Bucs have cap space to generate with ease if they are motivated.
I've said it for multiple years.
Cap space and cash spending are two separate things.
Josh Q hit it right on the head with PR's recent article (SR should be grateful for some of his staff like Josh Q, Ledyard, Trevor S., etc. because Reynolds has the lowest football IQ of nearly every Buc's press minus Ira).
We're not a contender.
Why would the Glazers pony up?
An uneventful offseason (minus the draft) should be the obvious expectation. Minus the Bowles Brigade who'll use it as one their umpteenth excuses as to why he's a dog shit head coach.
Well, I think PR is just trying to tamp down the flames of false hope that the Bucs can go to town in the free agency period, and trying to point out that the Bucs aren't in the position to push a lot of cap money into the future. They aren't Superbowl contenders, and yet they aren't in rebuilding mode. But they have to plug those holes. They can't pin their hopes on the draft picks to solve the woes of this team.I think PR is just blowing smoke as they are over blowing the situation.
Bucs are out of cap jail and you can spend money on free agents even if you are not a super bowl contender. Bottom line is that they need to let some of these player that were part of the 2025 collapse walk and find new players. Why should the Bucs bring back most of their free agents when they were part of the collapse? Coaching can't fix heart and many of these guys don't have that fire. And we know Bowles and his coaching staff isn't going to light that fire. So Licht has to bring in some fire brands and hell razors (Scott Reynolds term) to this squad. Who does opposing teams fear on defense other than Vea, Kancey and maybe Diaby?
Bucs have cap space to generate with ease if they are motivated.
I've said it for multiple years.
Cap space and cash spending are two separate things.
Josh Q hit it right on the head with PR's recent article (SR should be grateful for some of his staff like Josh Q, Ledyard, Trevor S., etc. because Reynolds has the lowest football IQ of nearly every Buc's press minus Ira).
We're not a contender.
Why would the Glazers pony up?
An uneventful offseason (minus the draft) should be the obvious expectation. Minus the Bowles Brigade who'll use it as one their umpteenth excuses as to why he's a dog shit head coach.
Al Davis wasn't the richest owner in the NFL but he was always aggressive obtaining free agents for the Raiders. The Saints are no different as they have been aggressive obtaining free agents even when they have cap troubles and Saints ownership is not flush with cash.
The Broncos the last two seasons under SP have been aggressive with free agents despite cap constraints and lacking draft capital. Of course coaching helps but they didn't sit on their hands.
The Patriots were not considered contenders before this season but they still spent the money to avoid the cap penalty of not exceeding the cap floor. 2024 was a bust with their spending but 2025 proved better due to Vrable.
The point being every season a team has a shot but if the Bucs are going to turtle mode thinking because they are not a contender then why even show up for the season?
The Glazers in the past have spent money when the Bucs were not in contender mode aka SB worthy. At this point the reluctance to spend cap or cash is due to not trusting Bowles and Licht and not because the Glazers do not view the team as a SB contender.
And if that is the case then why are they still around?
the excuse with cash doesn't fly as Davis (even his son) of the Raiders or the Saints Benson's (Husband and Wife) didn't have cash to work with and still were aggressive in free agency for many years.
Saying they could do something is not saying they will. I think SRs point is that with the cash available and the contracts there is not much to spend because we are paying many guys a lot.
could they go into debt? Maybe. Will they? No.
and not because the Glazers do not view the team as a SB contender.
Yes the Glazers are expecting a Super Bowl in 2026. With LVD as the MVP
the reason I said Bowles as a placeholder because SR implies that time will bring the changes needed. Evans retires, LVD too etc
the excuse with cash doesn't fly as Davis (even his son) of the Raiders or the Saints Benson's (Husband and Wife) didn't have cash to work with and still were aggressive in free agency for many years.
Saying they could do something is not saying they will. I think SRs point is that with the cash available and the contracts there is not much to spend because we are paying many guys a lot.
could they go into debt? Maybe. Will they? No.
That is BS we all know it.
LVD isn't coming back and it is questionable if Evans comes back. Another draft class coming in will take up roster spots displacing veterans which will be net cost cheaper than keeping some of the Bucs vet FAs. Not a high threshold for cash or cap usage to sign a draft class as the numbers are relatively fixed due to draft position and round now.
Bucs re-signed Wirfs and Winfield Jr on great deals before their rookie contracts were up. The Seahawks went the opposite direction with their 2020 drafted players and now must make a choice on who to keep post SB run.
The point being the Bucs have drafted and re-signed their own and have positioned themselves to spend cash and cap space. The Bucs have 52 players under contract for 2026 which is the core of their players:
Mayfield, Wirfs, Godwin, Winfield Jr, Goedeke, Vea, McCollum, Bredeson, and Nelson. The rest are players on their rookie deals, RFAs (very easy to re-sign) and exclusive rights free agents (locked down not going anywhere).
If the Bucs had one of their big core players hitting free agency then you could say they are in a cash and cap squeeze, but that isn't the case. Furthermore, they don't have to sign Kancey, Diaby, etc to an extension now from their rookies deals, and can wait till next year to see what happens during this season. Would you sign Kancey to an extension given his history? Why?
Also why try to re-sign an Otton when Durham is as good of a blocker as him? Reddick isn't going to break the bank coming back.
Why do the Bucs want Dean back? They drafted two CBs last year that can replace him and have McCollum on a long deal and need to see what they have in him.
Gaines and Hall? Why should the Bucs bring back Hall? Roberts outplayed both Gaines and Hall. Bucs first real signing was Jayson Jones of the 2026 off season tells me everything I need to know about Hall and Gaines.
