As they prepare for their preseason finale, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added a new player to their roster. Baker Mayfield will guide the offense once the team steps up on the field, but this new signing can help on the defensive side of the ball.
The team announced they are signing cornerback Tre Avery. He played 38 games for the Tennessee Titans over the last three years. He was an average player that defended 11 passes and also recovered a fumble.
Avery just played preseason games with the New England Patriots but now joins the Bucs. Tampa Bay has suffered plenty of injuries in the secondary and given that they don’t want to risk any more starters, Avery will come in handy.
Avery is a good rotational piece
Undrafted back in 2022, Avery started five games out of his 38 outings. While his 2022 advanced stats were great, the 2023 season was not great at all. He went from allowing a 47.7% completion when targeted to a massive 75%. He also allowed a 135.3 rate.
His downgrade might be due to the coaching staff. Going from a very stable, defense-oriented coach like Mike Vrabel to Brian Callahan, who was an offensive coordinator is no easy feat. However, he can be good for the cornerbacks depth chart on the Bucs.
What’s the Buccaneers’ cornerback depth chart?
The starting corners are scheduled to be Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean. Also, third-round rookie Jacob Parrish will probably start at nickel back for Tampa Bay. Shilo Sanders is also on the depth chart but he will likely line up as the backup free safety.
While much has been said about Baker Mayfield and the offense, Tampa Bay’s defense should be very good. In the end, they have talent on all units and Todd Bowles is a very good defensive-minded coach.