin Minter – Photo by: Getty Images

“That was my exact situation when I left Arizona to go to Cincinnati,” Minter said. “They offered me near double what I was making and I went and it was not a good fit. This whole game is a roll of the dice. You never know how it’s going to work out. Obviously, I felt good going into the situation and when I got there the situation ended up being not what I thought it was. You never really know. It really is a roll of the dice. It seems like the perfect situation on paper and then you go there and it’s awful.”

Minter, who played in a 3-4 scheme in Arizona, wasn’t a good fit in the Bengals’ 4-3 defense and recorded just 39 tackles and no splash plays in nine games before missing the rest of the season with a hamstring injury. Cincinnati didn’t re-sign Minter in the 2018 offseason and he was forced to sign a league-minimum deal with the New York Jets where his former defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, was the head coach.

Minter didn’t land a starting role in New York, and his limited experience on special teams due to being a starter in Arizona and Cincinnati prompted the Jets to go with a younger linebacker as the backup because he had better special teams ability. At age 27, Minter wondered if his NFL career was over as no other team signed him until Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht came calling midway through the 2018 season.

Licht helped draft Minter out of LSU in 2013 when he was in Arizona, and knew he was still a good linebacker. After losing both Kwon Alexander and Jack Cichy to season-ending knee injuries, Minter was signed and showed he could not only play on defense, but on special teams. In his brief stint with Tampa Bay last year, Minter made four special teams tackles, which was tied for third on the team, in addition to six tackles on defense and a sack before being placed on injured reserve.

Bucs ILB Kevin Minter – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Anticipating the drafting of LSU linebacker Devin White with the fifth overall pick this year, Licht re-signed Minter, a player White looks up to, to a one-year deal to be a backup middle linebacker. That proved to be a wise move as White went down with a knee injury in Week 2 and Minter responded with 29 tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups in three and a half games of action. Minter is also tied for third on the team with three special teams tackles this year and also has a fumble recovery.

Minter is one of the Bucs’ 19 pending unrestricted free agents. His days as a starting linebacker were over once he landed a big payday with the Bengals – a situation that just didn’t work out. Since that fateful decision, Minter has been relegated to a role as an NFL backup linebacker.

“A lot of those guys are vets and this isn’t their first team – they’ve seen it themselves,” Minter said. “A guy signs somewhere and it looks like a match made in heaven and then all of a sudden, all hell breaks loose. That fear is in the back of everyone’s mind, but at the same time, you only have a short period of time to make a lot of money. It’s a tough decision – right fit by staying put or more money elsewhere? And there is only a certain amount of cap room teams have, and decisions have to be made upstairs and also within the locker room.”

At age 29, Minter has accepted his fate and wants to return to Tampa Bay and contribute any way he can, whether it’s backing up White or Lavonte David should either get injured, or being a force on special teams. Minter loves playing for Bowles and head coach Bruce Arians, and also loves the direction the Buccaneers are heading in.

Bucs ILB Kevin Minter – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I’ve loved Coach Bowles for years,” Minter said. “I told guys about him in OTAs – he’s going to play to your strengths. He’s going to get you in the best position for you to execute. You can’t put a value on that. That kind of stuff goes through a player’s mind when it’s contract time. Obviously the money is part of it, but is the grass really greener on the other side? It’s all a betting game.

“I absolutely want to stay here. I love the organization and the coaches. These are the coaches that drafted me. I love the locker room. And at the end of the day, it’s Tampa, Florida. I would love to be here if it’s possible, but it’s a two-way street. At the end of the day, it is a business – and that’s what sucks about this game sometimes.”