Just one day after the Houston Texans decided to part ways with safety D.J. Swearinger, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked him off of waivers. With the top waiver priority, the Buccaneers were able to get first dibs on a player who can play either safety position and is especially skilled at sniffing out the ball carrier in the running game.
At only 23, Swearinger injects even more youth into a safety position which already features the 24-year-old Bradley McDougald and 26-year-olds, Chris Conte and Major Wright. The move also gives head coach Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier even more roster flexibility after last year’s debacle where the team was scrambling midway through the season, looking for players who could effectively run the Tampa 2 scheme.