Just hours after introducing the newest member of their secondary, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave him some additional help. The latest addition to a defense that is rapidly getting a facelift is former Minnesota Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson, who signed a one-year deal with the team on Monday afternoon.
Pictures from Robinson's career with the Minnesota Vikings.
Robinson's signing follows those on Friday of cornerback Brent Grimes and defensive end Robert Ayers, the former of whom met with the media on Monday morning in an introductory press conference. While Ayers provides the Buccaneers with some much needed pass-rush help up front, Grimes and Robinson give the secondary a significant boost of talent and experience. The Buccaneers also re-signed safety Chris Conte on Sunday.
Originally a third-round pick out of Central Floria in 2012, Robinson became an unrestricted free agent after four years with the Minnesota Vikings, the last of which was limited to five games by a pectoral injury suffered in the summer. In his three previous Viking campaigns, he played in 42 games with 21 starts and recorded 146 tackles, five interceptions, 15 passes defensed and a forced fumble. In 2014, his most recent complete season, Robinson picked off three passes to go with 40 tackles in 16 games and five starts.
Before Friday, Tampa Bay's roster included only three cornerbacks who had played in a regular-season NFL game: Alterraun Verner, Johnthan Banks and Jude Adjei-Barimah. Two other cornerbacks from the 2015 roster, Mike Jenkins and Sterling Moore, became unrestricted free agents last Wednesday and have not been re-signed. Robinson and Grimes, who have combined for 18 interceptions in the past four years, add playmaking ability to a defense that produced just 11 picks in 2015, and only two by cornerbacks.
The 5-10, 199-pound Robinson started 35 of the 38 games he played at UCF, earning first-team all-conference honors in each of his last two years. A native of Fort Lauderdale, he nabbed 10 interceptions in that span, good for fifth in school history.
