We're officially onto the offseason, which means it's time for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start charting a course that builds on the success of last season. Everything went better than expected, but with the positive momentum comes a need to pay up in order to keep the right pieces in place.
Free agency doesn't open until March when the new league year begins, but that just means there's time between now and then for the Bucs to get everything in order. The NFL hasn't set the salary cap for the 2024 season yet, but last year the cap was set at $224.8 million and it's not expected to go down this year.
Heading into the offseason Tampa Bay has the 10th-highest cap space available, which bodes well for adding to the roster.
How much cap space will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have in 2024?
Keep in mind there are are few important factors that could change that number, not the least of which is the need to re-sign key players like Antoine Winfield Jr., Baker Mayfield, and Mike Evans.
Team | Approx. Cap Space |
|---|---|
Commanders | $73.6M |
Titans | $67.7M |
Patriots | $66M |
Bengals | $59.4M |
Colts | $58.9M |
Texans | $57.6M |
Bears | $46.8M |
Lions | $46.1M |
Cardinals | $41.7M |
Buccaneers | $36.8M |
Tampa Bay can free up more money by releasing players and restructuring some deals. The latter is a bit tricky as it doesn't create new money, it just moves money off this year's books and spreads out the hit elsewhere.
It's unlikely that the Bucs restructure a ton of deals since there's no real need to create extra cap space this offseason. Tampa Bay just went through the process of taking its medicine after the Tom Brady years and kicking the can down the road won't happen unless something seismic like that comes up.
Realistically the Bucs will enter the new league year without close to $40 million in cap space, but that figure is a bit misleading when it comes to spending on free agents. Tampa Bay needs to take care of Baker Mayfield first and foremost, a deal that some are speculating could reach the $100 million range.
Antoine Winfield is arguably the second most important player Tampa Bay needs to pay, as he's one of the best defensive players in the league and is easily a top player on the Bucs roster. There's a chance he gets franchise tagged and a long-term deal is worked out later, but either way the team is going to need to pay him sooner rather than later.
Mike Evans is the biggest wild card, as he's equally likely to remain in Tampa Bay on a new deal as he is to leave for a massive contract in free agency. He's long been underrated but he started to command attention this season in ways he hasn't before, probably because it's the first time in his career that other teams have a chance at landing him.
Kansas City, New York, and Houston are all being viewed as potential landing spots, but only the Texans have the sort of wiggle room to pay Evans the deal he deserves. Tampa Bay has a leg up on Kansas City since Evns has stated a desire to retire with the Bucs, but if the Chiefs offer a similar deal he could be enticed to go chase another Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes.
We all saw how Tom Brady unlocked the very best in Evans, so imagine what he'd do in Kansas City's offense.
Once the Bucs take care of those three players, attention can be turned to the free agent market. While Tampa Bay has more money to spend than it had last year -- not that it's a high bar to clear -- it doesn't mean the team will go nuts spending on outside talent.
The biggest area in need of improvement is the offensive line, which could be addressed through a mixture of draft picks and mid-tier free agent signings. On defense, the Bucs are expected to bring back Lavonte David but lose Devin White, and the safety room will need some work as well.
A lot can happen, but one thing that's certain is this year's offseason will be a lot more interesting and robust than what happened last year.