The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done everything in their power to signal they are moving on from 2021 first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.
They benched Tryon-Shoyinka in favor of rookie YaYa Diaby at outside linebacker for the last half of the 2023 season. They declined the fifth-year option on Tryon-Shoyinka’s contract that would have paid him $13.2 million in 2025. They drafted a player in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft who plays his position in Alabama’s Chris Braswell.
Still, Tryon-Shoyinka might have value to another team as an edge rusher after putting up 13.0 sacks through his first three seasons and according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, just giving him away for a pittance might not be the smartest move.
“Dumping Tryon-Shoyinka for the sake of moving on doesn’t really seem like a logical move,” Barnwell wrote, “but if another team expresses interest in acquiring a player who has had some modest success as a pass rusher, the Bucs should be willing to pick up the phone. They could use another off-ball linebacker, depth along the offensive line or a tight end in a potential swap.”
With Diaby out with a high-ankle sprain for the last month and another outside linebacker, Randy Gregory, released after not showing up for camp, keeping Tryon-Shoyinka in the fold might be smart for now.
Tryon-Shoyinka Outplayed by Rookie in 2023
Tryon-Shoyinka was the No. 32 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft out of Washington, where he was an All-Pac-12 Conference pick in 2018. He’s played in all 17 games each of his three seasons and started a career-high 16 games in 2022, but saw that number drop to 12 games in 2023.
The bigger number for Tryon-Shoyinka is 13.0 sacks through his first three seasons. Those numbers were put in stark contrast after Diaby, a 2023 third-round pick who also plays outside linebacker, led the team with 7.5 sacks as a rookie despite playing in less than half of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps.
In just financial terms, the investment in Diaby and younger players moving forward is exponentially better than keeping Tryon-Shoyinka around. Diaby outplayed his value as a rookie on a 4-year, $5.46 million contract that will pay him $998,424 in 2024 and approximately $1.2 million in 2025.
Alabama’s Braswell Could Be JTS Subsitute
The Buccaneers selected Alabama’s Braswell in the second round (No. 57 overall) of the 2024 draft in another clear sign they’re moving on from Tryon-Shoyinka.
Braswell, 6-foot-3 and 251 pounds, led Alabama with 3 forced fumbles to go with 42 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 8.0 sacks. He also returned an interception for a touchdown and blocked a kick. Braswell played behind several other NFL draft picks during his time at Alabama and left school with one year of eligibility remaining.
“Braswell chose to stick it out at Alabama rather than transferring and was rewarded with a productive final campaign,” wrote NFL analyst Lance Zierlein. “He doesn’t play with great technique or anchor as an edge-setter and is average in taking on in-line tight ends at the point of attack. As a pass rusher, he gets off the ball with good burst and uses a variety of moves, speeds and angles to create opportunities but needs to add counters to his approach.”
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