Adam Humphries was released from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, February 25th. Humphries was owed $4.5 million by the Titans this year and is now a free agent. The familiar face only played in seven games during the 2020 season, where he caught 23 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. The Buccaneers currently have two free agents at the wide receiver position, Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin. Could the Buccaneers make Humphries a Buccaneer again if they were to lose either Brown or Godwin?
What Humphries Brings
As we saw from 2015-2018 here in Tampa Bay, Humphries is a great security blanket for his quarterback. In his final season with the Buccaneers, Humphries racked up over 800 yards and five touchdowns through the air with Jameis Winston as his quarterback. Humphries was seemingly always the go-to third down guy and was able to get tough yards and short down and distance plays. His contract would also most likely be more team-friendly than Godwin and Brown. After an injury-plagued 2020, I could see Humphries getting a one-year prove it deal from a number of teams. Are the Buccaneers one of the teams in the running? I believe the answer is still unclear.
Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown
Bruce Arians let all Buccaneers fans know at the Super Bowl boat parade that Godwin was not going anywhere. The two sides will most likely not reach a long-term deal due to limited cap space in upcoming seasons, so the franchise tag seems fairly likely for Godwin to play on with the Buccaneers in 2021. Now that leaves the question on whether or not to bring back Brown. Unfortunately, Brown will almost definitely not be as cheap as the veteran minimum the Buccaneers signed him to last season. However, Brady will push Jason Licht and the front office to keep Brown, just like he did to get Brown in Tampa Bay. I would imagine the front office will do whatever they can to make Brady happy and want to stay beyond this final year of his contract. If Brown would agree to a one-year, $6-7 million deal, I see the Buccaneers retaining both Godwin and Brown.
Summary
Could Humphries come back to Tampa Bay? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. The main reasoning is Brady will push for what he wants. Brady already has chemistry with Godwin and Brown and none with Humphries. This is nowhere close to the same Buccaneers team Humphries played on in 2018. Nothing is impossible, but I would say a Humphries return only has about a 15-20% chance of happening.
