For the second time this week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have used free agency to reunite with one of their former performers in the trenches. After inking swing tackle Justin Skule for the offensive line on Monday, the Buccaneers signed nose tackle Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, who previously played in Tampa from 2018-22 and was a starter in Super Bowl LV.
Nuñez-Roches played the last three seasons for the Giants after New York signed him to a three-year deal as an unrestricted free agent during the 2023 offseason. He appeared 40 games and made 24 stars for the Giants and in 2025 registered a career-high 3.0 sacks.
Nuñez-Roches is the second addition the Buccaneers have made to their interior defensive line since the start of free agency. The team also signed former Carolina Panthers defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson (6-3, 320) in an effort to heed Head Coach Todd Bowles' call earlier this offseason to get bigger on defense.
Nuñez-Roches first signed with the Buccaneers in October of 2018 and saw action in three games that season. He landed a rotational role on the Bucs' defensive front in 2019 and got into all 16 games, contributing nine tackles and a quarterback hit.
In 2020, Nuñez-Roches was featured even more prominently in Tampa Bay's defense when nose tackle Vita Vea suffered an ankle injury in Week Five that kept him out for the rest of the regular season. Nuñez-Roches moved into the starting lineup for the last 11 games of the season as well as all four playoff games and produced a combined 23 tackles and four quarterback hits. He was also a key part of the Buccaneers' top-ranked rush defense, which allowed just 80.6 yards per game and 3.60 yards per carry.
In all, across his first five seasons with the Buccaneers, Nuñez-Roches played in 68 games with 22 starts and recorded 81 tackles, 2.0 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, nine tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits.
Nuñez-Roches, who played his college ball at Southern Mississippi, was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round in 2015. He played three seasons in Kansas City, making 16 starts, before being waived in the spring of 2018. The Indianapolis Colts claimed him off waivers but later released him in September, after which he joined the Buccaneers. In all, he has played in 142 regular season games with 62 starts, recording 9.0 sacks, 233 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 23 QB hits, four passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
