Tampa Bay Buccaneers tender Isaiah Johnson and Mike Liedtke

In a day full of trades and swirling rumors, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stayed silent, only tendering Isaiah Johnson and Mike Liedtke.

At 4:45pm EST on Friday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that the team had offered tenders to safety Isaiah Johnson and guard Mike Liedtke. This makies the both of them exclusive rights free agents once the new league year begins on March 13.

According to the Buccaneers’ senior staff writer Scott Smith, when a team becomes an exclusive rights free agent, it is “a virtually certainty that both Johnson and Liedtke will be back with the Buccaneers in 2019.” While the Buccaneers have limited cap space, it is a solid move to keep as much depth for as cheap as possible.

Johnson has been with the Buccaneers for all three years of his career after being signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Spending the entirety of his first season in the league on the practice squad, Johnson was promoted to the active roster in 2017, appearing in four games and scoring one touchdown on a fumble recovery. In 2018, he started four games for the Bucs and finished the season with one interception and one fumble recovery.

Liedtke was mainly a special teamer and a depth piece for Tampa Bay in 2018 as he saw action in just 11 games, all on special teams. He has spent both years of his career with the Buccaneers since the 2017 season.

In a day full of trades, cuts, and rumors, the Buccaneers remained fairly inactive and quiet. While the moves made in Tampa Bay were not flashy, they were necessary to keep a complete roster at an inexpensive cost.

Tomorrow is a new day, and that could come with more excitement and bang as the Bucs have plenty of bad attitudes that could see the door and plenty of free agents with connections to the Bucs. Keep your eyes peeled as we are deep into the 2019 NFL offseason.