Stathead: “Prioritize” Re-Signing Jamel Dean
February 11th, 2026
Find a quality replacement first.
Joe has seen enough of Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ defense over the years to know you don’t let a decent corner walk out the door.
Because of his reworked deal last year, Jamel Dean is now a pending free agent. And looking at the current Bucs roster, Joe doesn’t like the options to replace Dean.
Dean bet on himself last year and maybe had the best year since Bowles took over. NFL data scientist Sam Hoppen doesn’t think it’s so smart to let Dean escape One Buc Palace.
One guy I think the Bucs should prioritize re-signing is Jamel Dean, who is coming off of a career-best year in terms of PFF grade, ranking 4th among all cornerbacks. He was one of the bright spots of Tampa Bay’s defense this year and should be rewarded for continued high-level play.
Joe knows sticking up for Dean isn’t popular. Well, the alternative for Dean is what? Dean has been (rightly) ridiculed for being injury-prone. So you are going to replace Dean with a guy like Benjamin Morrison, who made Dean look like a rock of stability?
Did Zyon McCollum play like a guy last year who could take over as the veteran leader in the cornerbacks room? Now if you want to put Jacob Parrish at full-time corner to replace Dean, Joe’s all for that. Joe thinks Parrish is going to be a fine corner for years to come.
Trick is, Joe’s not sure Bowles wants to move on from Parrish as a nickel corner.
Joe just doesn’t believe in letting good corners walk out the door. And given the fact Bowles’ pass defense since he came to Tampa Bay in 2019 has been poor all but one year, imagine having a subpar corner take over for Dean on this pass defense? Yikes.
February 11th, 2026 at 4:17 am
That bridge was doused in gasoline and Bowles lit the match – last 2 yrs this franchise has operated with head firmly up keaster
Btw psa someone please remind Jason NOW is the time for offseason surgeries (ahem Tristan…) not a cpl weeks into training camp -thanks
February 11th, 2026 at 4:49 am
It’s hard to argue against the season Jamel had this year.
He bet on himself and won.
It’s a shame it had to come down to a restructured contract with free agency, in order to make it happen, but he had a real good season.
The question/concern we all have is will he be able to stay on the field? I’m sure other teams are looking at him and thinking the same thing.
The stat-head has a good point when you look at the numbers Jamel put up last year, as does Joe, with his concern about who we replace him with.
In the past, I’ve called for us to let him go. Just cut him.
I’d be ok with another performance/incentive type of deal for a year or two. But, I’d be against any sort of guaranteed “big time” money contract regardless of performance. He just seems to be a little too injury-prone for me to be comfortable with that.
February 11th, 2026 at 5:33 am
Could it be that it’s just a bad system? Did any corners look good in Lovie’s system? Mike Smith? I have as much faith in Bowles as I did those guys.
February 11th, 2026 at 5:38 am
LOL …The lack of INTs 2 in Seven seasons? Passes defensed seems fine. Being able and willing to tackle is not a stat but we have one, maybe two DBs who will stick their helmet on someone when it counts. Im talking DBs only here BTW. Dean seems to limp off the field every time he hits someone.
Go Bucs!
February 11th, 2026 at 5:53 am
I don’t understand why some folks seems to think Dean is some all pro ball out consistent type player. He’s mediocre at best. Fragile, injury prone, very passive tackler for his size, n often miss tackles. Let’s be done with him. Last season was a fluke, he lucked out on the ints. One int was picked because of pressure from the safety n the other two were pretty much thrown right to him, any average joe blow could’ve made the same ints. On the so called pass breakups, he was beat for tds but the receiver just dropped the ball n Dean gets credit for pass break up. Dean is no Revis or Prime. Let’s let him walk, n take our chances on Ben Morris. Move Parrish on the other side of Morris as outside corner n roll with those two as starters. We need aggressive good tackling at corner. Let’s get back to violent football. First three picks should be de n linebacker then go corner 4th n pick up tightend in free agency. Dean must go!!
