There are only so many players who can make the Pro Bowl Team every year in the NFL, but one player who has a legitimate gripe this season about being snubbed is Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft certainly played like a Pro Bowler this season, putting together the most productive campaign of his young career.
Set to hit free agency this offseason, Winfield couldn’t have picked a better time to ball out. He played in all 17 regular season games and was a lynchpin in the Buccaneers’ secondary, making plays all over the field.
Winfield recorded a career-high 122 total tackles, breaking the 100-tackle mark for the first time in his career. He led the NFL with six forced fumbles while recording 6.0 sacks, six tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, 12 total pressures, three interceptions and 12 passes defended.
NFL News & Rumors: Antonie Winfield Jr. & Tampa Bay Buccaneers Updates
Whatever the Buccaneers asked him to do defensively, Winfield did it. While his performance didn’t result in a Pro Bowl nomination, his excellent performance was acknowledged as he was named to the All-Pro First Team.
Just how good was Winfield during the 2023 regular season? According to PFF, he was the best safety in the NFL. His overall grade of 91.2 was the highest among all safeties in the NFL, just beating out Jessie Bates III of the Atlanta Falcons, who earned a grade of 90.6.
That is an impressive group of safeties that rounded out the top five behind Winfield. Xavier McKinney of the New York Giants, who came in fourth with an 87.8, is hitting free agency like Winfield and has set himself up for quite a payday.
NFL News & Rumors: Antonie Winfield Jr. & Tampa Bay Buccaneers Updates
However, Winfield and the Buccaneers will have a chance to continue building on their season, unlike McKinney and the Giants. Tampa Bay will be hosting the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium during Super Wild Card Weekend in the first round of the postseason.
The Buccaneers will be looking to exact some revenge from a matchup earlier this season as the Eagles defeated them 25-11 in Week 3. Winfield will be out to prove that he deserves a massive payday this offseason as one of the key cogs in Tampa Bay’s defensive game plan.
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