Back in March, the Buccaneers' bolstered the secondary by signing former Houston Texan slot cornerback Tavierre Thomas. The five-foot-10, 205-pound nickel appeared in 36 games with 19 starts for the Texans.
In 2023, Thomas missed time on the field due to hand and hamstring ailments, playing in nine games with four starts. He recorded 51 tackles, two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a pass defensed. Thomas began his career as an undrafted free agent in 2018 out of Ferris State and signed with the Arizona Cardinals. He ended up with the Cleveland Browns as a waiver claim to begin his rookie debut. In three seasons in Cleveland, he played in 45 games and made three starts, seeing his most extensive action in 2020. He eventually signed with Houston after not receiving a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent from the Browns.
In Todd Bowles' defense, Thomas has cross-trained at nickel, free safety and strong safety. He has seen the whole field, whether lining up near the line of scrimmage at strong safety or deep in the post at free. Thomas has been building repetition at safety throughout camp, a position he has not played since high school.
"Whatever my role is, I am going to just play," said Thomas. "So, if that is special teams, I am going to be the best special teams player in the NFL. If it is defense, I am going to go out there and help the team win. Whatever I have to do to stay on the team and continue to play at a high level, that is what I am going to do."
While at Ferris State, Thomas could have transferred to a Division 1 program but chose loyalty instead. He had gained rapport with both coaches and teammates and bet on himself, believing that his opportunity in a celebrated stadium would come.
"I feel like if you are good enough, then they will find you," stated Thomas. "I got really close with some of my friends, some of my best friends went there [Ferris State] that were playing football with me and my coach said, 'If you just ball out, no matter where you are, they will find you.' … I stayed the course and kept getting better each and every year."
That decision paid dividends. Now in Tampa Bay, Thomas has been a standout throughout camp, snagging multiple interceptions. Thomas has outstanding straight-line speed and an impressive trigger that has led to plays on the ball. The playmaker has shown his ball skills and has elevated Bowles' defense with his competitive demeanor. Thomas' play on the practice field has drawn attention from the Bucs' brass, including Assistant General Manager John Spytek.
"He's the kind of kid that we love to watch compete," described Spytek. "We've admired him for a couple years when he was on other teams. He's another kid that's just playing hard and doing the right things a lot, and when you do that, the ball finds you. Especially in this defense we put a huge emphasis on turnovers and you're going to get your opportunities. So, if you're ready for them and doing the right stuff, the ball's going to come to you and you're going to find it. I just appreciate the way the kid plays and competes. He's a good teammate. He'll do whatever's asked. He's playing safety, he's playing nickel – we could ask him to do anything."
