Bucs decline to pick up Joe Tryon-Shoyinka’s 5th-year option

TAMPA — The Bucs had high expectations for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka when they made him the last pick in the first round of the 2021 draft.

They had just won the Super Bowl with Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul as their edge rushers.

Getting a 6-foot-5, 259-pound athletic outside linebacker to develop seemed like the way to go.

But Tryon-Shoyinka’s production has never lived up to his pedigree.

Last season, he had a career-high five sacks to give him only 13 in three seasons. He also lost his starting job near midseason to rookie Yaya Diaby, who led the team with 7½ sacks.

The Bucs are hoping this will be a breakout year for Tryon-Shoyinka, but they’re not willing to gamble on it.

That’s why the team has decided not to pick up the fifth-year club option by Thursday’s deadline.

It would have guaranteed Tryon-Shoyinka a $13.251 million salary for 2025. Instead, he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

It’s not a surprise. In fact, the Bucs signed 49ers free-agent outside linebacker Randy Gregory and took Alabama edge rusher Chris Braswell in the second round of the draft.

But that doesn’t mean the Bucs still aren’t hoping for big things from Tryon-Shoyinka.

At the NFL’s annual meetings in Orlando in March, coach Todd Bowles identified Tryon-Shoyinka as one of his “wild cards” that he can deploy almost anywhere on defense.

“Joe is a very unique player,” Bowles said. “He’s not going to be a go-around-the-corner, Shaq-type guy. Joe can move all across the line of scrimmage and help us in a lot of things. He’s our linebacker, he’s our defensive end, he’s our three-tech, he’s our part-time nickel, he’s our part-time inside ‘backer. He can come from a lot of areas, so he has a lot of jobs. He’s one of those chess pieces that I talk about.”

Despite his limited production as a pass rusher, Tryon-Shoyinka’s fifth sack of the season included a forced fumble that clinched the Bucs’ win Jan. 7 at Carolina and their third straight NFC South title.

Gregory, 31, had only 2½ sacks for the 49ers (and one with the Broncos) last season but will add depth at the position. After being released by the Bucs, Barrett signed with the Dolphins.

“I think Randy will bring a lot to our pressure package,” said outside linebackers coach George Edwards, who coached Gregory in Dallas. “I mean, he’s a good rusher, although he doesn’t have a big number of sacks. But he can affect the quarterback, which is what we look for. He’s got the skill set, the drop. He can do a lot of different things at that position, so I think him added to the rotation will be a plus to us.”

Diaby still figures to be a force and should add to his sack totals as a starter beginning Week 1.

“I think going into Year 2, you can see he’s already just what we’ve done so far this offseason, he’s a lot more comfortable than the first time we saw him,” Bucs co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said. “We look for him to take a big step and big things coming.”

Braswell, who had eight sacks, 10½ tackles for loss and an interception return for a touchdown last season for Alabama, should have an immediate impact.

“The thing with Braswell coming in and with Joe, we have the ability now to create so many matchups that we want,” Rodgers said. “I don’t know that you guys may have realized at the end of the season, we were in a lot of, they could classify us as five down (linemen). We had five bigs out there. The thing that does for you is it simplifies the protection. If they happen to turn (the tight end lose), we’ve got Joe on the back.

“So, we created a lot of mismatches, created a lot of one-on-ones. We were playing defense on our terms, and that’s the chess piece part of it ‚because now not only can he rush, he has drop skills. And the out there, we like to say, ‘Look at all those little numbers out there. You’ve got to figure out who zero is, who six is, who’s nine. We wanted to confuse the offensive line with our personnel. Who’s the back guy? It creates a chess piece for them.”

Meanwhile, Tryon-Shoyinka will be a relative bargain in his fourth season. with nearly all of his $3.554 million salary in 2024 guaranteed.

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