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The Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys made it through the Wild Card round of the 2018-19 NFL Playoffs, and are on to the divisional round.
There, they’ll find the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams welcoming each team into their own homes respectively.
As we did last weekend, we’re looking at potential free-agents from the teams competing for the Lombardi Trophy. If you missed the previous Colts and Cowboys editions, you can find them here on Bucs Nation.
For now, we’re on to the next round, and the teams coming off of first-round byes.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
2019 FREE-AGENTS
| POSITION | NAME | AGE |
|---|---|---|
| POSITION | NAME | AGE |
| JEFF ALLEN | GUARD | 29 |
| ALLEN BAILEY | DEFENSIVE END | 30 |
| KELVIN BENJAMIN | WIDE RECEIVER | 28 |
| HARRISON BUTKER | KICKER | 24 |
| CHRIS CONLEY | WIDE RECEIVER | 26 |
| JORDAN DEVEY | GUARD | 31 |
| ALEX ELLIS | TIGHT END | 26 |
| DEE FORD | LINEBACKER | 28 |
| JUSTIN HAMILTON | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | 26 |
| DEMETRIUS HARRIS | TIGHT END | 28 |
| MARCUS KEMP | WIDE RECEIVER | 24 |
| JORDAN LUCAS | SAFETY | 26 |
| MITCH MORSE | CENTER | 27 |
| STEVEN NELSON | CORNERBACK | 26 |
| RON PARKER | SAFETY | 32 |
| DANIEL ROSS | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | 26 |
| ORLANDO SCANDRICK | CORNERBACK | 32 |
| ANTHONY SHERMAN | FULLBACK | 30 |
| TERRANCE SMITH | LINEBACKER | 26 |
| DE'ANTHONY THOMAS | WIDE RECEIVER | 26 |
| SPENCER WARE | RUNNING BACK | 27 |
| CHARCANDRICK WEST | RUNNING BACK | 28 |
| DAMIEN WILLIAMS | RUNNING BACK | 27 |
| FRANK ZOMBO | LINEBACKER | 32 |
PLAYER TO WATCH: LINEBACKER, DEE FORD
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Head coach Bruce Arians has made it clear the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t be forcing players into schemes, rather, they’ll scheme for their players.
However, it’s common knowledge defensive coordinator favors the 3-4 base. So, if the team has the chance to bring in players who can be schemed into the same scheme their coaches prefer, gravy.
Dee Ford has been in Kansas City for five years now, and has played in at least fourteen games in all except 2017.
As close as the Chiefs appear to be to making a Super Bowl run either this year or next, he may not be itching to jump ship.
If he does though, the Bucs could be a nice landing spot, and aid in the potential transition to a 3-4 defensive set. Especially considering Tampa Bay has two of their starting linebackers who missed all or most of the year with injuries, and one of those (Kwon Alexander) not currently under contract for 2019.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
2019 FREE-AGENTS
| POSITION | NAME | AGE |
|---|---|---|
| POSITION | NAME | AGE |
| C.J. ANDERSON | RUNNING BACK | 28 |
| MALCOLM BROWN | RUNNING BACK | 26 |
| BLAKE COUNTESS | SAFETY | 26 |
| DOMINIQUE EASLEY | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | 26 |
| DANTE FOWLER JR. | DEFENSIVE END | 25 |
| MORGAN FOX | DEFENSIVE END | 24 |
| BRYCE HAGER | LINEBACKER | 27 |
| DOMINIQUE HATFIELD | CORNERBACK | 24 |
| TROY HILL | CORNERBACK | 28 |
| KHADAREL HODGE | WIDE RECEIVER | 24 |
| LAMARCUS JOYNER | SAFETY | 28 |
| CORY LITTLETON | LINEBACKER | 25 |
| MATT LONGACRE | LINEBACKER | 27 |
| SEAN MANNION | QUARTERBACK | 27 |
| JOJO NATSON | WIDE RECEIVER | 25 |
| KEVIN PETERSON | CORNERBACK | 25 |
| RODGER SAFFOLD | GUARD | 31 |
| SAM SHIELDS | CORNERBACK | 31 |
| GARRETT SICKELS | LINEBACKER | 24 |
| NDAMUKONG SUH | DEFENSIVE TACKLE | 32 |
| CARLOS THOMPSON | LINEBACKER | 27 |
| ETHAN WESTBROOKS | DEFENSIVE END | 28 |
| RAMIK WILSON | LINEBACKER | 27 |
PLAYER TO WATCH: SAFETY, LAMARCUS JOYNER
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Reports from Houston are the Texans want to retain safety Tyrann Mathieu. Mathieu himself has said he’d like to say.
Now, this was all before Bruce Arians was finalized as the Buccaneers’ new head coach, but we have no insight just yet as to whether or not this will sway Mathieu from his current position about re-signing with Houston.
So, let’s pretend he will. Lamarcus Joyner is a little older, but he’s been with the Rams since 2014. He knows what a difference a coach can make, and how to be part of the solution in a franchise struggling to win.
Los Angeles is currently projected to have around $35-$40M in cap space for 2019, so they have some bend. But, they have big decisions to make with Dante Fowler Jr. and Ndamukong Suh as well.
After these three, there are twenty or so other free-agents who need to have their futures with the franchise solidified. Oh, and 2019 is the last year the Rams will get Jared Goff for cheap. So money needs to be earmarked for the future as well.
Joyner may not be as popular as Mathieu is with fans of coach Arians or the Bucs right now, but he’d be a solid upgrade and team contributor for the Tampa Bay defense if he came available.
These two teams host their respective divisional round match-ups this Saturday, January 12th, and fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are living in the midst of renewed excitement might get a glimpse of another addition or two for their 2019 squad.