Bucs GM Jason Licht On Jordan Whitehead’s Departure: 'I Was Wrong'

After Jason Licht drafted Jordan Whitehead in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the former Pitt Panther ascended to the starting lineup by his second season. In 2020 Whitehead had his best season to that point in his career, grading out from the football grading site Pro Football Focus with a 66.3 overall grade and 63.7 coverage grade. Whitehead finished his rookie contract with the Bucs with an even better season in 2021 with a 74.9 overall grade and 72.2 coverage grade.

Whitehead paired with Antoine Winfield Jr. to create one of the best safety tandems in the NFL and the Bucs secondary that he was a big part of helped shut down Kansas City’s vaunted passing attack in the Super Bowl that year, preventing them from scoring a single touchdown. Whitehead recorded two tackles and was not targeted in coverage.

After amassing 292 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, two sacks, five interceptions, 25 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and two fumbles recovered Whitehead and the Bucs were unable to come to an agreement on a second contract and the safety departed in free agency. He signed a two-year, $14.5 million contract with the New York Jets.

Bucs Safety Play Struggled After Whitehead

Tampa Bay initially tried to fill the void Jordan Whitehead left with an internal promotion, pushing Mike Edwards from a rotational role to the starting safety spot opposite Antoine Winfield Jr. in 2022. Edwards contributed 82 tackles, one sack, three passes defensed and two interceptions. The hope from the team was that while Edwards would give up some of the hard-hitting enforcing presence that Whitehead provided in favor of more turnovers. But that didn’t quite come to fruition as Edwards’ interception total failed to eclipse Whitehead’s in each of the previous two seasons.

Edwards would also depart Tampa Bay for Kansas City following the 2022 season. After a year in which neither Keanu Neal nor Logan Ryan proved to be better than Edwards, the Bucs tried to bring in an under-the-radar free agent in Ryan Neal last year. The results of that acquisition were disappointing as Neal struggled mightily and eventually was replaced in the starting lineup by a rotation of Kaevon Merriweather, Dee Delaney and Zyon McCollum.

After watching a secondary that has struggled at times since his departure while simultaneously seeing Whitehead thrive as a part of one of the best defenses in the NFL, Licht had a chance this off-season to rectify a self-admitted mistake and bring home his Super Bowl safety. With a flooded safety market that included Jamal Adams, Justin Simmons, Xavier McKinney, Kevin Byard and Geno Stone Licht was able to do so at a reduced price-tag that Tampa Bay could afford.