The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just added a tidy sum of money to their offseason war chest with a big salary cap move.
Over the weekend, the Bucs restructured the 2022 base salary of star defensive tackle Vita Vea. Per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the move frees up a whopping $7.4 million in cap space ahead of free agency this week.
Vea is coming off one of the best years of his young career. The former first-round pick out of Washington had a career-high four sacks along with 33 tackles and 12 QB hits. He earned his first Pro Bowl selection as the Bucs defense ranked fifth in the NFL.
Bucs fans love seeing their team make these kinds of moves right before free agency. Some are crossing their fingers that this leads to a frenzy this week.
Licht & Co making moves….
These next few days will be very interesting!! https://t.co/X2HbIBG1gR— – dıʞs – (@its_skip_b) March 12, 2022
The #Bucs are brilliant when it comes to restructuring deals.
Could help them get Godwin done sooner. https://t.co/oST3q5yV5I
— CHRIS TORELLO (@TorelloSports) March 12, 2022
#Bucs trying to create room to re-sign their own free agents and maybe another move perhaps 🤔 https://t.co/qCQn5YynjL
— Tom Krasniqi (@TKras) March 12, 2022
#Bucs trying to create room to re-sign their own free agents and maybe another move perhaps 🤔 https://t.co/qCQn5YynjL
— Tom Krasniqi (@TKras) March 12, 2022
The Buccaneers are several million dollars over the cap heading into the new league year. They had to free up some money somehow.
This move will at least put them in the black. Whether it will be enough to give contract extensions to stars with expiring contracts or get big name free agents remains to be seen.
Priority one has to be deciding whether to extend star wide receiver Chris Godwin. The former third round pick has given the Bucs one of the best receiving corps in the NFL thanks to his partnership with Mike Evans.
Of course, settling the quarterback situation might also be a goal of GM Jason Licht in the days to come…
What will the Bucs do with their new cap space?
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