.jpg) Winfield Jr. with theTampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 31 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1998-08-16)August 16, 1998 (age 27) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 203 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | The Woodlands (The Woodlands, Texas) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | Minnesota (2016–2019) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2020: 2nd round, 45th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
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Antoine Duane Winfield Jr. (born August 16, 1998) is an American professionalfootballsafety for theTampa Bay Buccaneers of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theMinnesota Golden Gophers, earningunanimous All-American honors. Winfield was selected by the Buccaneers in the second round of the2020 NFL draft.
Winfield Jr. attendedEden Prairie High School inEden Prairie, Minnesota for his freshman year before he and his family moved toThe Woodlands, Texas and attendedThe Woodlands High School, where he was a three-year letterer and two-year starting safety, in addition to being the team's kick returner, playing alongside future NFL playersEthan Bonner andPatrick Carr. As a senior, he totaled 87 tackles, five forced fumbles, and one interception, and was named theMontgomery County Player of the Year.[1] Winfield was considered a two-star recruit byRivals.com, and accepted a scholarship fromMinnesota over offers fromBaylor,Eastern Michigan,Houston,Lamar,Missouri,South Florida,Texas State, andWyoming, among others.[2][3]
As a true freshman at Minnesota in 2016, Winfield Jr. played in 12 games and made nine starts. During the season, he had 52 tackles, oneinterception and one fumble recovered for atouchdown.[4] He played in the first four games in 2017 before suffering an injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season.[5] He finished the season with 20 tackles and a sack. Winfield Jr. again played in only four games in 2018, recording 17 tackles and an interception.[6] He returned from the injuries in 2019 and was named a finalist for theBronko Nagurski Trophy.[7][8] In the 2019 season, his seven interceptions led theBig Ten Conference.[9] After being named a first-team All American andBig Ten Defensive Back of the Year during the 2019 season, Winfield announced that he would forgo his final two years of eligibility and declared for the2020 NFL draft.[10][11]
| Season | Team | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmb | Solo | Ast | TfL | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | |||
| 2016 | Minnesota | 10 | 52 | 37 | 15 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 82 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017 | Minnesota | 4 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Minnesota | 4 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | Minnesota | 12 | 83 | 58 | 25 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 1 | 7 | 98 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | 30 | 172 | 122 | 50 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 6 | 9 | 180 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
ESPN analystMel Kiper Jr. listed Winfield as the top safety prospect in the draft. NFL media analystDaniel Jeremiah had Winfield ranked as the third best safety prospect (49th overall).[12]Pro Football Focus, NFL analystBucky Brooks, and Kevin Hanson ofSports Illustrated had him ranked as the fourth best safety in the draft. Former NFL executiveGil Brandt ranked Winfield fourth among all safeties (56th overall) available in the draft.[13] Dane Brugler ofthe Athletic ranked him sixth amongst all safety prospects in the draft.[14] NFL draft analysts projected him to be selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Antoine Winfield runs 4.45s 40-yard dash | |
| Antoine Winfield: 2020 Combine Workout |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Wonderlic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft9+1⁄8 in (1.76 m) | 203 lb (92 kg) | 30+1⁄8 in (0.77 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 6 ft0+3⁄4 in (1.85 m) | 4.45 s | 1.52 s | 2.62 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) | 20 | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[15][16] | ||||||||||||
TheTampa Bay Buccaneers selected Winfield in the second round (45th overall) of the2020 NFL draft. He was the fourth safety selected in 2020 and also became the first of six defensive backs fromMinnesota's 2019 secondary that would be drafted from 2020 to 2024.[17] Winfield was followed byChris Williamson (2020),Benjamin St-Juste(2021),Terell Smith(2023),Jordan Howden (2023), andTyler Nubin(2024).
