Big paydays are now coming for Jameis Winston, Mike Evans, Ali Marpet, Gerald McCoy and some others on this Bucs roster. The Bucs have to invest heavily in the defensive side of the ball if they want to be competitive in the NFC South.
This will be the most challenging free agency period for the Buccaneers since Jason Licht took over as general manager of the franchise in 2014.
The defense was the worst in the league last season and the Bucs have one of their defensive leaders who is subject to a big payday in linebacker Kwon Alexander. You will send the wrong message to the fanbase if you do not sign Alexander when your defense is in shambles.
That should be be priority number one for the Buccaneers. Sign Kwon Alexander.
The second priority would be to re-sign wide receiver, Adam Humphries.
The Bucs are just a little over $3 million under the cap after the signing of offensive tackle Donovan Smith to the three-year contract extension last week. With so many needs on defense, how do they go about getting some money to improve the unit?
Cut DeSean Jackson.
It’s a no brainer and its somewhat surprising that this move hasn’t already been done. This would save the Bucs $10 million.
Defensive lineman Mitch Unrein and Will Gholston should be the next to get their walking papers. Saying goodbye to these two would free up another $6.5 million.
Gerald McCoy must be willing to renegotiate his contract or else he may not be in Tampa next season. McCoy is due to make $13 million this season and this money could be better spent strengthening the secondary. It is not likely that McCoy would agree to a new deal, so the Bucs may decide to just part ways with McCoy and save the $13 million. With Vita Vea improving the second half of last season, the Bucs may go with him as the starting defensive tackle and cut McCoy.
With this move, the Bucs would then need to draft Ed Oliver, the defensive tackle from Houston, to rotate with Vea.
There is some buzz that punter Bryan Anger could be cut, too, which would save the Bucs an additional $2 million.
With these moves, the Bucs would save $31.5 million and, all of a sudden, the money is there to sign Alexander to a long-term deal, get Humphries under contract and possibly sign one of the marquee defensive backs that may be available, such as Ronald Darby or Tyrann Mathieu.
The Bucs also need to sign Peyton Barber to a new contract. He is a restricted free agent and will probably command a salary in the $3 million (per year) range.
Another interesting name that is floating around is Duke Johnson. The Cleveland Browns are shopping Johnson and he would be a good fit for the Bucs as a pass-catching threat out of the backfield and also as a runner.
Johnson would give the Bucs that dual threat that they were missing last year when they cut Charles Sims during the 2018 off-season.
There are some difficult decisions that will have to be made in the next few days. These are all decisions that the Bucs will need to make to start getting the defense back to playing at a competitive level.
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