Report: Tampa Bay Buccaneers offer Kwon Alexander long-term deal
By Cory Kinnan
On a day where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed left tackle Donovan Smith, there are now reports that they have also offered Kwon Alexander an extension.
This morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport went on Tampa Bay’s 95.3 WDAE and reported that a long-term deal has been offered to Kwon Alexander by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However it appears that although there is optimism within the Buccaneers organization that a deal can get done, it seems Alexander will test his market in free agency.
"“…they’d like him to be a member of the Bucs for a long time… the team has gone a long way toward making sure that Kwon Alexander knows that he is in their long-term plans.” (Ian Rapoport on 95.3 WDAE)"
The 2015 fourth round pick of the Buccaneers has developed quite nicely in free agency and became a quality starter in Tampa Bay. The only issue is that Alexander is now coming off of a devastating ACL injury and there is no timetable on his recovery.
More from Bucs Free Agency
- Buccaneers lose free agent starter to Kansas City Chiefs
- Buccaneers free agent tracker: Who’s coming and going in 2023?
- 5 Buccaneers who probably won’t be back now that Tom Brady has retired
- Buccaneers are taking first step in the right direction for the offseason
- Why the Buccaneers should consider a near roster blow-up
It has been previously reported that Alexander is looking for upwards of $10 million annually on his next deal, and that he expects to get that on the open market. If he does get offered a large sum of money, it will be interesting to see if he returns to Tampa Bay with an opportunity to match it.
With the Buccaneers locking up Donovan Smith long-term today on a three-year deal, the team avoided using the franchise tag on the left tackle. That begs the question: should they use the tag on Alexander if a new deal cannot be worked out before 4:00pm EST today? A case can be made for the Bucs to tag him.
The issue with cap space still lingers heavy. After the extension with Smith, the Bucs currently sit with less than $5 million in cap space, so in order to extend or tag Alexander before the afternoon hits, another roster move would have to be made in order to hit that $10-14 million range in cap space.
Next. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-round mock draft after Combine. dark
At this point it is evident that the Bucs are not deterred by Alexander’s season ending injury in 2018 and want him back in 2018, it just comes down to the price tag now.