The Buccaneers are declining their 2025 option on S Jordan Whitehead, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. That will make Whitehead an unrestricted free agent when the new league year starts in March ... unless Tampa Bay brings him back. Garafolo says GM Jason Licht is keeping that possibility open.
Licht: "Jordan is a great guy. Love to have him back. Just need to make sure he's healthy."
Whitehead landed on the non-football injury list ahead of Week 18 after suffering injuries in a car accident. He's expected to be fully healthy well ahead of the coming season, though.
Before that, Whitehead managed just 11 starts before hitting IR for a Week 12 pectoral injury. He returned for just one game before the car accident but played every snap in that contest.
For the year, Whitehead posted just the third-highest fantasy scoring average of his career. He landed outside the top 50 DBs in fantasy points per game -- in part because he failed to grab an INT for the first time since his 2018 rookie season.
Whitehead has been a starter since Week 6 of that year and figures to at least get an opportunity to start somewhere in 2025. Don't expect him to be more than a DB4-level pick in IDP drafts, though.
The decline of Whitehead's option obviously leaves a spot open in Tampa Bay's secondary at the moment. But they don't appear to have anyone on the current roster ready to take advantage.
Even with all his missed time, Whitehead still played more snaps than any other Bucs safety in 2024. No. 2 Christian Izien served more of an emergency fill-in role around the secondary and fell back out of the lineup whenever starters got healthy.
Expect the Bucs to address their defensive backfield in both free agency and the draft this offseason.
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