Do the Bucs really need Teddy Bridgewater to return?
Shepard isn't going to break the bank to bring back but WR is the strongest unit of the team even without Evans. With Evans back it is the strongest unit of the team.
Izien, Tucker and Watts are super cheap RFAs.
Then you have ERFA of Deckers and Bazelak
Kieft might be back as a ST but new ST coach may wants someone more nimble so he might be gone and not be offered a contract.
Why would the Bucs try to re-sign White? You have Bucky Irving, Tucker (cheap to re-sign RFA), Owen Wright, and Josh Williams.
What is up with all these excuses from people and SR about the Bucs not having cap and cash to sign external free agents.
Licht put in the work to navigate a cap crunch and not only fill the roster with drafted players but also undrafted players and street free agents.
Not point keeping around players that can be replaced.
The BS and excuses just need to stop.
Bucs could have signed a lot of cheap ILBs and edge rushers last year and chose to pass on a lot of them. This year they are available again as free agents and Reddick will be too. Licht needs to decide what his fate is going to be.
The off-season moves will prove if this is close to accurate. My hunch is, this is way off.
I will say, we aren’t trading for say Maxx Crosby. But they may find another FA or three who will make us more viable than we were in 2025.
If we get Njoku like I think we will, our offense should average 24+ points a game. Couple that with a much improved defense, I could see us with 11 plus wins in 2026. Our over under through Vegas will be 7.5 as most see us as a very patterned football team. Kinda like the Cowboys. We shall see.
Again, the off-season moves will tell us everything.
That is BS we all know it.
SOP according to SR. I guess you think we are head for a big offseason. We will all see. THEY NEED IT
The point being the Bucs have drafted and re-signed their own and have positioned themselves to spend cash and cap space.
What do you disagree with in this breakdown:
1. "$23 million in cap room that the Bucs have available on OverTheCap.com"
minus 2. ---"$12 million in Tampa Bay’s rookie salary pool this year after the draft"
minus 3. ---$8 million in the 16-player practice squad player budget
minus 4. --- $8 million in cap room the team has to leave for injury replacement signings when players go on injured reserve."
equals this --- "So that $23 million in cap space you see on OTC has already been spent in Greenberg’s mind – and it’s already accounted for on his spreadsheet"
(And yes, this already essentially factors in the increase in the NFL salary cap, which is projected to be between $301 million and $305 million in 2026.")
Is that ^^^^ reasonably accurate?
If that is accurate, what is wrong with this, particularly the part in bold:
"Surely you’ve seen the graphic where the Bucs can free up $107.2 million this year by doing some contract restructures. The problem is that the Bucs only have $50 million to spend in cash per the Glazers’ budget.
Genuinely asking. SR and JQ could be wrong
I will say, we aren’t trading for say Maxx Crosby. But they may find another FA or three who will make us more viable than we were in 2025.
Edge rusher was a huge need in the 2025 offseason. We took Reddick on a one year deal while the Seahawks took Lawrence on a 3 year deal.
Edge rusher is a huge need in the 2026 offseason. Will we take a legit, established edge rusher off the FA market? The kind you sign to a multi-year deal? That should be the baseline for the Bucs 2026 free agency, but will they do it?
I think Mayfield with a bounce back year likely gets a 4 year 220 mil deal coming out to $55 mil a year
what if the baker we saw last year was closer to what he is (2023/2025) and that’s how he performs in 2026
what does he get then?
I think regardless Baker contract future will be decided after the season, but before FA next year. If Baker has a solid, but unspectacular season like 2023,2025 then his numbers will likely be closer to 3 years 120 mil with 90 guaranteed. So many variables as I've mentioned before. The two big questions are how does Baker Perform, and what is the overall team record ? I think the main question to answer before re-signing Baker is who is the coach in 2027? If the team sufferrs another sub 500 season and Bowles is fired, then it's a crapshoot if Baker is back. I've said in other threads that if Baker and the offense look good under Robinson, but the defense and overall record are poor then the Glazers having experienced the recent situation with Coen might elevate Robinson to HC, if that's the case and Baker has a 2023,2025 like performance i think his contract is more likely 3 years 140M with 90-100M guaranteed. Gives them the option to cut bait after 2028 if Baker doesn't step back up to 2024 form( if baker does return to the 2024 version of himself then the 4 year 220M deal I mentioned previously would apply ). However if Robison wasn't elevated in that scenario it would depend on the new coach, and if they want to draft their own QB or use Baker as a bridge QB...In that scenario I'd personally say 2 years 90 million fully guaranteed, but I'm not sure if Baker would go for that given his drive and what he's been through in the past looking over his shoulder. What I don't want to see is Baker get a 5 year contract as he'll be 37 at the start of the season of his last year and I think he'd be in the realm of a broken down Jeff Garcia at that point given his style of play and stature
I tried to go back and edit and even delete the prior post so that i could fix it, but I'm not getting the option for either.....I had meant for it to say
"I've said in other threads that if Baker and the offense look good under Robinson, but the defense and overall record are poor then the Glazers having experienced the recent situation with Coen might elevate Robinson to HC, if that's the case and Baker has a season thats somewhere between 2023/2025 numbers and his 2024 like performance i think his contract is more likely 3 years 140M with 90-100M guaranteed."
what if the baker we saw last year was closer to what he is (2023/2025) and that’s how he performs in 2026
what does he get then?
Probably another deal similar to his last one.
If he plays like he did in 2024, he'll get a pretty good sized deal.
And, that doesn't necessarily mean here.