Playoff hero Sean Murphy-Bunting returns to Buccaneers in a new role

Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 2, 2026

Published in Football

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TAMPA, Fla. — Sean Murphy-Bunting isn’t returning to Tampa Bay as the same player who left and that’s kind of the point.

A second-round draft pick in 2019, Murphy-Bunting found himself as a key figure in the Buccaneers’ run to a Super Bowl 55 championship just a year later. He had an interception in each of his first three playoff games, becoming only the fourth player to do so, joining Aeneas Williams, Ed Reed and Jason Sehorn.

On Wednesday, he signed with the Bucs’ practice squad, having been released by the Cardinals.

“When I came in, there was Carlton Davis, M.J. Stewart, Vernon Hargreaves,” said Murphy-Bunting, 29. “It’s different, obviously, learning from those guys in that position. Carlton, obviously, was a big reason and mentor for me, too, just meshing. Same with Vernon and same with M.J. Everybody kind of gives you their two cents in many different ways. So, it was cool. Coming back, obviously being around Zyon (McCollum), my locker is right back next to Zyon. He was one of my young guys, so it’s just been pretty cool to be around him again. ...

“I’ve played in different systems. I’ve been around different teams. I’ve been in this system. I’ve had success in this system. Everybody has had failures as well. I feel like I’ve dealt with a lot, given the situation that I’ve been in. I told them earlier today, however I can help them in that mindset, as far as being mentally strong for it, physically strong for it, whatever it may be. I’m just a conversation away.”

But Murphy-Bunting wasn’t brought to Tampa Bay to just be a mentor. His versatility — he can play cornerback, nickel or safety — provides the Bucs with a veteran presence in a plug-and-play role.

The Bucs have a young secondary. McCollum is the graybeard entering only his fifth season and in the second year of a three-year, $48 million contract extension. Jacob Parrish, who is expected to start opposite McCollum, could become the nickel defender in certain situations. Second-year pro Benjamin Morrison struggled as a rookie and missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury. Ayden Garnes, who made the club as an undrafted rookie out of Arizona, is green but growing.

Murphy-Bunting can play any position in the secondary without much fuss and retained most of head coach Todd Bowles’ defense

“Yeah, that’s why we got him,” Bowles said. “He’s so versatile. He can play corner, he can play nickel, and he played some safety last year as well. He is extremely intelligent and a ball hawk, so I feel a little better from a depth standpoint having him here.”

Rarely has a defensive back enjoyed the kind of impact in the postseason than Murphy-Bunting made with the Bucs in that Super Bowl season.

He intercepted Drew Brees in an NFC division playoff game in New Orleans, then swiped another one against Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game.

“You had (then-head coach) Bruce Arians, who challenged us every day,” Murphy-Bunting said. “So, he didn’t really let us be complacent. Same with Bowles. And we took that mentality every day, we took it from here to the field. So I felt like when I got out there, and obviously feeding off the guys that I played with, all of us were pretty talented and so we never wanted to be a weak link. Not me. Not (Jamel) Dean, not Carlton Davis. ...

“I was just being a player. The ball found me.”

This time, Murphy-Bunting’s value is experience off the bench. He can affect the game at all three levels: as a blitzer, in the box as a nickel corner and outside the hash marks.

“I’m a DB, so (whatever) you take that as, that’s what I am,” he said. “I feel like I can play pretty much anywhere in the secondary. I’m obviously most comfortable being closer to the line of scrimmage so corner, nickel. I did play a bit of safety in the role where I was in Arizona. So, like I said, whatever they need, I feel like I can do.”

Bowles was the Bucs’ defensive coordinator and Arians a first-year Bucs coach when Murphy-Bunting arrived as a second-round pick from Central Michigan. Murphy-Bunting’s first conversation with Bowles in his return to the team went about the way you’d think it would.

“He started off saying, ‘What’s up, old man?’” Murphy-Bunting recalled. “So, I said it back to him because we’re both … I guess we’re both pretty old in this league. But, it was really natural. It felt like we picked up the conversation from the last time we spoke. Nothing was forced. He talked about how good this team is and how good of a position they’re in and the players that they have and how I can just be a part of the puzzle.

“The relationships that I’ve built here, obviously, are still going strong, so that’s obviously a (testament) to them bringing me in and that’s a (testament) to just myself of just being the person that I am all the time. Nothing has changed. No matter the circumstance or the situation so, like I said, blessed for those people in my corner and blessed to be a part of this program.”

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