Stathead: “Prioritize” Re-Signing Jamel Dean
February 11th, 2026
Find a quality replacement first.
Joe has seen enough of Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ defense over the years to know you don’t get a decent corner walk out the door.
Because of his reworked deal last year, Jamel Dean is now a free agent. And looking at the current Bucs roster, Joe doesn’t currently like the options to replace Dean.
Dean bet on himself last year and maybe had the best year since Bowles took over. NFL data scientist Sam Hoppen doesn’t think it’s so smart to let Dean escape One Buc Palace.
One guy I think the Bucs should prioritize re-signing is Jamel Dean, who is coming off of a career-best year in terms of PFF grade, ranking 4th among all cornerbacks. He was one of the bright spots of Tampa Bay’s defense this year and should be rewarded for continued high-level play.
Joe knows sticking up for Dean isn’t popular. Well, the alternative for Dean is what? Dean has been (rightly) ridiculed for being injury-prone. So you are going to replace Dean with a guy like Benjamin Morrison who makes Dean look like a rock of stability?
Did Zyon McCollum play like a guy last year who could take over as the veteran leader in the cornerbacks room? Now if you want to put Jacob Parrish at full-time corner to replace Dean, Joe’s all for that. Joe thinks Parrish is going to be a fine corner for years to come.
Trick is, Joe’s not sure Bowles wants to move on from Parrish as a nickel corner.
Joe just doesn’t believe in letting good corners walk out the door. And given the fact Bowles’ pass defense since he came to Tampa Bay in 2019 has been poor all but one year, imagine having a subpar corner take over for Dean on this pass defense? Yikes.