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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs draft questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: When do you expect Mike Evans to sign his contract extension? And how long is the contact extension gonna be?

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I reported that the Bucs would be working with Mike Evans on a contract extension this summer back in my SR’s Fab 5 column on PewterReport.com on May 26 and it looks like that is starting soon. It turns out the team got creative in order to clear some cap space to sign its rookie class by restructuring the final contract years of left tackle Tristan Wirfs and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. instead of having to extend Evans’ contract to get that done. Wirfs, who will be playing on his fifth-year season in 2024, and Winfield will likely be signed to long-term extensions prior to the 2024 seasons.

But first up is an extension for Evans, who is entering a contract year with a $23,698,500 salary cap hit in 2023. The Bucs will need some additional cap room to sign their practice squad players and have some flexibility to add an additional free agent or sign some emergency players when injuries strike in-season. Extending Evans’ contract could free up around $10 million in salary cap room for the Bucs this season.

With Evans turning 30 this August as he enters his 10th year in Tampa Bay, I suspect he’ll be given a deal similar to what the Bucs gave Chris Godwin in 2022, which was a three-year, $60 million contract worth $20 million per year. Evans has given millions of dollars away in charity over the years and has never been about the money. In fact, he offered to take a pay cut to help the team to re-sign Godwin, but that wasn’t necessary.

Because he’s been the Bucs’ 1A receiver and Godwin has essentially been 1B, I could see the team giving Evans slightly more than $20 million per year on average just to maintain the pecking order. Look for a contract extension for Evans to be completed before or during training camp.

QUESTION: With news breaking that the Buccaneers are working with Mike Evans and his agent on an extension, do you see the team pursuing a running back with the freed up cap space – possibly Dalvin Cook?

Ex-Vikings RB Dalvin Cook – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: I’ve mentioned several times that the Bucs won’t be pursuing Dalvin Cook and stand by that reporting. Cook, who was recently released by Minnesota, has generated a lot of interest around the league and is being patient, according to several reports. He was scheduled to make over $10 million in base salary last year and is seeking a contract that would pay him in the same ball park. Cook has reportedly told people he will not be signing for $4 million or $5 million per season.

Cook has been linked to Miami and Denver, but may not sign anywhere until late July at the start of training camp. It does not appear likely that the Bucs will be pursuing him for two reasons. The first is his price tag, which is out of the Bucs’ league right now. The second is the fact that the Bucs really like Rachaad White’s potential, as well as their stable of young running backs.

Ke’Shawn Vaughn, a former third-round pick, has improved behind the scenes and is the current backup to White. He’s in a contract year, and newly signed Chase Edmonds is also on a one-year, prove-it deal. The Bucs are also very high on Sean Tucker, an undrafted free agent out of Syracuse, who has been sidelined with a heart condition that was detected at the NFL Scouting Combine. That condition is clearing up and Tampa Bay is hopeful that he will be medically cleared by training camp. Folks around Bucs headquarters are calling Tucker “Baby Nick Chubb.” We’ll see if he can live up to that billing.

QUESTION: What do you expect from Shaq Barrett this year? It just feels like coming off a major injury and a horrific family tragedy is a lot, and no one could blame for any level of play this year. Do you think he will rebound?

Bucs WR Russell Gage and OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: That is a question no one at the team’s AdventHealth Training Center is even capable of answering right now. Shaq Barrett, who turns 31 in November, is a real wild card for the Bucs this season. On one hand, the team is really counting on him to revert back to his Pro Bowl form of getting eight to 10 sacks per season and living up to his $18 million per year contract.

The Bucs are paying Barrett handsomely to perform at a high level, and the team’s pass rush suffered without him over the second half of the 2022 season. Barrett was having a sub-par year prior to his Achilles injury in Week 8 with just three sacks, and nose tackle Vita Vea wound up leading Tampa Bay in sacks with just 6.5, which was a career-high.

Achilles injuries can be very tough to overcome, but there are some encouraging examples. In 2013, Terrell Suggs bounced back with a 10-sack season and was a Pro Bowler after missing the second half of the 2012 season with an Achilles injury. Suggs was 31 at the time, but only suffered a partial tear. Philadelphia defensive end Brandon Graham suffered an Achilles tear two games into the 2021 season, but came back with a vengeance last year, notching 11 sacks at the age of 34. So it can be done.

Barrett has had to endure the tragedy of losing his two-year old daughter to a drowning accident this offseason. If I had to guess, Barrett will be highly motivated to have a great season. But no one could blame him if he falls short in his recovery and underwhelms given the circumstances. To safeguard the team against that possibility, the Bucs drafted two pass rushers in YaYa Diaby and Jose Ramirez, in addition to re-signing Anthony Nelson to a two-year deal to help shoulder the pass rush load.

QUESTION: If the Cowboys don’t re-sign Dak Prescott, in your opinion, would he be worth pursuing, and at what cost? The guy never really won anything.

Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett and Cowboys QB Dak Prescott – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Dak Prescott has two years left on his existing contract with cap hits of roughly $26.8 million in 2023 and $59.5 million in 2024. The Cowboys don’t have to do anything with his contract this season, but they will have to address it prior to 2024 to reduce his cap hit.

Prescott had a down season in 2022, throwing just 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while missing five games with a broken thumb after tossing 37 touchdowns and only 10 picks in 2021. Entering his eighth season at age 30, Prescott hasn’t made a Pro Bowl since 2018.

Finding the next great quarterback is top of mind in Tampa Bay and anywhere else around the league for teams that don’t have one. We’ll see how Prescott fares with Mike McCarthy calling plays now that former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has been let go. I don’t see the Bucs being a potential landing spot if Prescott becomes available, but we’ll see. If neither Baker Mayfield nor Kyle Trask pan out, I think the next step is the Bucs taking another shot at drafting a quarterback in the first round in 2024.