Buccaneers All-Pro Has Plenty To Prove After Down Year originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
At the start of his NFL journey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory.
The defensive back out of Minnesota was a first-team All-Pro once, a Pro Bowler, and a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. He was also a Super Bowl champion in just his first season in the league.
Things changed drastically last year, though. Winfield missed eight games last season due to a myriad of injuries. When he was healthy, the safety struggled mightily on the field.
Because of this, Pro Football Focus writer Zoltán Buday named Winfield as one of 10 players with the most to prove in the upcoming season.
"The Buccaneers made Antoine Winfield Jr. not only the highest-paid safety in the NFL but also the highest-paid defensive back last offseason," Buday wrote. "Even when he was on the field, he did not play like his usual self. His 57.8 PFF overall grade was the lowest of his career...
"One year after his historic contract extension, Winfield is looking to prove that he is still among the best safeties in the NFL."
Tampa Bay provided Winfield with plenty of young talent around him during the 2025 draft. And he is still just 26 years old ... so Winfield also counts as "young.''
So ... the Buccaneers believe there is still time for the captain of their defense to turn his career around.
And if Winfield can get back to his production from earlier in his career, the Buccaneers' defense can return to their Super Bowl ways.
