Bucs Lose Robert Hainsey In Free Agency

The Bucs will be in search of additional offensive line help now that former backup center Robert Hainsey has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the signing originally, noting that it is a three-year, $21 million deal that is reuniting Hainsey with former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who is now the head coach in Jacksonville.

Bucs Suffer Depth Hit In Losing Hainsey

Hainsey was easily one of the best backup offensive linemen in the NFL. Over the past three seasons, he has been called upon by the Bucs to step in to start at center due to injuries to the starting center.

After the Bucs drafted him in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft, Hainsey underwent a transformation. A right tackle in college at Notre Dame, Tampa Bay moved him to center as Ryan Jensen’s understudy. It required him to remake his body to fill out the needs for an interior offensive lineman.

In 2022, Jensen suffered a knee injury during training camp that caused him to be lost for the entire regular season. Hainsey stepped in that season and provided stable and continuous play throughout the season. He earned a 73.0 pass block grade and 98.7 efficiency rating while allowing just 20 pressures and no sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

The 2023 season became a groundhog’s day situation as Jensen was unable to return from the previous knee injury that would ultimately cause him to retire. Once again, Hainsey was thrust into the starting lineup. Hainsey’s play fell off from the year prior, as he allowed 33 pressures and five sacks. His run blocking struggled, along with the rest of the offensive line.

This caused the Bucs to draft Graham Barton in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Barton started all but one game in 2024 and now looks to be the Bucs’ center of the future. Hainsey did get one start in week five due to a minor injury suffered by Barton. Hainsey showed out in week five against the New Orleans Saints. He allowed no pressures across 41 quarterback dropbacks while earning an 81.0 pass block grade from PFF.

Hainsey Gets Chance To Start

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs and C Robert Hainsey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In signing with the Jaguars, Hainsey is getting an opportunity to be a bona fide starter, something the Bucs would not be able to offer him. Tampa Bay had interest in re-upping with Hainsey for another contract, but given the length and size of his three-year, $21 million deal, Jacksonville sees him as a starter who can help improve the offensive line in front of Trevor Lawrence.

Not only were the Bucs bracing to lose Hainsey, but so was All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, who recently called Hainsey his best friend in an appearance on The Pivot Podcast. Wirfs said he knew Hainsey would be looking to get a chance to start somewhere and believed he would get that chance.

“There’s not 31 centers in the league better than him,” Wirfs said. “We talked about it all year. Like, ‘I’m going to leave. I’m not going to be here next year.’ We give Graham a hard time about it, like it’s never going to be this good. I thought we had an incredible O-line room. We just give him a hard time.

“That was kind of the realization that he’s leaving. It’s over. Because it’s never going to be the same. That’s how it is in the NFL. But that was kind of the realization that he is leaving. It was emotional. Like, I love the O-line room we had this year, it was the best I have ever been a part of. And we are so close.”

The loss represents a hit to the quality of the Bucs’ depth, but the team is set to have incredible continuity on their starting front. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs, right tackle Luke Goedeke, right guard Cody Mauch and Barton are all set to return in 2025. And on Monday, Tampa Bay re-signed left guard Ben Bredeson, ensuring that the whole starting offensive line will be sticking together for the foreseeable future.