The Bucs are getting a boost to their 2020 salary cap, as ESPN’s Field Yates reports that Tampa Bay has restructured the contract of starting left guard Ali Marpet. In order to create $4.125 million in cap space, the Bucs will convert Marpet’s salary into a bonus.
A couple of teams restructured contracts of starting guards by converting salary into bonuses to create 2020 cap space:
▪️Buccaneers with Ali Marpet: $4.125M created
▪️49ers with Laken Tomlinson (voidable years added): $1.34M created— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 21, 2020
Marpet signed a five-year, $54 million deal back in 2018, and has been well worth the investment as one of the best offensive guards in the league. Marpet has a grade of 88.2 on the season from Pro Football Focus, which ranks third among all guards. He has three years remaining on the deal.
The Bucs are no strangers to opening up more cap room by restricting other players’ contracts. They did so with Mike Evans in September of both this season and last season, along with Cam Brate back in March.
Tampa Bay did recently make an addition to the roster by trading for nose tackle Steve McLendon, but his salary will be less than $1 million for the rest of the season. Creating this much cap relief could potentially mean that another move is on the horizon.