SerpApi.Org
Former Buccaneers and Jets safety Jordan Whitehead fractured his neck in a January 2025 car crash, temporarily throwing his career off course. Whitehead received medical clearance last July and then met with the Falcons and Ravens, but he did not sign anywhere.
Even though he missed last season, Whitehead remains on the NFL radar. The 29-year-old is now fully cleared to resume his career, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, who adds Whitehead had recent workouts with the Texans and Colts. He is likely to meet with more teams soon, per Garafolo.
Since the Buccaneers took him in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, Whitehead has started in 101 of 105 games, made 557 tackles, deflected 45 passes and hauled in 11 interceptions. He was a full-time starter on the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl-LV winning team in 2020. He left Tampa Bay in 2022 to sign a two-year, $14MM contract with the Jets.
After starting in 34 straight games and picking off six passes as a Jet, Whitehead reunited with the Buccaneers on a two-year, $9MM pact in 2024. He remained a full-time starter in his return to Tampa Bay, but he played just 12 games and went without an INT for the second time in his career. The severe neck injury Whitehead suffered in the car crash kept him out of the Buccaneers’ regular-season finale and their wild-card round loss to the Commanders. Several weeks later, the Bucs made Whitehead a free agent when they decided not to exercise his roster bonus.
Whitehead has been sitting on the open market for 17 months, but signing with the Texans would give him a chance to earn a spot on one of the NFL’s premier defenses. He would vie for a backup role behind Calen Bullock and Reed Blankenship, an ex-Eagle who is entering the first season of a three-year, $24.75MM contract.
The Colts have Cam Bynum locked into one starting safety spot. They lost their other 2025 starter, Nick Cross, to the Commanders in free agency, but third-round rookie A.J. Haulcy is the favorite to take over him. Whitehead would at least give Indianapolis another backup option to join Jonathan Owens, Juanyeh Thomas and Hunter Wohler. Owens has 82 games and 35 starts to his name, but Thomas has come off in the bench in 32 of 36 contests. A seventh-round pick in 2025, Wohler missed his entire rookie season with a Lisfranc injury.
More must-reads:
