Buccaneers Sign Super Bowl Champion Back to Squad on 1-Year Deal

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have brought back a familiar face on defense, signing defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches to a one-year deal, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

Jul 23, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (93) reacts during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Nunez-Roches is someone fans should already be very familiar with, as he spent five years in Tampa Bay from 2018 to 2022. During that time, Nunez-Roches was a solid rotational lineman for Tampa, playing in 68 games, starting 22, and posting 81 combined tackles, nine tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovered.

Nunez-Roches was also a part of the Buccaneers' Super Bowl team in 2020, playing and starting in all four of their playoff games and accumulating three combined tackles.

After his time with the Bucs, Nunez-Roches would sign a deal to join the New York Giants, where he would play in 40 games, starting 24, and would rack up 101 combined tackles, six tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits, five and a half sacks and four passes defended.

The Return of "Nacho"

Nunes-Roches was always seen as a strong leader in Tampa Bay and was a voice that was good to have in the locker room and the defensive line room. This is also not the first change the Bucs have made to the unit, losing former starter Logan Hall to the Houston Texans and signing former Carolina Panther A'Shawn Robinson to a deal as well.

It will be interesting to see what Nunez-Roches' role will be going forward. He is a couple of years older now, as he will turn 33 before the start of the 2026 season. In the past, Nunez-Roches offered very good versatility for Tampa, being able to play both nose tackle and defensive end in Todd Bowles' 3-4 defense, and would open more lanes for Bowles to get creative.

However, this does also continue a trend where the Bucs have tried to turn back the wheel of time to familiar faces to give a boost to their defense, with similar moves like the signings of Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul being done in previous seasons as well.

Aug 23, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Elijah Roberts (95) against the Buffalo Bills prior to the game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

One could also wonder how this affects the Bucs' draft plans going forward. Right now, the team has five defensive linemen who are expected to play roles, including Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea, A'Shawn Robinson, Elijah Roberts and now Nunez-Roches.

Factor in that you have another young developmental player in Elijah Simmons on the team as well, and there is reason to wonder if the Bucs may wait until the later rounds to invest in the defensive line in the 2026 NFL Draft if they decide to spend a pick there at all.

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