Cornerback has become one of the shakier spots on the Buccaneers’ roster, and a seventh-round swing for Kelee Ringo could be the kind of move that helps patch things up.
That’s the trade idea Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice floated on Sunday in a set of three proposals for the Eagles. His final one would send Ringo to Tampa Bay in exchange for a seventh-round pick.
The fit makes some sense on paper. Tampa Bay is dealing with a secondary that’s been hit by injuries and uncertainty, and the NFC South isn’t exactly built around small targets.
The Carolina Panthers are rolling out a receiver group where every starter is 6-foot-3 or taller, while Atlanta has Drake London at 6-foot-4. The Buccaneers see those bodies twice every season, so having corners who can match up physically matters.
Ringo brings the kind of traits that usually get coaches interested: size and speed. He’s 6-foot-2, the same height as Roman Parodie and Zyon McCollum, and he’s shown enough in preseason to suggest he can run with receivers step for step.
The issue is finishing the play. In Saturday’s preseason game against the New England Patriots, he closed quickly on a hitch route but couldn’t secure the interception after bobbling it.
That inconsistency is part of the evaluation, but Tampa Bay may not be in a position to turn away help at a position of need. Benjamin Morrison’s health has already complicated the picture. He’s missed most of the offseason with a lingering hamstring injury, which has limited his chance to lock down a starting job next to McCollum after Jamel Dean’s departure.
The Bucs also had to move on from Kemon Hall and Chase Lucas, both of whom dealt with injuries during training camp. To help absorb those losses, they signed Parodie, and he wasted no time making an impact in Saturday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs with an interception.
FOX Sports’ Greg Auman pointed to a possible link that could make the idea even more realistic. Ringo played at Georgia, and Auman said coach Todd Bowles loves the Bulldogs’ defense.
Ringo’s college résumé was a strong one. Over two seasons at Georgia, he totaled four interceptions and 15 passes defended and won two national championships. He went undrafted in 2023 before signing with the Eagles.
Now 24, Ringo has spent three seasons with Philadelphia and has shown a knack for creating turnovers at the pro level, too. He has two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception in his career.
For a seventh-round pick, that’s a pretty manageable gamble. Ringo wouldn’t fix everything in Tampa Bay’s secondary, but with the injuries piling up, he looks like the sort of depth move that’s at least worth exploring.
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Yaya Diaby flashed, and Fordham, David Walker and Nelson all had moments that helped their standing, while Hurst and Foerner were among the players whose mistakes showed how thin the margin can be in games like this. In a contest built around job interviews more than final scores, those kinds of snaps can matter a lot, and the second half should tell Tampa Bay even more about who is separating from the pack. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Preseason Game Sparked An NFL Take Fans Will Hate
Harrison Butkers latest showcase came in a preseason game against the Buccaneers, where the Chiefs kicker launched a 69-yard field goal that would have shattered the NFLs official regular-season mark. It did not count in the record book because of the setting, but it was still the kind of kick that reminds everyone how far the position has evolved and how little room there is for error when a specialist can turn a casual-looking snap into a near midfield celebration.
The reaction afterward was almost as sharp as the kick itself, with NFL analyst Joe Schad publicly floating the idea that the league competition committee should consider narrowing the goal posts. For Tampa Bay, it was the sort of offseason headline that lands with extra sting because it came against their own defense and turned a routine preseason snap into a broader debate about where kicking is headed next. [Read more 🡒]