Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not tender Andrew Adams

Andrew Adams will not receive a tender of $2.05 million from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making the safety an unrestricted free agent.

Greg Auman (@gregauman) of The Athletic reported that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not tender safety Andrew Adams, making the 26-year-old an unrestricted free agent. Auman stated that a return to Tampa Bay could still be in the cards for Adams, however the Bucs are unwilling to pay him the $2.05 million tender.

As the Buccaneers have a slim margin of cap space to work with at a bit above $17 million, this move makes sense as every dollar counts for Jason Licht right now. With the reports that the Buccaneers will use the franchise tag on left tackle Donovan Smith, that move would leave the Bucs with only around $3 million to play with.

With the impending free agency of middle linebacker Kwon Alexander and slot receiver Adam Humphries, expect a slew of moves by the team within the next few days leading up to free agency. These moves could include moving on from veterans Gerald McCoy, DeSean Jackson, and Demar Dotson in order to clear more cap space.

In addition to Adams becoming an unrestricted free agent, Auman also reported that tackle Leonard Webster would also not be tendered by the Bucs. Webster was the backup tackle in 2018, and could return, however he would have to sign for less than the $2 million that his tender would have been worth.

Andrews led the Buccaneers in interceptions in 2018 with four, three coming in once game, but with plenty of depth at the safety position, this is a risk that Tampa Bay can afford to make. With M.J. Stewart moving to safety in addition to Justin Evans and Jordan Whitehead, the Bucs have plenty of key pieces returning to the defense.