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Bucs Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Earns Record-Breaking Deal, per Report

Madison Williams

Dec 24, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (31) reacts to a play.
Dec 24, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (31) reacts to a play. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. agreed on a four-year, $84.1 million deal, officially making him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday.

This also marks the first time a safety has been the highest-paid defensive back in the league.

Winfield played his first four seasons with the Buccaneers, and now he is set to stay in Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future.

He played in all 17 games during the 2023 season, posting career-bests with 122 tackles (76 of those being solo tackles), six sacks, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and three interceptions. It seems that the Buccaneers were impressed with his performances last season to keep him on the team and give him a record-breaking contract.

The Buccaneers finished first in the NFC South last season with a 9–8 record. They lost to the Detroit Lions in the NFC Divisional round.

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Madison Williams

MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a Staff Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated, where she has covered the entire sports landscape since 2022. She specializes in tennis, but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining Sports Illustrated, Madison worked with The Sporting News. She hails from Augustana College and completed a Master’s in Sports Media at Northwestern University. Madison is a dog mom and an avid reader.