Latest training camp development has Buccaneers shaking their heads at missed opportunity that would have helped the defense
The Buccaneers need the secondary to get back on track in 2026 and a key player is dealing with an injury. It makes the decision to pass on Rasul Douglas look even iffier than it did at first.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed secondary help this offseason, and veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas was right there for the taking. Instead, Tampa Bay passed, and now the Buccaneers are watching Douglas make plays for the Washington Commanders while their own cornerback, Benjamin Morrison, remains limited in practice with a hamstring injury.
Hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes the context leading up to a decision makes the answer obvious from the start.
Morrison was supposed to be a cornerstone of the Buccaneers’ rebuilt secondary in 2026. The defense needs to rebound after a disastrous 2025 campaign, and big plans were drawn up around the young corner. The problem is that Morrison can’t stay on the field. Hamstring injuries plagued him throughout the 2025 season, and now the same issue is keeping him off to the side during training camp, barely participating in team drills.
That makes the decision to bypass Douglas sting even more.
Douglas was coming off a legitimately good 2025 season with the Miami Dolphins. He wasn’t mediocre. He wasn’t up and down. He was a quality starter for a team that needed him from the jump. Douglas told Commanders reporters that Miami threw him into the fire on roughly the 10th play of the Dolphins’ season after he missed the entire offseason, training camp, and preseason with the team. He hadn’t taken a single meaningful rep with Miami before being asked to perform at a high level, and he delivered anyway.
Douglas is exactly the kind of savvy, experienced player you want in a secondary that desperately needs stability. The Buccaneers had the chance to bring him in and chose not to. Now he’s in Washington, contributing immediately, while Morrison is watching practice from the sideline.
It’s an L for the Buccaneers. There’s no way around that.
The good news, however, is that training camp is still in its early stages. There’s time for Morrison to work through the hamstring issue and string together enough healthy practices to be ready for the regular season. But the pattern is concerning. He’s about to miss more crucial offseason development time, just like he did in 2025, and at some point the Buccaneers have to acknowledge that banking on his availability without a proven fallback option was a gamble that isn’t paying off.
Tampa Bay’s secondary cannot afford another lost stretch from Morrison. The defense has too much ground to make up after last season, and the margin for error at cornerback is razor thin. Douglas would have provided insurance against exactly this scenario — instead, the Buccaneers are left hoping Morrison’s hamstring cooperates, with no veteran safety net in sight.