Buccaneers hire Arians, swap late picks with Cardinals for coach's rights

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially announced the hiring of Bruce Arians as the 12th head coach in franchise history on Tuesday.

Both sides agreed to a four-year deal with a fifth-year option for 2023.

"Bruce Arians is one of the NFL's most well-respected coaches over the past two decades and we are excited to have him leading our team," owner Bryan Glazer said in a release.

Due to Arians' retirement from football after the 2017 season while still under contract with the Arizona Cardinals, the Buccaneers and Cardinals were required to swap late-round 2019 draft picks in order for Tampa to acquire Arians' rights, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports, citing a source.

The NFL initially ruled that the Buccaneers were under no requirement to send compensation to the Cardinals, but a late argument from Arizona resulted in Tampa Bay trading a sixth-round pick in the upcoming draft to the Cardinals for a seventh-round pick and Arians' rights, according to Schefter.

Arians' health and the contract hangup led to the delay in the announcement, according to ESPN's Jeff Darlington.

Arians has had a number of health scares. He had prostate cancer in 2007 and was hospitalized due to an ear infection in 2013. In 2016, he was hospitalized again for complications from diverticulitis and, later that year, he learned that he had renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer. The 66-year-old had part of his kidney removed in February 2017.

The Buccaneers required that Arians undergo a physical, Darlington added.

Byron Leftwich will become Arians' new offensive coordinator, a source told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Arians is also close to bringing former New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles aboard as his defensive coordinator, according to Trevor Sikkema of Pewter Report. Bowles was Arians' defensive coordinator with Cardinals in 2013 and 2014.