Jordan Whitehead Is Bucs’ Special Communicator

“It kind of seemed like since the day we let him out of the building that we were just counting down the minutes until he came back,” Licht said Tuesday at the NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando. “That was a very unique situation where when he came back, there was not a person in the building that wasn’t smiling ear to ear.”

The first part of Licht’s comment was not necessarily hyperbole, either. Ever since Jordan Whitehead left via free agency after the 2021 season, Tampa Bay really struggled to find a suitable replacement.

Mike Edwards got his shot in a contract year during the 2022 season, plus the Bucs brought in both Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal to fill the void at safety. The results weren’t necessarily disastrous, but they didn’t live up to what Whitehead was able to do between 2020 and 2021, when he really came into his own and outperformed his draft status as a fourth-round pick in 2018.

In 2023, the results were disastrous. Ryan Neal came in as a value free agent signing in the offseason and was theoretically a great complement to Antoine Winfield Jr. after a breakout season with the Seahawks in 2022. But Neal proved to be a liability in coverage and was often unplayable for head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles.

Now, Jordan Whitehead is back and ready to once again play alongside Winfield, an All-Pro, and serve as the same great fit that he was in Bowles’ defense from 2018-2022. Only now, Whitehead is a seasoned pro and will be even more of a polished player than he was when he departed two years ago.

Jordan Whitehead Brings What The Bucs Defense Has Sorely Lacked

How many times has Todd Bowles lamented the lack of communication from his defense in the past couple of seasons? It makes sense, then, that the Bucs brought back a player in Jordan Whitehead who has mastered the art of communication on defense over the course of his NFL career.

“We’ll have a lot more communication,” Bowles said Tuesday. “Jordan was great when he was here before, but boy, he was a great communicator and leader for us when he was on the field. Him and Lavonte clicked a couple of years ago, and I’m sure Lavonte is one of the happiest guys to have him back.

“I’m happy to have him back, and Winfield is, and the whole team is happy to have him back in the fold. I look forward to the experience he’s gotten in New York to help us get better on the back end.”

Bowles went on to discuss the maturation process that Whitehead experienced over the past couple of seasons in New York. In two years with the Jets, he started 34 games and totaled 186 tackles (123 solo), seven tackles for loss, a half-sack, six interceptions and 17 passes defensed. His six interceptions in those two seasons were one more than the five he had over four seasons with the Bucs.

“I thought he matured,” Bowles said. “I thought his hands were extremely well – worked well with the Jets. I think he played back deep a lot better and he understood quarters and half coverage where we used him more around the line of scrimmage. We used him back in coverage some. I think he became a very good third-down player. He was still young when we had him and he matured a lot over the years. All of that we expect to see when we get out on the field.”

The maturity and communication blended together will be a major help to the back end of the Bucs defense, but it’ll also be a big help for linebacker Lavonte David, who played off Whitehead extremely well in the past. That’s something Bowles pointed to at length on Tuesday.

“They have a good feel on the field of what each other is going to do,” Bowles said. “They both communicate. Communication on defense for us is everything. If you have one in the back end, one in the middle and one in the front – which we have all three now … I don’t know if we had that last year.

“Winfield was communicative, but Jordan was vocal. Obviously [Whitehead] had more years on him at the time. Him and Lavonte just clicked and are always on the same page. So we just look forward to rekindle that and pick that up and just be more communicative on the back end.”

With Vita Vea up front, David in the middle and Whitehead (as well as Winfield) on the back end, the Bucs do have that trifecta of communication that Bowles is after. And that should pay dividends for Tampa Bay in 2024.

Lavonte David Is Thrilled To Have Jordan Whitehead Back In The Mix

Todd Bowles was right to call out legendary linebacker Lavonte David as one of the people in the building who was happiest to see Jordan Whitehead re-signed after two years away. David spoke at length about his former – and once again current – teammate, who he said has been wanting to come back to Tampa ever since he left.

“Man, that might be the biggest one back,” David said. “Whitehead was a guy who, obviously, I built a personal relationship with. Just having him behind me on the field gave me a whole bunch of confidence, knowing that I could count on Whitehead to do his job.

“For whatever happened, he didn’t have a chance to come back, but still he was communicating with us about how much he missed us and stuff like that … He wanted to come back here – that was his first priority, so I’m glad [they] were able to get that done.

David then elaborated on what makes Whitehead such a fun player to team up with, as well as what makes him the type of person and teammate you want to have in the locker room.

“Whitehead, he is a special guy, not only on the football field, but as a person,” the 13th-year pro said. “For me, I’m all about energy and seeing the good in people and stuff like that. I’ve kind of got a sixth sense for that and Whitehead is one of those guys that is a joy to be around as a man and as a teammate.

“He just brings that type of passion to the game that you love. When you are playing with a guy like Whitehead, you can just look him in the eyes and know that he is ready to play, so you don’t even need to worry about him. Off the field, the way he carries himself and goes about things – he’s a pro’s pro and [those are] the [type] of guys we’ve got to have in this locker room.”

Considering what Licht said about counting down the minutes to Whitehead’s return and David’s admission that Whitehead has essentially been doing the same, this is a reunion that just feels right. The need was there, the fit is perfect and the vibes are certainly high.

It’s no wonder everyone in the building is smiling ear to ear.