February 11th, 2026 at 6:03 am
One of a few more nails in the coffin for Licht if we re-sign Dean. This team likes using analytics…the analytics say he cannot stay healthy and is not worth the money. Let someone else deal with the almost really good CB.
Not sure it was ever a consideration, but Dean should have been jettison before the trade deadline last season. His stock was hot, and we had enough depth at CB, albeit not as good as Dean…and we knew Dean would eventually get hurt. I think we overestimate how good Licht truly is at wheeling and dealing. The last significant trades were landing guys like JPP and Gronk and given their situation at that time, it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking moves.
February 11th, 2026 at 6:17 am
“…given the fact Bowles’ pass defense since he came to Tampa Bay in 2019 has been poor all but one year…”
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
Joe, would that “one year” have been when we had JPP and Shaq had 19 sacks?
Having a pass rush always makes the DBs look better. Having JTS, Braswell, Reddick, et al, makes the DBs look bad.
Go get us some friggin pass rushers JL.
February 11th, 2026 at 6:18 am
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we also had Such that “one year”
February 11th, 2026 at 6:30 am
If I’m Jamaal I tell this team to go take a hike. The Bucs bet on the Bucs and Dean bet on himself by taking the pay cut. Once again this organization can’t do anything right. Seriously they should do the George Costanza method of making decisions. Whatever they think they should do just do the opposite.
February 11th, 2026 at 6:38 am
Joe … ‘Because of his reworked deal last year, Jamel Dean is now a free agent. And looking at the current Bucs roster, Joe doesn’t currently like the options to replace Dean.’
I don’t like the current options for replacing Jamel Dean either Joe. Right now the Bucs only have 5 CBs under contract: Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison, Jacob Parrish, Josh Hayes & Damarion Williams. Neither Hayes nor Williams are anyplace close to being starter-capable, and I seriously doubt either will be on our 2026 roster. We NEED at least 5 (preferably 6) CBs for the season, so we’re 2-3 short.
Dean was definitely our best-performing CB last season:
o Dean (6’1″ – 206 lbs – 4.30 speed – 41″ vertical): 14 games- 660 def snaps (66.0%) – 59 targets – 29 completions (49.2%) – 2 TDs – 9 PD – 3 INT – 1 sack – 1 TFL – 2 QB Hit – 48 tackles (38 solo) – 2.1% Missed Tackle Rate (1 Missed)
o McCollum (6’2″ – 199 lbs – 4.33 speed – 39.5″ vertical): 13 games- 766 def snaps (76.6%) – 82 targets – 49 completions (59.8%) – 6 TDs – 6 PD – 1 INT – 0 sack – 1 TFL – 0 QB Hit – 65 tackles (45 solo) – 9.7% Missed Tackle Rate (7 Missed)
o Morrison (6’0″ – 190 lbs – 4.39 speed – unknown vertical): 10 games- 359 def snaps (35.9%) – 41 targets – 24 completions (58.5%) – 3 TDs – 4 PD – 0 INT – 0 sack – 2 TFL – 0 QB Hit – 26 tackles (19 solo) – 18.8% Missed Tackle Rate (6 Missed)
o Parrish (5’10” – 198 lbs – 4.35 speed – 37.5″ vertical): 17 games- 746 def snaps (74.6%) – 77 targets – 55 completions (71.4%) – 2 TDs – 7 PD – 2 INT – 2 sack – 7 TFL – 3 QB Hit – 76 tackles (50 solo) – 9.5% Missed Tackle Rate (8 Missed)
All 4 CBs have good speed, but the only lock-down corner of the 4 is Jamel Dean. And contrary to what so many seem to comment, he’s also the best tackler of the group. Since we NEED to sign 2-3 corners, and we’ve got other high-draft-pick needs that are even greater than CB, I’d sure think long and hard before we let Jamel sign with another team.
Have no idea what’s REALLY going on with Zyon, but we need to figure that out fast. Parrish had an excellent 1st half of the season, but he faded in the 2nd half IMO. I don’t see him as a starting OUTSIDE corner, at least until he gains more experience. And Morrison just befuddles me. He’s very inconsistent IMO; great or terrible on just about every play. Like Parrish, maybe he just needs more experience.
