Leonard Fournette reportedly isn’t in great standing with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches and players representing after adding some weight over the offseason.
Fournette, who signed a three-year, $21 million extension with Tampa Bay in March, continues to be listed on the Buccaneers roster at 228 pounds. But when discussing Tampa Bay’s running back depth behind Fournette on his “Sports Day Tampa Bay” podcast last week, NFL reporter Rick Stroud hinted at Fournette’s significant weight gain.
“The thing about Leonard Fournette is he became a three-down back. Now, the last time we saw Leonard Fournette he was about a donut shy of 260. Let’s see what he’s done in the five weeks since then,” Stroud said. “He certainly didn’t look like a guy who could play every down when we saw him.”
Fournette opted not to take part in voluntary organized team activities this spring. When he showed up at Tampa Bay’s mandatory minicamp, Buccaneers coaches felt Fournette allowed himself to creep out of playing shape, Stroud shared.
“Coaches were not happy, and that’s an understatement, when he didn’t participate in the OTAs, but then he shows up at the mandatory minicamp weighing damn near 260,” Stroud added. “And that’s not a good sign for a guy that you just spent a three-year contract on.
“So there’s some intrigue about the running back position, but I’m big on (Rachaad) White.”
Fournette still sits atop the Tampa Bay depth chart at the position. The 2017 first-rounder is ahead of Ronald Jones II, Giovani Bernard and Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Fournette will carry a $9 million dead cap hit entering the 2022 campaign with base salaries of $6.5 million each of the following two seasons.
The 27-year-old reportedly took a free-agent visit with the New England Patriots before ultimately returning to join Tom Brady’s Buccaneers.
