Bruce Carter to Buccaneers: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

Bruce Carter's four-year run roaming the middle of the field in Dallas is over. The team announced the free-agent linebacker and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to a four-year contract Wednesday.  

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Carter's deal is worth $20.5 million over the next four years.

Carter, 27, was a second-round pick by Dallas in 2011. He's been a regular fixture in the Cowboys' linebacking corps each of the last three seasons, starting an average of more than 10 games per year. Though his performance was highly variant during much of that time—the Cowboys benched him on a few different occasions—Carter had his best statistical year in 2014.

The North Carolina product made 82 tackles, one sack and a team-high five interceptions, a surprising leap given he hadn't picked off a pass in his previous three seasons. It was a perfect time for Carter, long an enigmatic figure in the Dallas locker room, to come out of his shell.

“His whole thing is it’s never been physical attributes, it’s never been athletic ability,” Cowboys linebackers coach Matt Eberflus said, per Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “Now he’s getting his eyes in the right spot. His eye focus and his eye discipline, where to look and what to look for, and that’s why you see him playing quicker. He looks instinctive. He looks better. But it’s really eye discipline."

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While the counting stats and film looked better than ever, underlying statistics show Carter's improvement might have been less than previously indicated. Carter ranked 26th among 4-3 outside linebackers in run-stop percentage, 38th in tackling efficiency and 23rd in pass-rushing productivity, per Pro Football Focus. Even Carter's excellence in coverage was a bit of boom or bust. Opposing quarterbacks completed nearly three-quarters of their passes in his direction.

All of this might be a reason the Cowboys weren't as strident in their pursuit of Carter as their other free agents. They've spent four years assessing his talent and attempting to push him into making the most of it; that he's still below-average in a number of categories has to be frustrating. It also doesn't help that Dallas is perpetually in cap trouble, making it unable to match the type of deal Carter was bound to get on the open market.

Tampa Bay will hope its financial investment pays off far more consistently than it did for Dallas. Otherwise, we might be revisiting the whole enigma thing here again in 12 months.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.