Bucs WR Trey Palmer – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

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

QUESTION: What is going on with Trey Palmer? Looked so good and promising – and then crickets last season.

ANSWER: Trey Palmer certainly took a step back last year after a somewhat promising rookie season that saw him emerge as Tampa Bay’s WR3 and catch 39 passes for 385 yards (9.9 avg.) and three touchdowns. Palmer, a sixth-round pick in 2023, did have some issues with ball security and penalties during his rookie season and the Bucs were looking to add some more talent for depth and competition, which is why they drafted Jalen McMillan in the third round last year.

In what was supposed to be one of the best, most anticipated training camp battles, McMillan easily defeated Palmer, who struggled with drops last August. Palmer did win the punt return job, but fell out of favor with former offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Palmer slid down the depth chart behind Sterling Shepard, Rakim Jarrett and even practice squader Ryan Miller, who was signed to the active roster due to injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Palmer only caught 12 passes for 172 yards (14.3 avg.) and one touchdown last year.

Bucs WR Trey Palmer – Photo by: USA Today

The fact that the Bucs are still high on McMillan after he scored eight touchdowns during his rookie season, and drafted a pair of receivers in Emeka Egbuka in the first round and Tez Johnson in the seventh doesn’t help Palmer’s chances of making the 53-man roster this year. In fact, Johnson may be the leading candidate to win the punt return duties this year after Palmer averaged a pedestrian 8.8 yards per return last year.

However, Palmer did have a quality offseason and he’s going to fight for a roster spot in camp due to his competitive nature. Yet I wouldn’t be surprised if Palmer becomes trade bait during camp if it doesn’t look like he’s going to make the team. The Steelers have been rumored to possibly have some interest, and perhaps Jason Licht can retrieve a sixth- or seventh-round pick for him prior to the start of the season if Palmer’s not going to make the 53-man roster.

With Evans, Godwin, Egbuka and McMillan locked in to the top four receiver spots and the Bucs likely only keeping five or six receivers, Palmer will have stiff competition in camp and the preseason. It’s basically Palmer versus Tez Johnson, Kam Johnson, Shepard, Jarrett and Miller for the one or two receiver spots available – depending on how many Tampa Bay keeps.

QUESTION: Do you anticipate any more free agent signings?

ANSWER: I don’t see the Bucs making any more free agent signings this offseason prior to training camp. Bucs general manager Jason Licht, assistant G.M. Rob McCartney and vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl will always be scouring the waiver wire and studying the free agents as they become available as teams make their roster moves. Yet I don’t see any free agents that the Bucs would truly be interested in right now.

I know that the Packers just released cornerback Jaire Alexander, who was making an average of $21 million per season, after they couldn’t find any trade partners across the league. The 28-year old Alexander has been limited to just seven games in each of the last two seasons and hasn’t proven to be durable – certainly not at that price point.

Former Packers CB Jaire Alexander – Photo by: USA Today

At 5-foot-10, 196 pounds, Alexander doesn’t have the ideal size to be an outside cornerback in Todd Bowles’ defense, and the Bucs just drafted two cornerbacks in Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish that the team is excited about, in addition to re-signing veteran Bryce Hall and adding veteran Kindle Vildor. Is Alexander better than the new Bucs cornerbacks? Yes, but at what cost? And keep in mind that the team already has an oft-injured cornerback in Jamel Dean, who might be as good as Alexander at this stage of the game when healthy, plus Dean has better length and plenty of experience in Bowles’ system.

I don’t think Tampa Bay would be interested unless he signed a very cheap, one-year, prove-it deal. There’s probably more money out there for Alexander elsewhere with another team, and his price tag will likely come down as training camp draws near. I think Tampa Bay’s roster is pretty stacked right now after another very successful draft, so I don’t see any position that truly has a need at this point.

QUESTION: Which undrafted free agents could make the opening day roster?

ANSWER: This is a great question and I probably don’t know the answer right now. Like Jason Licht and Todd Bowles, I’ll need to see the team in pads during training camp and even in the preseason before I can make any determination. Seeing players run around essentially playing flag football in OTAs and the mini-camp in “t-shirts and shorts,” as Bowles likes to say, makes for an inconclusive evaluation of personnel.

There have been plenty of players that have absolutely starred in the offseason – former wide receivers Kenny Bell and Jaelon Darden come to mind – but have wilted once the pads come on or have disappeared under the lights of the preseason. For offensive and defensive linemen, seeing them in pads is crucial. It’s the same thing for linebackers and safeties, as Bowles and Licht will need to see how they tackle.

Bucs ILB John Bullock – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

So far, inside linebacker John Bullock, J.J. Roberts, who is being cross-trained at safety and nickelback, offensive tackle Ben Chukwuma, center Jake Majors and running back Josh Williams are the most buzz-worthy undrafted free agents from this year’s draft class. Kam Johnson, an undrafted free agent wide receiver from a year ago, continues to impress and the team hopes he can stay healthy. He also has a shot to stick as WR6.

Those would be the most likely candidates right now to have a shot at the final 53-man roster. But out of that group only two or three may make it because this is a very talented Bucs roster heading into the 2025 season. We’ll see how it all unfolds as the pads come on and the preseason begins against Tennessee on August 9 in Tampa Bay.

QUESTION: Is Benjamin Morrison still unsigned? If so, that is something related to the fully guaranteed contract that Jayden Higgins and Carson Schwesinger got from the Texans and Browns, respectively? Should it concern us? Congrats for the amazing Bucs coverage!

ANSWER: Thank you for the kudos! Only two second-round picks from the 2025 draft class have signed their contracts so far. Those two players are Cleveland linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Houston wide receiver Jayden Higgins. Both of whom did receive fully guaranteed contracts, as you stated. This is becoming an annual adventure across the league as agents are trying to get their second-round picks fully guaranteed contracts while NFL teams are trying to prevent that from happening.

There are currently 30 unsigned second-round picks, including Bucs cornerback Benjamin Morrison, who was the 53rd player overall to be drafted. It is unlikely that second-round picks that deep into the round will receive fully guaranteed contracts, but the Bucs and Morrison are at the mercy of the players from No. 35 on down to see who gets what in terms of guaranteed money.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The draft is essentially slotted in terms of what player a player makes in terms of salary given a particular round. The only variable is how much of that salary is guaranteed. The NFL doesn’t want all second-round contracts to be fully guaranteed because it will cause a slippery slope with agents then demanding that all third-round picks receive fully guaranteed contracts, too.

It will only be a matter of time before this is settled this summer. Chris Braswell, last year’s second-round pick, wasn’t signed until June 12, and first-round pick Graham Barton wasn’t signed until June 13. The good news is that Emeka Egbuka, this year’s first-rounder, has already been signed. So assistant general manager Mike Greenberg is just waiting for the rest of the league to start doing deals for the second-rounders picked ahead of Morrison so he can be slotted in. There’s no reason to be concerned. Morrison will be signed by the start of training camp in late July.