![\"Rakeem](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1341344897-e1775305764274.jpg\")
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches.<\/p>\n
If the response to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> bringing back defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches<\/a> on Friday is any indication of what\u2019s coming, it should be a pretty good year for the Belize-born, former 6th-round pick.<\/p>\n \u201cBucs agreed to a one-year deal with DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches,\u201d Tampa Bay Times NFL reporter Rick Stroud wrote<\/a> on his official X account. \u201cNacho returns to Tampa Bay after several seasons with the Giants<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nunez-Roches \u2014 \u201cNacho\u201d \u2014 previously played for the Buccaneers from 2018 to 2022 and was part of the team\u2019s historic run to winning the Super Bowl following the 2020 season.<\/p>\n \u201cBREAKING NEWS: He\u2019s back! The Buccaneers\u00a0have agreed to a one year deal with DL Rakeem Nunez\u2013Roches,\u201d Sleeper Bucs wrote<\/a> on its official X account on Friday. \u201cNacho returns to the Bucs after last playing in Tampa Bay in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n Nunez-Roches is the 1st player from Belize to be selected in the NFL<\/a> draf.t<\/p>\n \u201cNacho is back in Tampa Bay,\u201d Pewter Report wrote<\/a> on its official X account. \u201cBucs have now added 2 DTs this offseason \u2014 A\u2019Shawn Robinson and Nacho to replace Logan Hall and Greg Gaines.\u201d<\/p>\n Nunez-Roches Crafted Decade-Plus NFL career<\/p>\n Nunez-Roches starred at Southern Miss and was drafted in the 5th round (No. 217 overall) by the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in the 2015 NFL draft. He played his 1st 3 seasons in Kansas City and spent the 2016 season as the full-time starter before landing with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> in 2018, but was released and signed with the Buccaneers, where he played until 2022.<\/p>\n He spent the last 3 seasons with the New York Giants<\/a> and will turn 33 years old in July.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of these individual moves are a death knell or will be the undoing of the team or anything like that,\u201d NFL reporter Jon Ledyard<\/a> wrote on X. \u201cBut getting old and slow was not my idea of an ideal offseason at these positions for the Bucs. Pretty shocked by the approach.\u201d<\/p>\n Nunez-Roches is also part of what\u2019s becoming a large group of underwhelming talent who were signed as free agents this offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cTodd Bowles said a goal was to get bigger and more physical along the defensive line,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Jenna Laine wrote<\/a> on her official X account. \u201cThey did that already with A\u2019Shawn Robinson\u2019s signing. This furthers that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRakeem Nunez-Roches returns to Tampa on a one-year deal after three seasons with the Giants<\/a>,\u201d Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote<\/a> on his official X account. \u201cJoins Anzalone, Robinson, Rozeboom as veterans added in churn for new leadership presence for defensive front.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c(Nunez-Roches) was never coming back to Giants<\/a> after 3 years,\u201d New York Post\u2019s Ryan Dunleavy<\/a> wrote on X. \u201cBoth sides wanted to part. But highlights how few accomplished veteran DTs are around Dexter Lawrence.\u201d<\/p>\n Bucs Wasted 1st Round Pick on Interior DL<\/p>\n Signing Robinson or Nunez-Roches or anyone else on the defensive front seems to indicate the Buccaneers have grown tired of playing the wait-and-see game with 2023 1st round pick Calijah Kancey<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kancey, who is in a contract year in 2026, has spent the majority of his NFL career to this point unavailable due to injuries \u2014 that includes missing 14 games due to a torn pectoral muscle in 2025.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Buccaneers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches. If the response to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bringing back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-853278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116346784784597872","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}