The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed an external free agent defensive tackle! It’s not the guy you were hoping for but he could be a much better fit.
According to the Tampa Bay Times Rick Stroud, the Bucs are dipping their toe in the free agency pool with former Eagles DT Beau Allen.
#Bucs are expected to sign Eagles DL Beau Allen
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) March 14, 2018
Who is Beau Allen and why did the Bucs sign him?
The Player
Allen was one of the top run stuffers in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus, stuffing 11.3% of all plays in the interior.
Beau Allen’s run stop percentage was tops among UFA interior defenders in 2017! pic.twitter.com/DxA79Bw8v5
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) February 21, 2018
Described as an integral piece to the Eagles top-ranked run defense, Allen finished with 20 tackles, a sack and four tackles for loss. While the stats don’t jump off the sheet, he did a lot of the dirty work that allowed his fellow defenders to hunt.
In his 5th season out of Wisconsin, he’s registered 87 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 11 TFLs as a rotational player for Philadelphia.
Per NJ.com, Allen was a priority free agency agent, playing 423 snaps this season, only 70 less than starter Timmy Jernigan.
One interesting aspect of his abilities is to play both in the 3-4 and 4-3 defenses.
How Allen With The Bucs
Allen will be expected to fill the rotational role (think Chris Baker and Clinton McDonald) next to Gerald McCoy on early downs where teams will try to attack the Bucs’ rush defense. In 2017, Tampa Bay ranked 23rd against the run.
He won’t bring much in the pass rush department, but at 327 lbs could play nose tackle while McCoy kicks out to DE in the 3-4 looks of the Bucs’ multiples defense.
Cap Impact
Per ESPN’s Jenna Laine –
I’m told that defensive tackle Beau Allen’s deal with the Bucs is for three years and $15 million. Chris Baker was on a three-year deal worth $15.75 million with $9 million guaranteed ($5.25 average per year). https://t.co/bb3wpi61d0
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) March 14, 2018
Allen’s deal has a $5 million APY, which was a bit more than I would have expected for a rotational defensive lineman with no pass rush ability.
The Bucs entered the day with around $47.1 million in cap space, per Sportrac.com
DLT’s Thoughts
A nice depth signing that will help the defense. I’m intrigued by his run-stuffing ability and many a Philly fan has told me he is a force. I’ll need to watch more tape of him to confirm that but obviously, the Bucs thought highly of him enough to make him a Day One signing priority.
While he won’t do much to help the Bucs pass rushing weakness, Allen may help the Bucs tighten up a leaky run defense.
J.C. De La Torre
Want to give JC a piece of your mind? E-mail him at JC@whatthebuc.net JC De La Torre is formerly a columnist/blogger for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blog site BucsNation.com where in 2016, he was nominated as best sportswriter in Tampa Bay by Creative Loafing. Previously, he served as a featured columnist for Bleacher Report on Tampa Bay sports, an editor and featured columnist for SB Nation Tampa Bay covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Gators, wrote for NFL.com’s Blog Blitz and contributed to Pewter Report, one of the top magazines on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. JC is also a filmmaker, comic writer and rabid Whovian.
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