The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be replacing at least one of their offensive line starters in 2022, if not more, and they have now retained one possible replacement.
On Sunday, the Buccaneers re-signed guard Aaron Stinnie, who was due to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) next Wednesday, to a one-year contract. Stinnie is the first of the Buccaneers' 23 potential UFAs to re-sign with the team, although wide receiver Chris Godwin was given the franchise tag on Tuesday.
Stinnie has spent the past two-and-a-half seasons with the Buccaneers after originally arriving as a waiver claim in November of 2019. During Tampa Bay's run to the Super Bowl LV championship, Stinnie stepped in for injured right guard Alex Cappa and was lauded for his performance in three postseason starts. Stinnie then competed with Cappa for the starting job in 2021, though the Buccaneers chose to remain with the incumbent.
Now Cappa is a pending unrestricted free agent, as is Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen. Even if the Buccaneers are able to re-sign Cappa and Jensen, they must replaced Pro Bowl left guard Ali Marpet, who elected to retire last month. Stinnie is an obvious candidate for that left guard spot, or any others that may open on the interior line.
Stinnie first entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans out of James Madison in 2018. He made the Titans' roster as a rookie and appeared in six games over the next season-and-a-half before being waived midway through his second season and claimed by the Buccaneers.
Stinnie made his first regular-season start last season, replacing an injured Ali Marpet in Week 12 against the Indianapolis Colts. However, Stinnie suffered a knee injury in that contest and subsequently spent five weeks on injured reserve before being activated prior to the regular-season finale. In all, he saw action in eight games in 2021, including the postseason.
Overall, Stinnie has played in 23 games with four starts, including the playoffs. After re-signing with the Bucs on Sunday, he will have a chance to nail down a more permanent starting job.