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| Bucs select Antoine Winfield Jr. No. 45 | |
| Winfield's family erupts when Bucs select him | |
| Antoine Winfield's college highlights |
On July 29, 2020, theTampa Bay Buccaneers signed Winfield to a four–year, $7.30 million contract that includes $3.81 million guaranteed and asigning bonus of $2.87 million.[18][19]
Throughouttraining camp, he competed to be a starting safety against veteransMike Edwards andJordan Whitehead.[20] Head coachBruce Arians named Winfield the starting strong safety to begin the regular season and paired him with free safetyJordan Whitehead.[21][22]
On September 13, 2020, Winfield made his professional regular season debut and earned his first career start in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener at theNew Orleans Saints and made six combined tackles (three solo) and a pass deflection during a 34–23 loss.[23] In Week 2, he had 11 combined tackles (eight solo) and forced a fumble byTeddy Bridgewater while making his first career sack during a 31–17 victory against theCarolina Panthers.[24] He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September (23 total tackles, two pass deflections, two sacks, and a forced fumble from Weeks 1–3).[25] On October 25, 2020, Winfield made two combined tackles (one solo), a pass deflection, and had his first career interception after a pass byDerek Carr to wide receiverNelson Agholor was broken up by safety Mike Edwards and caught by Winfield during the fourth quarter of a 45–20 win at theLas Vegas Raiders.[26] In Week 14, Winfield led the team with a season-high 12 combined tackles (ten solo) and had a sack onKirk Cousins during a 26–14 win against theMinnesota Vikings.[27] He was named to thePFWA All-Rookie Team.[28] He started all 16 games as a rookie and finished with a total of 94 combined tackles (64 solo), six pass deflections, three sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception while starting all 16 games.[29] Pro Football Focus had him finish the season with an overall grade of 56.2 as a rookie in 2020.[30]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished the2020 NFL season second in theNFC South with an 11–5 record to earn a Wildcard spot. On January 9, 2021, Winfield started in the first playoff game of his career and recorded six solo tackles during a 31–23 victory at theWashington Football Team in theWild Card Game.[31] On January 17, 2021, Winfield had six combined tackles (five solo) and forced a fumble by tight endJared Cook that was recovered byDevin White as the Buccaneers earned a 30–20 victory at theNew Orleans Saints in theDivisional Round.[32] During practice prior to theNational Football Conference (NFC) Championship Winfield sustained an ankle injury and was subsequently inactive as the Buccaneers defeated theGreen Bay Packers 31–26.
On February 7, 2021, Winfield returned from injury and started inSuper Bowl LV, recording six combined tackles (four solo) and intercepted a pass thrown byPatrick Mahomes to wide receiverTyreek Hill as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated theKansas City Chiefs 31–9 to earn Winfield his firstSuper Bowl ring.[33]
He entered training camp with theBuccaneers in 2021 slated as thede facto starting strong safety under defensive coordinatorTodd Bowles. Head coach Bruce Arians retained Winfield and Jordan Whitehead as the starting safeties to begin the season. On October 3, 2021, Winfield made seven combined tackles (five solo), forced a fumble, made a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass thrown byMac Jones to wide receiverNelson Agholor before exiting at the end of the fourth quarter of a 19–17 victory at theNew England Patriots due to possibly suffering aconcussion.[34] He was confirmed to have suffered a concussion and would remain inactive for the next two games (Weeks 5–6) while in concussion protocol.[35] In Week 10, he set a season-high with 11 combined tackles (seven solo) and forced a fumble during a 19–29 loss at theWashington Football Team. He was inactive for another two games (Weeks 15–16) after sustaining alisfranc sprain.[36] He finished the2021 NFL season with 88 combined tackles (62 solo), two sacks, six pass deflections, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries in 13 games and starts.[37] He received an overall grade of 89.1 from Pro Football Focus.[38]
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TheTampa Bay Buccaneers finished the 2021 NFL season with a 13–4 record and clinched a playoff berth atop the NFC South. On January 16, 2022, Winfield recorded five combined tackles (three solo) and a sack onJalen Hurts during a 31–15 victory against thePhiladelphia Eagles in theWild Card Game.[39] On January 23, 2022, Winfield recorded nine total tackles and a forced fumble, but gave up a key 44-yard reception to Rams wide receiverCooper Kupp late in the fourth quarter which put Rams kickerMatt Gay in range to convert a game winning 30-yard field goal, as the Rams defeated the Buccaneers 30–27 to eliminate them from the playoffs during theDivisional Round.[40]
On January 26, 2022, Winfield earned his first careerPro Bowl selection after being named as an injury replacement forSeattle Seahawks safetyQuandre Diggs.[41] He was ranked 75th by his fellow players on theNFL Top 100 Players of 2022.[42]
On March 30, 2022, theTampa Bay Buccaneers promoted defensive coordinatorTodd Bowles to head coach afterBruce Arians retired and shifted to a senior football consultant role.[43] He continued to retain Winfield as the starting strong safety and paired him with Mike Edwards, following the departure of Jordan Whitehead.
On September 11, 2022, Winfield started in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener at theDallas Cowboys and made six combined tackles (five solo), one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass thrown byDak Prescott to wide receiverNoah Brown during a 19–3 victory. On October 23, 2022, Winfield made two solo tackles before exiting during the third quarter of a 3–21 loss at theCarolina Panthers to be evaluated for a possible concussion after colliding with running backRaheem Blackshear while tackling him for a four–yard loss. He was confirmed to have suffered a concussion and remained inactive for the next two games (Weeks 8–9). He injured his ankle and was subsequently sidelined for another two games (Weeks 13–14). In Week 14, Winfield set a new season-high with 13 combined tackles (ten solo) as the Buccaneers 17–30 lost at theAtlanta Falcons. He completed the2022 NFL season with 80 combined tackles (64 solo), a career-high four sacks, one interception, three passes defended, and one forced fumble in 13 games and 13 starts.[44] He finished the season with an overall grade of 78.1 from Pro Football Focus in 2022.
