The cost of doing Business
To the advantage of the Buccaneers, Johnson is under contract through 2021, and is only due an average of a little over $5 million annually during that time. To sweeten the pot, if Tampa were to make the move to trade for Johnson and for whatever reason it did not work out, the Bucs would only have to eat less than $1 million in dead cap to move on from Johnson.
In a make-or-break 2019 for the Buccaneers, it will not hurt to give Winston more weapons at a low cost in order to see the offense rise to yet another level. For a team like the Buccaneers who are struggling with cap space, having a playmaker under contract for three years at just a little over $5 million would allow them to free up cap space in order to obtain talent at other positions and upgrade a defense in desperate need of an upgrade.
It would not cost Tampa Bay more than a fourth round pick to acquire the services of the Swiss Army Knife Johnson, and that may be on the high end of his cost. Needing more speed out of the backfield, the Buccaneers must flip over every rock, including the pursuit of bringing Johnson back to the state of Florida.