In any event, I’d look hard at re-signing Jamel Dean, PLUS add another starter-quality CB in free agency. Wouldn’t draft a CB in Rnds 1-4 (we’ve got too many even higher needs), and would only draft one in Rnds 5-7 IF he was such a great prospect we just couldn’t pass him by (unlikely to happen IMO).
February 11th, 2026 at 6:54 am
The good thing is that Dean wants to play in Tampa
February 11th, 2026 at 7:15 am
He’s not just criticized for being injury prove. He doesn’t like to tackle, he misses tackles, he plays too far off his man, sometimes his injuries seem, well, you know.
February 11th, 2026 at 7:33 am
“All 4 CBs have good speed, but the only lock-down corner of the 4 is Jamel Dean. And contrary to what so many seem to comment, he’s also the best tackler of the group.”
Easily the best tackler in the CB room
“In any event, I’d look hard at re-signing Jamel Dean, PLUS add another starter-quality CB in free agency. Wouldn’t draft a CB in Rnds 1-4 (we’ve got too many even higher needs), and would only draft one in Rnds 5-7 IF he was such a great prospect we just couldn’t pass him by (unlikely to happen IMO).”
Fwiw, this CB class isn’t top heavy, but there’s an abundance of talent. Just like WR there’s justifiable reason for teams in a position comparable to ours to draft a CB every single year. Whether we keep Dean or not
I’ll get killed for this, BUT the premium talent at ILB will be around a little longer than CB talent and say we’re on the board rounds 2-4, and guys like
-Keionte Scott
-Daylen Everett
-David Igbinosun
-Domani Jackson
-Treydan Stukes
-Tony Grimes (perfect Dean replacement 6’2-190-4.3 speed, but much better hip fluidity than Dean and as willing a tackler)
-Denver Harris
Also somewhat intrigued by Tecario Davis, especially given his skill as a press man corner, along with his length.
Wouldn’t mind swinging at any one of these players whether we bring Dean back or not.
February 11th, 2026 at 7:43 am
He has his best year in a contract year, wow that’s shocking. Dean has been injured most of his career. I bet if he gets a big bag of cash, he will miss many games.
February 11th, 2026 at 8:27 am
Doesn’t matter what metric you use, Dean was one of best 2 or 3 corners in the league last year, only minimal time missed too. Re-signing him would save a pick and eliminate one question mark from the team
February 11th, 2026 at 8:30 am
Goerge R … ‘Dean has been injured most of his career.’
Jamel Dean has played in 96 games in his 7 year career (average of 13.7 Games/Year). Carlton Davis played in 89 games in his first 7 years (12.7 Games/Year). Interestingly though, Carlton played in all 17 games this season (926 def snaps – 91% availability) for the Patriots, PLUS 3 post-season games. 2025 was the only year that Carlton got more than 14 games in any season. New England took a chance signing him to a 3-year contract ($18.0 mil/year) but it seems to have paid off in the 1st year at least. Carlton only allowed a 50.0% completion rate, allowing a TOTAL of 87 passing yard on 11 completions in 17 games.
Could very well be wrong on this, but I think what happened to Davis here is the same thing that’s happened to Dean: too many SOLO tackles for a CB. Davis averaged 44.3 SOLO tackles in his 7 years BEFORE going to the Patriots. That’s an average of 59 SOLO tackles every 17 games. This past season, playing all 17 games for the Patriots, Carlton made 39 SOLO tackles, far below what he would’ve averaged here if he played 17 games a season.
Can’t help but wonder if our tackling problems are more costly than just allowing excessive explosive plays. Maybe by playing so far off so often it makes tackling more difficult (would seem easier & less ‘violent’ to tackle if you’re right on top of someone when they catch the ball?). Plus the current Bucs don’t seem to be nearly as proficient at ‘gang tackling’ as we used to be.