He returned to training camp with theTampa Bay Buccaneers slated as thede facto starting free safety following the departure of Mike Edwards. Head coach Todd Bowles named Winfield a starting safety to begin the season and paired him withRyan Neal.
In Week 10, Winfield had six combined tackles (three solo), one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass byWill Levis to wide receiverDeAndre Hopkins during a 20–6 victory against theTennessee Titans. On November 19, 2023, Winfield set a career-high with 16 combined tackles (ten solo) during a 27–14 loss at theSan Francisco 49ers. On December 3, 2023, Winfield made eight combined tackles (six solo), set a career-high with three pass deflections, made one sack, and secured a 21–18 win over theCarolina Panthers by intercepting a pass byBryce Young to wide receiverAdam Thielen with only 2:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. His performance earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week.[45] In Week 16, he had three solo tackles, one pass deflection, a sack, and set a new career-high with his third interception of the season on a pass byTrevor Lawrence to tight endEvan Engram during a 30–12 win against theJacksonville Jaguars. In Week 18, he recorded five combined tackles (four solo), made one sack, and had a touchdown-saving forced fumble in a 9–0 win over the Carolina Panthers to earn his second Player of the Week award of the season.[46] He started all 16 games during the2023 NFL season and finished with a career-high 122 combined tackles (76 solo), set a career-high with six sacks, set a new career-high with three interceptions, made 12 pass deflections, had six forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries.[47] He was the highest graded safety by Pro Football Focus in 2023 with an overall grade of 90.7.[48]
On March 5, 2024, theTampa Bay Buccaneers placed the franchise tag on Winfield that was an offer of one–year, $17.12 million.[49][19] On May 13, 2024, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Winfield to a four–year, $84.10 million contract extension that includes $45 million guaranteed upon signing and an initial signing bonus of $20 million, making him the highest paiddefensive back in league history.[50][19]
He enteredtraining camp slated to remain as the Buccaneers'de facto starting free safety. Head coach Todd Bowles chose named him the starting free safety to begin the season and paired him with strong safetyJordan Whitehead.[51]
On September 8, 2024, Winfield started in the Buccaneers' home-opener against theWashington Commanders and had seven combined tackles (four solo) before exiting at the end of the fourth quarter of their 37–20 victory after injuring his foot. It was confirmed that Winfield had injured his ankle and remained inactive for the next four games (Weeks 2–5).[52] On October 13, 2024, Winfield returned from his injury and made four solo tackles while also scoring his first career touchdown whenTykee Smith andZyon McCollum forced a fumble by wide receiverChris Olave, which led to a fumble recovery by Winfield that he returned 58–yards return by Winfield during a 51–27 victory at theNew Orleans Saints.[53] In Week 9, he collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (five solo) during a 30–24 loss at theKansas City Chiefs. After injuring his ankle, Winfield would subsequently miss the last four games (Weeks 15–18) of the2024 NFL season. He ended the season with a total of 60 combined tackles (34 solo), three pass deflections, two sacks, one fumble recovery, and a touchdown in nine games and nine starts.[54] He received an overall grade of 56.8 fromPro Football Focus, which ranked 126th among 171 qualifying safeties in 2024.[38]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2020 | TB | 16 | 16 | 94 | 64 | 30 | 3.0 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | TB | 13 | 13 | 88 | 62 | 26 | 2.0 | 6 | 2 | 30 | 15.0 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| 2022 | TB | 13 | 13 | 80 | 64 | 16 | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | TB | 17 | 17 | 122 | 76 | 46 | 6.0 | 12 | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 28 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | TB | 9 | 9 | 60 | 34 | 26 | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 58 | 1 |
| 2025 | TB | 17 | 17 | 93 | 50 | 43 | 1.0 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 85 | 85 | 537 | 350 | 187 | 18.0 | 38 | 9 | 94 | 10.4 | 30 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 72 | 1 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2020 | TB | 3 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | TB | 2 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | TB | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | TB | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | TB | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 9 | 9 | 51 | 37 | 14 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Winfield's father,Antoine Sr., played in the NFL for 14 seasons with the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings.[55] Antoine Jr., was born inColumbus, Ohio while his father attendedOhio State University. His mother, Erniece Winfield, also attended Ohio State.[56][57]
