Safety Jordan Whitehead won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season and landed a nice two-year deal with the New York Jets in free agency in 2022. Now, with that Jets contract expiring, Whitehead is coming back to his original NFL home.
On Wednesday, the Buccaneers announced that they have agreed to terms with Whitehead, their fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, on a two-year pact, returning him to a secondary in which he started 55 games from 2018-21. The former Pitt standout is the first free agent from another roster that the Buccaneers have signed in 2024, as their first efforts focused on keeping the likes of Mike Evans, Baker Mayfield, Antoine Winfield Jr., Chase McLaughlin and Lavonte David in the fold.
Whitehead is likely to become running mates once again with Winfield, who won first-team Associated Press All-Pro honors in 2023 and recently received the franchise tag from the Buccaneers. Those two formed the Bucs' starting safety duo in 25 games during the 2020-21 campaigns. Last season, Winfield held down one of the starting spots more than ably but the Bucs spread the other safety snaps around quite a bit between Ryan Neal, Dee Delaney, Kaevon Merriweather and Zyon McCollum.
Whitehead had a productive two seasons with the Jets while playing and starting all 34 of the team's games. He totaled 186 tackles in that span to go with six interceptions and 17 passes defensed. He picked off a career-high four passes last season while falling just three tackles shy of 100.
In his first four seasons with the Buccaneers, Whitehead racked up 292 tackles in 59 games and added five interceptions, 25 passes defensed, 2.0 sacks and 22 tackles for loss. He also forced and recovered two fumbles. In six playoff games he added another 22 tackles, a pass defensed and two forced fumbles. In the 2020 NFC Championship Game in Green Bay, Whitehead started the second half by forcing an Aaron Jones fumble deep in Green Bay territory, leading to a quick Buccaneers touchdown and a 28-10 lead the Bucs would never relinquish.