February 11th, 2026 at 8:34 am
Dean and Ben Morrison are the same guy. Always hurt. Keep Morrison on his much cheaper rookie contract. Let Dean go and spend the extra cash on inside linebackers and edge guys that can cover downfield
February 11th, 2026 at 8:34 am
Rather pay Riq woolen than dean. Need some new blood on this defense. But a scheme change and new blood in the front 7….atleast 4 nee starters please….will help the secondary go along waym we have invested enough into the secondary with premium picks and money.
February 11th, 2026 at 8:36 am
Dean had the type of contract he would get this year from the Bucs or on the open market but they made him take a pay cut besides ballin out after a contract year then disappearing is standard he wouldn’t be hungry unless he had a new coach no thanks. When Buc fandom becomes a delusional fantasy and they think everyone wants to play for this team just because they did the year before.
February 11th, 2026 at 8:45 am
I would have no problem with that because he is way better than most Tampa fans give him credit for, always has been. The issue is health. You are re-signing a guy that, more than likely, is going to only play 12 to 13 games
February 11th, 2026 at 8:55 am
Better idea. Don’t resign Dean.
February 11th, 2026 at 9:01 am
Priority is to franchise him and use the pick to get another edge rusher. You can’t waste second round picks on corners and not let them play. Morrison needs to see the field. Without a pass rush even Revis would look bad.
February 11th, 2026 at 9:29 am
Resign Dean. He’s solid when he’s on the field
February 11th, 2026 at 9:48 am
Resign Dean?????? Seriously????
NOBODY I repeat NOBODY liked the guy, even Ira made jokes about him, and suddenly because he had a good year he is the new Deon Sanders…..
Come on guys, lets spend the money wisely, use your brain instead your heart!!!!!
February 11th, 2026 at 9:49 am
They screwed up trading Carlton Davis
Not re-signing Dean would just be another F-up
February 11th, 2026 at 9:51 am
Dean seemed to have one of his best seasons betting on himself. Offer him a contract with a lower base, but some big incentives (games played, etc). Let’s see if he wants to bet on himself and stay here. He may want to go the Carlton Davis route and play for a Super Bowl contender.
February 11th, 2026 at 10:05 am
The guy can’t stay healthy, every other game he’s out.
February 11th, 2026 at 10:08 am
Hes good when he is in there, but dude is a china doll.
He goes down literally every game with some ailment.
February 11th, 2026 at 10:34 am
Sign Jamel Dean just make sure to use RodMunch’s money. Munch is an enthusiatic supporter of Dean, who is just another one of Todd Bowles inept pass defenders.
February 11th, 2026 at 10:47 am
I’m going to say the same thing about Dean this year as I said last year. Until we have a viable replacement we simply can’t get rid of him if we can help it. His injury propensity wasn’t nearly as bad as usual last year, but that will probably revert to the mean again. We need him anyway unless we draft like 2 early corners again. We have too many bigger needs.
February 11th, 2026 at 10:59 am
IF you cannot re-sign Dean, move Parrish outside, let Izien play nickel, Morrison and Zyon fight for the other side, and draft one in rounds 2-4 somewhere,.
February 11th, 2026 at 11:07 am
@Bowles Wasn’t Held Accountable
I’ve been saying that all along. It’s the scheme/system he’s running & if they get out of the stupid thing or if somebody else takes over the team would probably look better. They really do have talent on the D but yeah I think the scheme/system is what makes them look even worse. Look at this year & how Yaya had like 7 or 8 sacks (can’t remember). If they’d just stop dropping into coverage he’d probably have twice as many sacks.
February 11th, 2026 at 11:17 am
Tony,
Bucs really DON’T have defense talent. When this is combined with bad Todd B scheme, you get the mess we see every 4thQ.
February 11th, 2026 at 11:23 am
Tony … ‘Look at this year & how Yaya had like 7 or 8 sacks (can’t remember). If they’d just stop dropping into coverage he’d probably have twice as many sacks.’
I agree YaYa would have a lot more sacks, BUT 2 ILBs are insufficient to cover the ground that needs to be covered, most of the time (depends on how many receivers in the pattern?). Far as I can tell, it’s standard for 3-4 defenses to use an OLB in pass coverage depending upon how many guys go out.
