Getty Rakeem Nunez-Roches
Tampa Bay re-signed nose tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches on Thursday, maintaining its free agency upper hand over the New England Patriots.
Nunez-Roches signed a two-year, $5 million contract that could pay him up to $6.5 million per NFL insider Adam Caplan. The 6-2, 307-pound Bucs veteran will get $2.25 million guaranteed.
#Buccaneers are re-signing DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches for 2 years, $5m, with up to $6.5m with $2.25m guaranteed, source said.
Known as “Nacho” Nunez-Roches will also get $2.75 million guaranteed in the second year of his contract. He also will earn $1.5 million “in playtime incentives” per The Athletic’s Greg Auman.
The Patriots had an interest in the former Southern Mississippi standout per Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal. He worked out for the Patriots before the 2015 NFL Draft per Daniels.
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“Nacho” Emerges With Bucs
Kansas City drafted Nunez-Roches, who played for the Chiefs until 2017 before being released. He had 51 tackles with the Chiefs in three seasons. The Bucs picked him up in 2018 as a free agent where he played sparingly in 2018 and 2019 with 11 tackles.
He helped the Bucs after nose tackle Vita Vea’s ankle injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season in 2020.
“It was simple. A man went down. You’ve just got to do your job,” Nunez-Roches said in a February press conference before the Big Game. “You know, everybody’s gotta be in a spot on our defense. And if you just do that, and hold it down, and you execute, you know, you don’t have to worry about too much, you know, and that’s what we did.”
Nunez-Roches posted 20 tackles as he helped the Bucs finish sixth in total yards allowed, 327.1 yards per game, and eighth in points allowed, 22.2 per game. The Bucs notably led the league in run defense, 80.6 yards per game, with Vea — the second year in a row for the team.
“Most of the credit goes to coach [Todd] Bowles because he put us in a position to make those plays,” Nunez-Roches said
His 2020 season ended with facing his old team in the Super Bowl, which he called “fun”. “It’s a great thing,” he said. “Just to be able to be in this situation and go against them is just like a dream come true.”
Nunez-Roches hopes to make more dreams come true with Tampa in 2021.
Moving the Chains on Free Agency
Tampa continues to find ways to keep free agents in the Bay for next season as Nunez-Roches became the latest to re-sign.
The Bucs secured key defensive starters in linebackers Lavonte David and Shaquil Barrett over the past two weeks. Linebacker Kevin Minter and Nunez-Roches staying aboard only helps the team’s defensive depth.
On offense, the Bucs franchise-tagged wide receiver Chris Godwin and re-signed tight end Rob Gronkowski, which returns two of the most reliable pass catches for quarterback Tom Brady. The Bucs also kept depth on the offensive line by re-signing guard Aaron Stinnie.
Tampa also shored up special teams amid free agency by re-signing kicker Ryan Succop.
The Bucs still have more than 15 free agents to sign in the campaign to keep the 2020 Super Bowl team together as much as possible. That list includes defensive end Ndamukong Suh, wide receiver Antonio Brown, and running back Leonard Fournette.
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