Buccaneers have a problem heading into free agency and there’s nothing they can do about it
The Bucs’ don’t have any viable cut candidates to help create significant cap room.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in pretty good shape with more than $23 million in cap space, but that number quickly drops once you account for the cost of the draft class, the practice squad, and in-season operating spending money (think injury signings, etc).
All of those factors leave the Bucs with about $7-$10 million dollars in true spending power, which is not a lot, especially when considering in-house names like Mike Evans and Jamel Dean are set to become free agents.
Therefore, the Buccaneers need to find ways to create more room. Unfortunately, there’s a hard truth they’re facing that will certainly make it a lot harder to create said space.
The Bucs don’t have any legit cut candidates available
The easiest way for NFL teams to create cap space is to release expensive, underperforming players. This often results in a major boon for the releasing team – just look at last year’s Davante Adams release that opened up more than $35 million in cap room for the New York Jets.
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, there’s only one player on the roster who could be released with substantial savings and that’s star defensive tackle Vita Vea, who is entering the last year of the extension he signed back in 2021. He’s currently set to count $22,194,462 against the cap, which includes a $17 million base salary, $4,194,462 in prorated money from his signing bonus, and a $1 million roster bonus.
The Bucs would open up $15.716 million in cap space with Vea’s release, but they’d also create a massive hole (no pun intended) on the defensive line –and in the middle of the defense– with that kind of move.
Considering how much the Buccaneers defense needs to turn the ship around in 2026 – it’d be completely illogical to release Vea.
This goes for the rest of the roster, as well. OK, the Buccaneers could release SirVocea Dennis and create $3.065 million in space, but that’d open up another roster spot and no matter how much Dennis struggled in 2026, it’s fair to question if someone with his experience in Todd Bowles’ system is worth creating minimal cap room, as well.
Frankly, the most logical cut is punter Riley Dixon, but that only creates $3 million in cap space and again, the Bucs will have to pay someone to replace him, which automatically cancels out anything up to $3 million.
How can the Buccaneers create substantial cap room?
Restructures and extensions are the Bucs’ best shot at creating cap space. However, these moves have to make sense, too.
The most realistic option f0r a restructure is Tristan Wirfs, as I’ve written about in the past. He’s still young and is a foundational piece for the Buccaneers, so they wouldn’t mind kicking the can down the road when talking about his contract structure. A max restructure for 2026 would immediately open up $18.25 million in cap space.
The Bucs have three other realistic options for restructures that would create substantial space: Vea, Antoine Winfield Jr., and Chris Godwin Jr.
Even though Jason Licht could restructure those guys, the question is should he? For starters, all three deals already have void years on them. Meaning, Licht is already kicking the can down the road. He’s not the kind of GM to “add to the tab” unless Tom Brady is around, so it’s totally fair to think he wouldn’t want to keep doing that.
Secondly, again, Wirfs is going to get another contract from the Buccaneers whenever it makes sense. We don’t know if that’ll happen with any of these three guys. Vea is 31 and will be 32 when his contract is up and the same goes for Godwin Jr., who will be 32 when his deal ends. Winfield Jr. will be 30, but he hasn’t been the same guy since he signed his big extension, so nothing is set in stone with him.
Players with that kind of context attached to them typically aren’t candidates for big restructures, unless a team is that desperate for cap room (cough, Saints) or has its Super Bowl window open.
And when it comes to extensions: do Vea and/or Baker Mayfield warrant one?
There are arguments to be made for both sides and teams usually wait and see when that’s the case. Objectively, that’s the right move for the Buccaneers when it comes to the short and long term.
So, as you can see, the Buccaneers don’t have many options to naturally create a good chunk of cap space in a realistic sense. Sure, Licht could just max restructure everyone’s contract and create tens of millions of dollars, but that’s not how the game works unless you’ve got a controller in your hand.
It is a problem because it will definitely limit what the Bucs are able to do and that’s not an ideal for a team that needs a stark turnaround. The good news is the offense is almost completely intact and the defense still has some key pieces that can help return it to the glory days.
But, if there’s a GM/front office that can find ways to solve this, it’s Licht and Co. and it won’t surprise anyone if they’re able to work their magic for another offseason. If they do, it may just be their most impressive job since they brought everyone back after the Super Bowl LV win.
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