John Cominsky
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Detroit Lions defensive end John Cominsky.
One thing that’s a given for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is that no matter how the 2024 season turns out, their defense is getting an overhaul in 2025.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder thinks veteran Detroit Lions defensive end John Cominsky could be part of that overhaul as an inexpensive option to help Tampa Bay — specifically in how they approach defending the run.
Cominsky signed a 2-year, $8.5 million contract with the Lions in March 2023 and suffered a season-ending MCL tear during training camp on July 30, 2024.
“Greg Gaines and William Gholston are impending free agents, which will leave Tampa Bay thin on the interior defensive line,” Holder wrote. “Also, while Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall are good pass-rushers, both have issues against the run. Cominsky would be a good fit since he can replace Gains and Gholston, and he has been a solid run defender during his career to complement Kancey and Hall.”
Cominsky Part of Lions’ Rebuilding Efforts
While Cominsky’s medical status will have to be re-evaluated before he signs a free agent contract, he should be healthy for the start of the 2025 season and played well enough in 2023 to garner offers on the free agent market.
Cominsky, 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds, was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round (No. 135 overall) out of Charleston in the 2019 NFL draft and played 3 seasons in Atlanta before he was released and signed by the Lions in May 2022.
Cominsky has had the best years of his career in Detroit, with 19 starts, 66 tackles, 20 QB hits, 7 TFL and 6.0 sacks over the last 2 seasons — that includes a career high 11 starts in 2023 as the Lions advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.
Buccaneers Have Struggled Defensively in 2024
The Buccaneers have had some epic defensive struggles in head coach and former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ third season, going from 10th in the NFL in team defense in 2022 to 23rd in 2023 to 28th in in 2024 at 380.5 yards per game.
One area that the Buccaneer have actually been sort-of competent at has been defending the run, where they’re 11th in the NFL in run defense (115.2 yards) through 13 games, no doubt due to big seasons from interior defensive linemen like Vita Vea and 2023 first round pick Calijah Kancey.
If he’s healthy, Cominsky would actually be a great option because he will come relatively cheap — something in the range of a 1-year, $2 million contract — with the Buccaneers projected to have just $24.5 million in salary cap space in 2025, according to Over the Cap.
Signing Cominsky would let the Buccaneers focus their free agency efforts, however modest they might be, on finding a player who could be their top cover cornerback — a much more pressing need — and focusing on building the defensive front through the NFL draft.
“It would not be unsurprising if the Buccaneers use their first three NFL Draft choices this season on defensive players,” The Pewter Plank’s Mike Luciano wrote on December 9. “Bowles’ failure to develop Logan Hall and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has neutered the pass-rush, and the lack of depth in the secondary is becoming a real problem.”