Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean got bad news from the NFL team in August. The former Auburn standout could accept a new contract or find a new team.

Dean took the new contract, and he’s going to get another one after this season, and it will be on his terms this time.

In 11 games during the 2025 season, opposing quarterbacks have a 33.5 passing-efficiency rating when throwing to receivers covered by Dean. That’s the lowest in the NFL.

Quarterbacks have completed 20-of-44 passes for 232 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions when throwing Dean’s way, and they’ve started steering clear of the cornerback, with seven targets in the past three games.

“That’s when you’re more vulnerable,” Dean said about staying on his toes, “when you just sit there like, ‘All right, I’m just going through the motions,’ then they actually catch you off-guard. It’s a big play. Like, that’s probably the opportunity that I actually was waiting on, but I wasn’t prepared for it.”

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Dean would have yielded one touchdown this season, but when he fell down in coverage, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. raced over and broke up the pass just steps from the goal line with 11 seconds left in Tampa Bay’s season-opening 23-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 7.

The Bucs and Falcons will square off again at 7:15 p.m. CST Thursday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Prime Video will televise the game.

“I can remember that they played us to the end,” Dean said of the teams’ first meeting three months ago. “So we got to expect them boys not to just lay down. Like, they’re going to give us a game. They’re going to give us their best because it’s a division game.”

The Buccaneers have a 7-6 record after a 24-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. By losing to the last-place team in the NFC South, Tampa Bay dropped into a tie for division lead with the Carolina Panthers, its opponent next week.

The Bucs are seeking their fifth consecutive NFC South title.

“For the most part, the confidence is still there,” Dean said, “and just over the past years, we kind of, like, make it very interesting to win a division instead of just winning out easy. We got to kind of, like, make it a challenge for ourselves. So not really, like, too stressed out, but we still know we got an opportunity upon us. …

“Me personally, I really don’t like making it interesting. You know, I like things to be as smooth as possible, but I guess we like it this way.”

In the first meeting this season with the Falcons, Tampa Bay faced second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. But a season-ending knee injury has returned Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta lineup for the past four games.

Last season, Cousins threw for 785 yards and eight touchdowns in two games against the Buccaneers.

“He’s an experienced quarterback, so he’s seen everything that’s probably just came at him over the years,” Dean said. “So he’s great at making great decisions once he recognizes it, so we got to be good at, like, disguising, not let them see what we in because he’ll just pick us apart.”

Dean is playing this season for $4.25 million plus a $44,117 bonus for every game he’s active.

Dean was supposed to make $12.5 million in 2025, the third season of a four-year, $52 million contract. But Tampa Bay did not want Dean at that price, and with no guaranteed money left in the deal, his choice was to become a free agent with one preseason game remaining before the kickoff to the 2025 campaign or take the new deal.

Dean’s new agreement also voided the final season of his four-year contract, so he’s on course to become an unrestricted free agent in March. The sports financial website spotrac.com estimates Dean’s market value as a three-year, $39.587 million contract.