Veteran lineman Sua Opeta signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency last March with the hopes of competing to fill the team's opening at left guard. Unfortunately, Opeta suffered a season-ending knee injury during practice in the opening week of training camp and spent his first season in Tampa on injured reserve.
Opeta, who spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles before coming to Tampa, will get another chance to get on the field for the Buccaneers after signing a new one-year deal on Tuesday. He offers versatility and NFL starting experience to a group that returns all five starters after an outstanding 2024 season.
Opeta (6-4, 305) originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Weber State with the Eagles in 2019. After spending his rookie season on the Eagles' practice squad and starting 2020 on the same unit, he was promoted to the active roster in September and ended up making two starts at left guard. Though he ended that season on injured reserve and spent part of the next season back on the practice squad, Opeta made two more spots at left guard in 2021.
After appearing in seven games as a reserve in 2022, Opeta saw his most extensive action in 2023, playing in 13 games with six starts. This time all of his starts came at right guard in relief of an injured Cam Jurgens, contributing to a strong Eagles' O-Line that helped Philadelphia rank eighth in total yards and eighth in rushing yards. Also seeing time at left guard during the season in place of Landon Dickerson, Opeta ended up playing 59% of the team's offensive snaps.
Opeta's primary competition for the Bucs' left guard job heading into training camp last summer was fellow free agency addition Ben Bredeson. Bredeson ended up starting all 17 games on an offensive line that finished third in Pro Football Network's O-Line rankings and allowed a league-low 24.4% pressure rate while also blocking for the NFL's fourth-ranked rushing attack. Bredeson signed a new three-year deal with the Buccaneers earlier this month and remains the presumptive starter at left guard.
Tampa Bay enjoyed good health on its offensive front last year, with the starting five combining for just six missed games, only one among the three interior linemen. The Bucs are returning all 11 offensive starters in 2025 but still want to bolster the depth at every position. Of the six interior offensive line reserves on the Bucs' current roster, only Opeta has logged a regular-season start in the NFL.
