On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed two players whose most significant contributions have come on special teams: long-snapper Andrew Economos and linebacker Jacob Cutrera.
Economos, in fact, was one of the Buccaneers' special teams captains in 2012 and he has been the team's primary long-snapper for most of the past seven seasons. Cutrera had three kick-coverage stops in just eight games last fall.
Economos had become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday, March 12. As a player who had fewer than four seasons of accrued free agency credit but no tender offer, Cutrera was essentially in the same category. Those two were the first unrestricted free agents the Bucs have re-signed since the start of the new league year, though they previously brought back restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent Corvey Irvin.
The 6-1, 250-pound Economos first signed with the Buccaneers in 2006, though an injury limited him to three games that season. Over the next six seasons, he has handled all of the team's kick-snapping duties, with the exception of seven games in 2011. He was first voted as a special teams captain in 2010, then again in 2012.
Economos originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Jacksonville in 2005. Coincidentally, that was Cutrera's professional entry point as well, as he signed with the Jaguars five years later after going undrafted. He made the roster as a rookie in Jacksonville and played in eight games, primarily on special teams. Cutrera started his second NFL season on the Jaguars' practice squad but was plucked off that crew by the Buccaneers in October. Since then, he has played in 16 games and contributed six special teams tackles.
