Dontari Poe: 5 best fits in NFL free agency
By James Dudko
Dontari Poe is the premier defensive tackle available in 2017 NFL Free Agency. Find out which five teams best fit the mammoth nose guard.
Dontari Poe should be the primary free-agent target for any NFL team needing a game-wrecker at the heart of its defensive front. The five-year pro and Kansas City Chiefs ace is a magnet for double teams and a natural clogger of running lanes.
Poe can also push the pass pocket with the best of them, even if his pressure numbers don’t always reflect his talent. Still, every defense is built on the quality of the man in the middle, so these five teams should go all out for Poe once the bell sounds for NFL Free Agency on March 9:
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are an overpowering defense away from being a threat in the NFC. Just imagine how effective the Tampa D’ would be with Poe partnering the brilliant Gerald McCoy along the interior.
They would form the most intimidating inside tandem since the days when Warren Sapp and Anthony McFarland dominated the trenches during this franchise’s Super Bowl years.
Moving to the Bucs would mean a scheme change for Poe. The Buccaneers run a 4-3 scheme under coordinator Mike Smith, but it’s one perhaps requiring the least amount of transition for a 3-4 nose tackle like Poe.
After all, Smith is one of the few coordinators who still utilizes two-gap principles along a four-man line. Those skills naturally crossover with the demands placed on 3-4 linemen to combat blockers head-on and draw double teams.
Poe would instantly transform Tampa’s front seven and finally give quarterback Jameis Winston and a loaded offense a supporting cast capable of inspiring a playoff run.
The Bucs have $84,325,850 worth of cap space, according to Jimmie Kaylor of CheatSheet.com. So the NFC South club has the money to make this deal happen.