Bucs Take Huge Dead Money Cap Hit Without New Deals For Mike Evans, Baker Mayfield

Free agency hasn’t even started and the Bucs just took a big salary cap hit on Monday with over $16 million in dead money.

The contracts for quarterback Baker Mayfield ($2.3 million in dead cap money) and wide receiver Mike Evans ($12.198 million in dead cap money) expired on Monday, as did the rookie contract of safety Antoine Winfield Jr. ($1,585,600), totaling $16,083,600 in dead cap money in 2024. The Bucs had money that was spread out over multiple voidable years in the contracts of those three players in order to lower the cap hit in previous years hit on February 19.

So why didn’t the Bucs work harder to get both Evans, Mayfield and Winfield under contract by February 19 in order to avoid such a large amount of dead cap money? The Bucs do want all three players back for 2024 and beyond, but there are are a few reasons why the team wasn’t in a rush to get them under contract nearly a month before the start of free agency on March 13.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

First, Tampa Bay wants to do the right deals with Evans, Mayfield and Winfield – not hasty deals.

Remember that the Bucs have had good luck in retaining free agents even after letting them hit the free agent market in years past. This includes cornerback Carlton Davis III in 2022 and cornerback Jamel Dean and linebacker Lavonte David last year. In the case of all three, the Bucs wound up getting them back for less than most expected because there was not such a strong market for those players. Tampa Bay saved millions of dollars over multiple years between the three players as a result.

The Bucs will keep negotiating with Evans and Mayfield right up until the start of free agency. But if those two hit the market there is still a chance that Tampa Bay could match their price tag or even get a bit of a hometown discount.

The second reason why the Bucs didn’t feel pressured to do a deal with Evans and/or Mayfield before February 19 is because that $14.5 million either needs to hit this year’s cap or gets kicked down the road into future years with any extension. It needs to be accounted for either way from a salary cap standpoint.

The Bucs absorbed nearly $80 million in dead cap money last year, including a $35 million cap hit with Tom Brady’s dead money. And Tampa Bay is still working to clean up its salary cap bookkeeping this year in order to be in position to have a cleaner cap with less dead money in 2025. Less dead money means more cap room to spend on free agents.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and assistant GM Mike Greenberg – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs will have more dead cap money hitting at the start of free agency in less than a month, too. The dead money from voidable years in contracts for David ($2,668,000), defensive tackle Greg Gaines ($1,900,000), and guard Matt Feiler ($1,032,000) will total another $5.6 million.

Combined with the $16 million in dead money from Evans, Mayfield and Winfield, Tampa Bay will have $21.6 million in dead money on this year’s cap, and there will be more dead more with some expected cap casualties that take place with outside linebacker Shaq Barrett, wide receiver Russell Gage and possibly cornerback Carlton Davis III.

But the Bucs’ 2024 dead cap money will still be less than half of what the team had during 2023 as Tampa Bay’s salary cap continues to get cleaned up from the post-Super Bowl seasons.

The third reason why the Bucs weren’t pressured to do early deals is that the team can create more cap room by doing some restructures. According to OverTheCap.com, the Bucs currently have $36,891,102 in available cap space, which is the 10th most in the NFL and the most among NFC South teams. Tampa Bay can go to players with high base salaries, such as wide receiver Chris Godwin ($18.5 million), defensive tackle Vita Vea ($15.5 million) or cornerback Jamel Dean ($12 million) and restructure those deals to create more cap space for the 2024 season as needed.

Keep in mind that Bucs assistant general manager Mike Greenberg, the team’s capologist, already created $3,752,054 in additional 2024 cap space by rolling over unused cap room in 2023 to the 2024 season.

Bucs Will Likely Use The Franchise Tag On Antoine Winfield Jr.

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

Even though the Bucs took an additional $1,585,600 dead cap on Monday when Antoine Winfield Jr.’s contract expired, the Bucs can save some money on his new contract by using the franchise tag on him this year. Although the team hasn’t quite made up its mind yet, it appears Tampa Bay is leaning towards using the franchise tag on Winfield rather than doing a contract extension with the All-Pro safety.

The franchise tag for safeties in 2024 is projected to be $16.224 million, according to OverTheCap.com. Winfield, who is coming off a fabulous season in which he totaled 122 tackles, had six sacks, an NFL-leading six forced fumbles, 12 pass breakups and three interceptions – all career highs.

The 25-year old star is expected to reset the market at the safety position at $20 million per season. Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James is currently the highest paid at the position, signing a four-year, $76 million deal worth $19 million per year, and includes $42 million in guaranteed money.

By using the franchise tag on Winfield the Bucs would in theory save nearly $4 million in cap space instead of paying him an average of $20 million. Although if the Bucs did hammer out a long-term deal with Winfield his 2024 cap number could be reduced down from $20 million. Winfield and Tampa Bay would have until July 17 to negotiate an extension before the lynch pin of the Bucs defense would have to play on his franchise tender.

Of course delaying a new deal for Winfield until 2025 means the Bucs run the risk of inflating the contract amount since the price tag on new deals goes up almost every year.