I personally still prefer the 4-3 defense that the Bucs had always run until Todd arrived. Sometimes we were very good at it, other times we sucked at it (depending upon players & coaches?). But I still think that overall it’s a simpler & more ‘predictable’ defense to teach & execute. It doesn’t seem like 4-3 defenses blitz nearly a much as 3-4 defenses do, and I still think that getting too fancy with the blitzing is what causes a lot of the ‘issues’. Give me 4 big beefy uglies upfront to pressure the QB (like Seattle did in the Super Bowl?) and good things can happen.
Both Seattle & New England run 3-4 defenses, but Seattle’s front is beastly. Patriots blitzed 41 times in the SB and got 1 sack and 14 pressures. Seahawks blitzed 13 times and got 6 sacks with 20 pressures. In the process they shut down the Patriots passing attack until in the 4th qtr when the game was out of reach.
February 11th, 2026 at 11:24 am
Dean would probably break his wrist trying to sign a new contract. Why would we sign a guy with glass legs? He had a decent year as his end of contract approached, then was hurt again. Let him try somewhere else.
February 11th, 2026 at 11:54 am
Not a chance in the world. Deans only good years come in contract years. Then he’s hurt 4-7 games per season on average. Give me anyone else literally. We’ve done this before with him and how did that work out?
February 11th, 2026 at 12:53 pm
I don’t understand the dilemma with Parrish. Outside CB in base, and nickle CB in the nickle. It worked for Ronde for years. Why is this any different? Keep your best players on the field. Even SMBunting did this in Bowles D.
February 11th, 2026 at 1:17 pm
Deff between a rock and a hard place. I really like Dean. Has all the tools and when healthy plays pretty dam well. Above average. He just can’t stay on the field and that will only get worse as he gets older. Sign him for another year or 2 for cheap. Parrish looked great but you know what so did deva white his first 2 years then fell off the map after that. Time will only tell with Parrish and Morrison. As for Zyon JOE you off all people should know tha one bad season doesn’t dictate how you’ll play the rest of your career. If that was the case Evans would still have the dropsies. Zyon along with about every other buc had a down 2nd half of the season. Calm down JOE and your look at your pics of Rachel Watson lol
February 11th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
been telling folks Dean isnt going anywhere!!!
not because of his “stellar” play lol, but its because no other GM is foolish enough to sign a soon to be 30year old injury prone CB…
Dean is sign 3 1year deals with the BUCs..2026 WILL BE THE 1ST….
2026…1year/6MIL
2027…1YEAR/4.5MIL
2028….1YEAR/3MIL
GO BUCS!!!!
February 11th, 2026 at 2:24 pm
Tbbbucsfan … ‘Deans only good years come in contract years. Then he’s hurt 4-7 games per season on average.’
Pro-Football-Reference is a great FREE resource for player & team stats. It shows Jamel Dean as playing in 96 games in his 7-year career … and average of 13.7 Games/Year. He pretty much misses 2-4 games every year: 2019 (-3) … 2020 (-2) … 2021 (-2) … 2022 (-2) … 2023 (-4) … 2024 (-5) … 2026 (-3). So Jamel’s missed 21 games out of the 117 regular season games from 2019-2025, for a 82.1% availability.
But within that, he’s generated an average of 9 PDs per year, and a 57.3% Completion Percentage Allowed over those 7 years. He’s been charged with allowing 16 TOTAL TDs for an average of 2.3 TDs Allowed per year. And he averages right at 675 def snaps per season.
So the question really becomes ‘What’s that level of productivity worth to the Bucs?’ He’s still only 29 years old & this past year was his 2nd best (I think that 2021 was his best year when he allowed 0 TDs, got 2 INTs, only allowed 47.7% completions and a total of 311 passing yds).
I have zero idea if Jamel Dean is even open to the idea of re-signing with the Bucs, or for how much, but IF he is (and the price is reasonable), I’d re-sign him in a heartbeat. We’ve really only got McCollum, Morrison & Parrish as CBs at this point, and those 3 missed 11 games last season. There’s nobody behind them right now; we NEED to add at least quality 2 CBs, preferably 3.
