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There are plenty of questions needing answered this free-agency period before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers even make it to April and the NFL Draft. One of those has been answered as the team agreed on Monday to a new two-year contract with outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul.
JPP is going back to Tampa Bay on a two-year, $27 million deal, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2020
The 31-year old outside linebacker has been a fan favorite since arriving to Tampa in 2018 and was able to rack up 12.5 sacks in his first year with the team. In 2019, the number dropped to 8.5, but was potentially more impressive given he played in just ten games after suffering a neck injury in an off-season car accident.
Bruce Arians has been adamant about bringing the 2019 defensive unit back, intact, as much as possible and JPP was a big part of that group.
With Pierre-Paul back with the team for 2020, now attention will shift to defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh who has yet to re-sign, but is reported to have a desire to return to the team after playing just one year with the Bucs, under defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
Of course, everyone is also still waiting for quarterback news. So while we celebrate the return of Jason Pierre-Paul, we return now to your regularly scheduled Tampa Bay Buccaneers program.