Buccaneers veteran knows his job is on the line heading into 2025 and he's doing everything he can to keep it

Jamel Dean has been a talking point throughout the offseason and it's clear he has to do two things in 2025 if he wants stick with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2026 and beyond: stay healthy and force takeaways.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has made this clear and he's also made it clear he has no issue with playing second-round rookie Benjamin Morrison over Dean if the seventh-year veteran doesn't step up to the plate.

It may sound harsh, but it's the right way to go about things. Bowles is pushing Dean and that's what good coaches to do. Plus, he fully knows where he stands, which is something any employee would want from their employer.

Dean's No. 1 focus over the offseason has been -and should be- on finding ways to stay healthy. Sure, takeaways are more impactful, but Dean can't pick off a pass if he's not on the field. That message has been received on his end and he's doing everything he can to put himself in a spot to avoid injuries this year.

"I've been more focused on my diet and then more like, active recovery, instead of just sitting around," Dean told reporters after Day 7 of Buccaneers training camp. "Because I know, for the most part, I'm not getting any younger, so I got to do a little more to recover. That's probably like, my main focus this offseason - trying out different diets to see what makes me feel better."

It's never been a major injury that's held him back. It's always been the annoying, nagging injuries that linger around and cause players to miss random chunks of time. Dean has missed nine games, alone, over the last two seasons. He's also played less than 50% of snaps in four additional games and the absences have limited him to just one interception since 2023.

"I have to be more productive this year, and then that involves getting more interceptions instead of just PBUs," said Dean. "(I need) to convert those [into] interceptions and create more turnover opportunities for myself."

It's certainly not just health-related when it comes to his lack of production. With all due respect, there have been times when it seems like Dean is simply allergic to catching the football. Bowles has joked about it on numerous occasions how he drops the ones he should catch and catches the ones he shouldn't, but there's definitely a truth to it and the Bucs need that to change.

Dean's 52 pass deflections are tied for the 22nd-most since 2019, but his eight interceptions are tied for 70th. That's how little he's produced when it comes to actually taking the ball away. He also has just one forced fumble over the course of his entire career.

He's also trying to fix that too, though, and he's going as far as even trying to punch the ball out more. His logic behind it makes sense, too.

"Before practice, I'm catching balls in, like, all different positions and then different angles. Then also during practice, I'm trying to, like, build a habit of punching at the ball any opportunity I get; because I feel like I have more opportunities to punch out a ball than [get] interceptions," Dean explained when asked what he's doing to better his chances at forcing more takeaways.

"Just because you don't get targeted all [of] the time. So at least you could, you know, run to the ball and you [can] probably punch the ball out."

The Bucs can part ways with Dean after 2025 and free up more than $11.2 million in cap room and with Morrison lurking in the shadows, it's clear this is a make-or-break year for Dean. He knows that too and it will be very interesting to see if the offseason work translates into the regular season.