February 11th, 2026 at 2:35 pm
Bowles can get the best out of any DB. Just look at his time with the Bucs and the quality of the pass defense.
February 11th, 2026 at 2:47 pm
We suck so bad on defense! And talking about bringing the suckers back !
February 11th, 2026 at 3:13 pm
Am i the only person that sees this as the standard case of a contract year player? How many times have we seen a player play out of their mind in a contract year, get it, then promptly go back to being a liability? Let him get his crazy contact with another team and or pay him well for a career of single seasons. If he needs that kind of motivation to play well, give it to him
February 11th, 2026 at 3:26 pm
Dean has been a top 10 corner for years.
He’s missed time but as others have pointed out before most corners do – CBs seem to be often injured league wide.
I’d keep Dean if it doesn’t break the bank.
I’d keep all of our current DBs….have y’all forgotten 2 years back when we were starting josh hayes and assorted practice squad talent because we had no depth?
Parrish showed versatility, Morrison will make a year 2 jump.
Zyon needs to get his shlt together.
They’d all (DBs) be better if we can get a real pass rush !!!
February 11th, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Quick reminder – We suck (ed) so bad on offense too. We were statistically worse in most categories on offense than we were on defense but oh yea – defense BAD fire coach trade players yada yada yada 🙈
February 11th, 2026 at 3:49 pm
Defense Rules making good sense as he generally does. DR does the research. But I do the soul search. Dean likes playing for Tampa. Sign him. Draft the middle linebacker (Jacob Rodriguez) who is going to call the defense for the next 10 years. Sign Lavonte for one year. Get Mike signed. After Rodriguez, draft best front seven defensive player available. At least a couple being beasts at DT. The rest of the draft. Bingo. In free agency get the best swings at OG and OT as you can get. Forgive White for talking out of school and sign him. Keep this team! More than anything we’ve got to have just a little more luck on the injury front. After watching the Super Bowl one thing was very clear to me. If our Oline and receivers had stayed healthy this year we would have beaten the brakes off of either of those two teams. Kancey and Walker healthy, JRod starting at middle linebacker, our defensive newbies from the draft competing on the kickoff and punt teams. Beasts rotating on the DL. This team needs a good shake up. But we need to keep this team for as long as we can. Because this team has what it takes to win a championship.
February 11th, 2026 at 3:52 pm
813bucboi … ‘Dean isnt going anywhere!!! … not because of his “stellar” play lol, but its because no other GM is foolish enough to sign a soon to be 30year old injury prone CB.’
Dean actually has better availability than Carlton Davis did, and the foolish Patriots GM signed him to a 3-year $48 mil contract. And all Carlton did in return was give the Pats 17 games plus 3 playoff games as their starting CB.
February 11th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
Licht has egg all over his face in this one lol.
February 11th, 2026 at 9:08 pm
Ya think?
I know hindsight is meaningless but if the money went to Carlton Davis instead of reddick and we draft a coverage lb instead of morrison we are in the super bowl instead of Seattle
February 11th, 2026 at 10:04 pm
813bucboi Says:
February 11th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
been telling folks Dean isnt going anywhere!!!
not because of his “stellar” play lol, but its because no other GM is foolish enough to sign a soon to be 30year old injury prone CB…
Dean is sign 3 1year deals with the BUCs..2026 WILL BE THE 1ST….
2026…1year/6MIL
2027…1YEAR/4.5MIL
2028….1YEAR/3MIL
GO BUCS!!!!
——————
Bucboy:
Why would Dean take a huge paycut in lieu of free agency only to take the low ball numbers you’re dreaming up? He’s “highly rated” and probably pretty well thought of throughout the league. I think he’ll fetch upwards of 8-10 million for a 2-3 year deal. Of course I could be wrong. If I am…a I’ll buy one of those limited edition BucBoi tank tops I keep seeing in neon colors at 7Eleven. We’ll find out in about a month either way.