Antoine Winfield Jr. goes from Gophers to highest-paid safety in NFL history

Winfield Jr. inked a mega deal with the Bucs on Monday.

Nov 9, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr. (11) / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The University of Minnesota may be rapidly becoming Safety U.

The movement at the safety position began with the meteoric rise of Antoine Winfield Jr., who on Monday reportedly agreed to a record-setting contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His agent told NFL insiders that Winfield is receiving a four-year, $84.1 million deal that will make him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.

Winfield finished the 2023 season with 76 tackles, six sacks, six forced fumbles, three interceptions and 12 passes defensed. He was the No. 1-rated safety in 2023, according to the data collected and analyzed by Pro Football Focus.

Winfield played for the Gophers from 2016 to 2019, having starred in high school at Eden Prairie in the Twin Cities metro area. He grew up in Minnesota while his father, Antoine Winfield, was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback while playing the final nine years of his career for the Minnesota Vikings.

Winfield started a bit of a movement at the U of M in which safeties go on to play in the NFL. Technically, one might argue that Eric Murray, who played for the Gophers until 2015 and has been in the NFL since 2016, started the movement. But Winfield picked it back up and put the Gophers on the map and since then Jordan Howden and Tyler Nubin have followed in his footsteps.

Howden played for the Gophers from 2018 to 2022 and spent the 2023 NFL season with the Saints. Nubin set the Gophers' interception record and was selected in the second round (47th overall) by the New York Giants in last month's draft.

If Winfield's career arc is any indication of things to come for Howden and Nubin, then their bank accounts will be flush with cash in to the not-too-distant future.