Grading the Buccaneers free agent acquisitions: Beau Allen

Tampa Bay’s signing of Beau Allen was initially received with a lukewarm reception. At the time of his signing, fans were growing restless with the Bucs lack of reported involvment in free agency.

But the Allen signing is similar to that of what the Buccaneers initially hoped Clinton McDonald would have been back in 2014, a healthy interior lineman playing next to Gerald McCoy.

Like McDonald, Allen comes in as a free agent defensive tackle that had a part-time role on his previous team. Allen only appeared in 41-percent of defensive snaps in Philadelphia. McDonald played a bit more, appearing in just over 50-percent of the snaps for Seattle during his final year with the Seahawks.

The difference is that Allen is not much of a pass rusher. The 26-year-old has only registered two sacks in his career compared to McDonald who had 5.5 sacks alone in 2013.

That is fine, though. The Buccaneers struggled against the run in 2017 giving up 117.5 yards per game which ranked 23rd in the league. Allen’s play in the middle of the line will help a unit defend the run. His contract — which average $5-million per year according to Over The Cap — is starter’s money. But the fact that he turned down more money to play in pewter is cool and earns him some extra points.

Still, the optimism here has to be approached with a bit of caution.

GRADE: B-