Sean Murphy-Bunting Is Back
August 31st, 2026
Welcome back.
It was the common-sense thing to do.
The Bucs were staring at a borderline crisis at cornerback. After the Bucs announced their 53-man roster last night, the starting outside corners facing Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on opening day were Jacob Parrish, who has limited experience at outside corner, and bored Zyon McCollum.
Depending on who you are in the Bucs’ organization, the CB3 was either oft-injured and unproven Benjamin Morrison and a rookie undrafted free agent in Ayden Garnes.
Hey, Garnes is a great story but stories don’t win football games. Not against elite opponents.
Joe last night banged the keyboard for the Bucs to sign former Bucs corner Sean Murphy-Bunting, the Bucs’ 2019 second-round draft pick. He was a starting corner in 2020 when Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl. He knows the defense so there would be minimal adjustment.
Well, the Bucs did just that today.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht signed SMB as a free agent, so he is back with the Bucs. No word yet on a corresponding move from the Bucs to make room on the roster.
This was just smart. Now if you want to argue it is a red flag to pick up Arizona’s trash, that’s reasonable. Or you could say the Bidwill clan has a rich history of dumb moves that dates back to the Harry Truman administration.
For Joe, it is just as likely Arizona made a mistake turning loose SMB.