The Chicago Bears released Tim Jennings after five seasons with the team, and now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Jennings’ former head coach, are interesting in adding him on board.
The 31-year old cornerback did see a steep decline in his interception numbers since leading the league with nine in 2012, but interceptions are always a skewed way of judging a cornerback. He had “just” 4 in 2013, including returning two for touchdowns, making his second pro bowl, but was ranked just 51st by Pro Football Focus among the league’s cornerbacks.
In 2014, a disastrous season for the Bears on all fronts, Jennings didn’t have a single interception and didn’t make any Pro Bowl games. But he was 25th on the PFF rankings for cornerbacks, suggesting there’s more to the obvious numbers when judging a cornerback or any other player with statistics often clouding the judgement.
Jennings, if he joins the Buccaneers, will reunite with Lovie Smith, who brought him over to Chicago in 2010 from the Indianapolis Colts. This means Jennings joins a team he’s aware of its defensive system and shouldn’t have too many problems adjusting, and will add excellent depth and maybe more.