Antoine Duane Winfield Jr. (born August 16, 1998) is an American professional football safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, earning unanimous All-American honors and winning Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in 2019. Winfield was selected by the Buccaneers in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. With Tampa Bay, Winfield has received two Pro Bowl selections and was named a first-team All-Pro in 2023 after leading the league in forced fumbles. He was also a member of the team that won Super Bowl LV.
Early life Winfield Jr. attended Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota for his freshman year before he and his family moved to The Woodlands, Texas and attended The 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 players Ethan Bonner and Patrick Carr. As a senior, he totaled 87 tackles, five forced fumbles, and one interception, and was named the Montgomery County Player of the Year. Winfield was considered a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, and accepted a scholarship from Minnesota over offers from Baylor, Eastern Michigan, Houston, Lamar, Missouri, South Florida, Texas State, and Wyoming, among others.
College career 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, one interception and one fumble recovered for a touchdown. He played in the first four games in 2017 before suffering an injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season. 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. He returned from the injuries in 2019 and was named a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. In the 2019 season, his seven interceptions led the Big Ten Conference. After being named a first-team All American and Big 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 the 2020 NFL draft.
Professional career
Pre-draft ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. listed Winfield as the top safety prospect in the draft. NFL media analyst Daniel Jeremiah had Winfield ranked as the third best safety prospect (49th overall). Pro Football Focus, NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, and Kevin Hanson of Sports Illustrated had him ranked as the fourth best safety in the draft. Former NFL executive Gil Brandt ranked Winfield fourth among all safeties (56th overall) available in the draft. Dane Brugler of the Athletic ranked him sixth amongst all safety prospects in the draft. NFL draft analysts projected him to be selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.
2020 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Winfield in the second round (45th overall) of the 2020 NFL draft. He was the fourth safety selected in 2020 and also became the first of six defensive backs from Minnesota's 2019 secondary that would be drafted from 2020 to 2024. Winfield was followed by Chris Williamson (2020), Benjamin St-Juste (2021), Terell Smith (2023), Jordan Howden (2023), and Tyler Nubin (2024).
On July 29, 2020, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Winfield to a four–year, $7.30 million contract that includes $3.81 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.87 million.
Throughout training camp, he competed to be a starting safety against veterans Mike Edwards and Jordan Whitehead. Head coach Bruce Arians named Winfield the starting strong safety to begin the regular season and paired him with free safety Jordan Whitehead.
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 the New Orleans Saints and made six combined tackles (three solo) and a pass deflection during a 34–23 loss. In Week 2, he had 11 combined tackles (eight solo) and forced a fumble by Teddy Bridgewater while making his first career sack during a 31–17 victory against the Carolina Panthers. 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). On October 25, 2020, Winfield made two combined tackles (one solo), a pass deflection, and had his first career interception after a pass by Derek Carr to wide receiver Nelson Agholor was broken up by safety Mike Edwards and caught by Winfield during the fourth quarter of a 45–20 win at the Las Vegas Raiders. In Week 14, Winfield led the team with a season-high 12 combined tackles (ten solo) and had a sack on Kirk Cousins during a 26–14 win against the Minnesota Vikings. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. 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. Pro Football Focus had him finish the season with an overall grade of 56.2 as a rookie in 2020.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished the 2020 NFL season second in the NFC 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 the Washington Football Team in the Wild Card Game. On January 17, 2021, Winfield had six combined tackles (five solo) and forced a fumble by tight end Jared Cook that was recovered by Devin White as the Buccaneers earned a 30–20 victory at the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round. During practice prior to the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Winfield sustained an ankle injury and was subsequently inactive as the Buccaneers defeated the Green Bay Packers 31–26.
Super Bowl LV On February 7, 2021, Winfield returned from injury and started in Super Bowl LV, recording six combined tackles (four solo) and intercepted a pass thrown by Patrick Mahomes to wide receiver Tyreek Hill as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31–9 to earn Winfield his first Super Bowl ring. Winfield was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct near the end of the game for taunting Hill after Hill taunted him earlier in the season. He was also fined $7,815 by the NFL, prompting him and the Buccaneers to each donate the same amount to the team's Youth Leadership Program at Young Middle Magnet School in Tampa.
2021 He entered training camp with the Buccaneers in 2021 slated as the de facto starting strong safety under defensive coordinator Todd 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 by Mac Jones to wide receiver Nelson Agholor before exiting at the end of the fourth quarter of a 19–17 victory at the New England Patriots due to possibly suffering a concussion. He was confirmed to have suffered a concussion and would remain inactive for the next two games (Weeks 5–6) while in concussion protocol. In Week 10, he set a season-high with 11 combined tackles (seven solo) and forced a fumble during a 19–29 loss at the Washington Football Team. He was inactive for another two games (Weeks 15–16) after sustaining a lisfranc sprain. He finished the 2021 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. He received an overall grade of 89.1 from Pro Football Focus.
The Tampa 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 on Jalen Hurts during a 31–15 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Game. On January 23, 2022, Winfield recorded nine total tackles and a forced fumble, but gave up a key 44-yard reception to Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp late in the fourth quarter which put Rams kicker Matt 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 the Divisional Round.
On January 26, 2022, Winfield earned his first career Pro Bowl selection after being named as an injury replacement for Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs. He was ranked 75th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022.
2022 On March 30, 2022, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers promoted defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to head coach after Bruce Arians retired and shifted to a senior football consultant role. 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 the Dallas Cowboys and made six combined tackles (five solo), one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass thrown by Dak Prescott to wide receiver Noah 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 the Carolina Panthers to be evaluated for a possible concussion after colliding with running back Raheem 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 the Atlanta Falcons. He completed the 2022 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. He finished the season with an overall grade of 78.1 from Pro Football Focus in 2022.
2023 He returned to training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers slated as the de 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 with Ryan Neal.