Everything hinges on our Free Agents. If they are willing to stay here for contracts that allow us to build around them we can continue to have good seasons in the short term. If they want to reset the market, the team is probably looking at resetting the timeline. To be a fly on the wall at 1 Buc this offseason. Good luck Jason; You have your work cut out for you.
Armchair GM: In order of importance
Wirfs: Making him happy. That's a team guy right there. Top paid LT in the NFL. A guy to build around. See what hel do for you to keep other pieces around, but give him what he wants.
Winfield: Also trying to pull off a long term deal. Helps the Bucs stay relevant on a new timeline. Franchise tag possible, but long term deal cuts a few mil from the short term cap
Evans: Let him test the market and come back with offers. Amazing player and guy, but needs a lot of reps off nowadays to stay healthy (rightfully so). You hope to retain him for a few years for around 20 mil a year. Might be a franchise tag candidate which I am sure he would not like and could get ugly with. That's the business aspect. I would guarantee a lot (or all) of it to try and make it happen. He deserves that recognition. 3/60 - 50 GTD first two years fully guaranteed
LVD: You really hope he has the desire to play for another year and will give you a deal similar to the past season. Its a band-aid, but a necessary one. True Bucs legend.
Mclaughlin: 3 years / 15 mil. Sign bonus. Congrats kid for saving our season. Franchising if not.
Baker: Last? Crazy to think the QB who helped get you to the second round of playoffs might be the odd man out. Its all up to Baker IMO. I think Jason is looking here for a very team friendly deal. Possibly heavily incentive laden. If he is going to fight for a top end contract, you have to hit the reset. Its possible there was some groundwork laid out for this before last season even happened. 3 yr / 65mil. Sign bonus. 4 mil of additional incentives per year. If he wants to play here and make good money great. If he wants to maximize earnings, I personally would rather keep the other pieces and roll with a guy like Minshew while we look for our QB of the future. He's just not carrying a team himself and if you are going to pay a QB top dollar, he will have to. He is more Geno Smith than he is Jared Goff
Asking Carlton Davis and Shaq for a pay cut because he needs his amount of snaps reduced. They are both still playing well, but in shorter bursts. Have to rotate them. If not you are letting them both go. Shaq unfortunately at a cap premium, but the owners aren't eating a 15mil tab to be nice.
Pewter report laid out the math for us in this article
https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-free-agency-2024-salary-cap-overview/
- Winfield - franchise tag - cap hit of 17M
- Evans - 3 year, $75M - cap hit could be as low as $15M if backloaded deal
- David - 1 year, $7M
- McLaughlin - 3 year, $15M, cap hit around $3.5M
- Mayfield - 3 year, $83M- cap hit around $12.5M in year one
- Cap causalities - Gage, Jensen, and Davis - save about $14M (albeit the only move I'm uneasy about so far is cutting Davis)
- Extending Wirfs - 5 year, $130M, could reduce year one cap hit to $8.7M in back loaded deal
- Shaq Barrett -it looks like no cap relief for him but only actual cash savings if Bucs release him. Might be worth it to keep him as rotational guy.
- Restructure Dean, Vea, and Godwin - save $33M
would leave the Bucs with $17M in cap space but that assumes cutting Barrett (which actually increases cap hit) and cutting Davis which leaves us with a hole in the secondary)
Everyone worth noting can be re-signed at relative ease. It's just we aren't likely to get a big name in free agency and rather similar to last year where maybe a mid level piece here or there.
@badabingbucs Which all goes right out the window if the rumors of Baker seeking 40mil per year are at all even close to true.
@badabingbucs Which all goes right out the window if the rumors of Baker seeking 40mil per year are at all even close to true.
I remember Winston wanted $30 million in 2020 and we ended up signing Brady instead and Winston hasn’t started since
we will see what it ends up being but there’s only a handful of staring spots open so not sure who we are competing with.
the Bucs have been pretty shrewd on contracts so we will see who wins the negotiation
the rumors of Baker seeking 40mil per year are at all even close to true.
The “rumors” are one guy, as far as I can see. One guy defending an earlier claim that it could be $40m
Mayfield last comment on contracts and cap, right at the end of the season, he was asked whether the Bucs could bring him and Evans back and he said yes by noting that players make “sacrifices” in their own contracts to keep the chance of winning alive.
I remember Winston wanted $30 million in 2020 and we ended up signing Brady instead and Winston hasn’t started since
That’s simply not true, but go on.
Especially if Mayfield wants $40mm per season, I really would let him walk. However, I think the signing of Coen as the OC pretty much solidifies that Mayfield will be back. If that's the case, might as well bring back Evans too. I don't want to see Evans on another team, but my offseason plan was essentially waving the white flag for one season in order to set ourselves up for success in 2025.
I think if we resign Baker, Evans, Wirfs, Winfield, David, and McLauglin, we will try to compete for the division again. If that is the case, I'd be in favor of bolstering the LB, OC, Edge, and SS with our first 4 picks. In this scenario, we might try to trade down a few spots to add an extra 3rd rounder. If all 4 are immediate starters, it would be a solid offseason. Need to add OL depth and DB depth too.
However, I think the signing of Coen as the OC pretty much solidifies that Mayfield will be back.
agreed
I remember Winston wanted $30 million in 2020 and we ended up signing Brady instead and Winston hasn’t started since
That’s simply not true, but go on.
you are correct. i forgot about his stint in 2021 was it where he got hurt? yeah but in any event the point remains, he was seeking $30M and outpriced himself of getting a starting shot. But then again, maybe the Bucs were the only team considering him if Brady fell through.
However, I think the signing of Coen as the OC pretty much solidifies that Mayfield will be back.
agreed
well i think the % was at 97% once Bucs made playoffs, jumped to 99.8% once Bucs beat the Eagles, and now jumped to 99.9% with the OC hire. Can never be 100% until contract is signed
you are correct. i forgot about his stint in 2021 was it where he got hurt?
2021 and 2022.
So, yeah.
So, yeah would say only a debatable Debby would argue the semantics there 😎
And only an ignorant jackass would say he’s never started a game since leaving the Bucs, when it was common knowledge that he had.
Those aren’t semantics. They’re facts. Easily accessible ones at that.
🫏🤡
Original poster couldn’t get fired quicker.
One of the big questions are what big contracts the Bucs have that can either be released (Russell Gage, Ryan Jensen, possibly Carlton Davis), restructured (Shaq Barrett?, Chris Godwin), and extended (Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield).. there’s a handful of other potential cap saving moves not mentioned. But the Bucs have a good amount of flexibility to field the roster they want. There’s not a huge need to sacrifice the product today thinking you’re gonna be saving tomorrow.
Resign Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Lavonte David, Dee Delaney, Greg Gaines and Chase Mcloughlin
Let walk - Devin White, Matt Feiler, Aaron Stinnie, Ryan Neal
