Tampa Bay Buccaneers Official 2023 Off Season Thread

[Phantom]

Sad news

We’ll see how bad White is without David


But damn, thanks for everything, David

[mdb1958]

We aint got no time to be thinking bout defense

[Grahamburn]

Potentially a 3rd/4th comp pick for Dean and a 5th for Lavonte. Add to the 2024 ammo to get a QB.

I appreciate the positive perspective.

[Bootz]

[Kona]

As much as I’d hate to see Lavonte leave, he has his latch here as a ROH player with a ring. Wouldn’t be mad at him for chasing the bag or going to another contender. I’ll root for him

[Moozician]

Sad news

To me, this is the one, this is the test...

If we let him go, that means (to me) that we are trying to clear cap room for a really big name, like Lamar.

[Doctor]

Maybe the market will be dryer then he thinks. Honestly badger and Suh were on the market awhile.

But he's still damn good, which is why we reasonably can't afford him.

[MJW]

Do we win without D Smith? We'll never know.

We do know for a confirmed fact that all the haters that said we could never win with him were wrong.

Do we win without The Weeknd playing the Halftime show? We may never know.

[Grahamburn]

Sad news

To me, this is the one, this is the test...

If we let him go, that means (to me) that we are trying to clear cap room for a really big name, like Lamar.

I would assume the exact opposite.

[Phantom]

The Bucs are now 40m over the cap

[Grahamburn]

So how do they realistically get there?

[BucsNBills]

So how do they realistically get there?

Trades or lots of restructuring. There's only like 6 cuts we can make that will save us 2023 cap, and we've already done three of them(Brate, Smith, lenny).

It's weird we haven't done a single restructure at this point given that there are some easy candidates like Godwin and CD3 which when combined could save us like $25mil in 2023 alone.

Just makes me wonder if Licht is doing some stuff behind the scenes with possible trades since we're 6 days away from cap compliance.

[Grahamburn]

So how do they realistically get there?

Trades or lots of restructuring. There's only like 6 cuts we can make that will save us 2023 cap, and we've already done three of them(Brate, Smith, lenny).

It's weird we haven't done a single restructure at this point given that there are some easy candidates like Godwin and CD3 which when combined could save us like $25mil in 2023 alone.

Just makes me wonder if Licht is doing some stuff behind the scenes with possible trades since we're 6 days away from cap compliance.

I'm sure the restructures are being discussed with agents. Trades as well. That news doesn't really get out until it has to.

[Phantom]

Are we going to restructure Evans and Godwin? Bless their heart

[Phantom]

That was quick

Bucs restructure Vita Vea's contract, clear $9M in salary cap space

[Deja Entendu]

That was quick

Bucs restructure Vita Vea's contract, clear $9M in salary cap space

Edit: Belay my last

[Phantom]

Thanks for the add, Deja

That’s awesome

[Bootz]

That was quick

And Carlton Davis

This hasn't been done yet for Davis. This was a write-up predicting moves the Bucs would do. I do think they will restructure Davis' deal though. Just hasn't happened yet.

[Deja Entendu]

And Carlton Davis

This hasn't been done yet for Davis. This was a write-up predicting moves the Bucs would do. I do think they will restructure Davis' deal though. Just hasn't happened yet.

Ah my bad. Good catch.

[GreatTimes]

Still have a long way to go to get below the salary cap and with SMB, Logan Ryan, Mike Edwards, Keanu Neal, Lavonte David and other defensive linemen being unrestricted free agents, the Bucs have a lot of holes to fill.

[Phantom]

The Bucs are 31m over the cap after Vea restructure

[Doctor]

What would be the penalty for not being under "in time". Like say we decided to say YOLO and stay over the cap until June 1st. That's like over the cap for 10 weeks, what's the cost? A fine? A draft pick?

[Buc2]

What would be the penalty for not being under "in time". Like say we decided to say YOLO and stay over the cap until June 1st. That's like over the cap for 10 weeks, what's the cost? A fine? A draft pick?

Here's what I found...

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-ha ... -explained
Teams must remain under the set cap limit throughout the season and are fined upwards of $5 million for each infraction. In more severe cases, draft picks can be confiscated and player contracts can be voided.

During the offseason, teams are given a bit more leeway and larger timeframes to get back under the limit. During the season, the league office is stricter and only allows seven days to reconcile any infractions to the salary cap following trades.

Within those seven days, teams will have to either restructure contracts or cut players to find the necessary funds.

Once a team finds themselves above the salary cap, they are banned from signing any additional players under the requirements. In addition, teams must also spend a set minimum amount or else they must pay the difference directly to the players.

[Bootz]

What would be the penalty for not being under "in time". Like say we decided to say YOLO and stay over the cap until June 1st. That's like over the cap for 10 weeks, what's the cost? A fine? A draft pick?

Here's what I found...

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-ha ... -explained
Teams must remain under the set cap limit throughout the season and are fined upwards of $5 million for each infraction. In more severe cases, draft picks can be confiscated and player contracts can be voided.

During the offseason, teams are given a bit more leeway and larger timeframes to get back under the limit. During the season, the league office is stricter and only allows seven days to reconcile any infractions to the salary cap following trades.

Within those seven days, teams will have to either restructure contracts or cut players to find the necessary funds.

Once a team finds themselves above the salary cap, they are banned from signing any additional players under the requirements. In addition, teams must also spend a set minimum amount or else they must pay the difference directly to the players.

That would explain why teams don’t play around with that. Those are some pretty severe sanctions.

[Buc2]

Here's what I found...

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-ha ... -explained
Teams must remain under the set cap limit throughout the season and are fined upwards of $5 million for each infraction. In more severe cases, draft picks can be confiscated and player contracts can be voided.

During the offseason, teams are given a bit more leeway and larger timeframes to get back under the limit. During the season, the league office is stricter and only allows seven days to reconcile any infractions to the salary cap following trades.

Within those seven days, teams will have to either restructure contracts or cut players to find the necessary funds.

Once a team finds themselves above the salary cap, they are banned from signing any additional players under the requirements. In addition, teams must also spend a set minimum amount or else they must pay the difference directly to the players.

That would explain why teams don’t play around with that. Those are some pretty severe sanctions.

It did say that teams are given more time to get back under the cap during the offseason, but it didn't say how much time. Obviously more than the 7 days they're given in season. To Doc's question, a team may very well be able to stay above the cap till June 1st without any penalty. Doubt they can go that long though. Wish there were more definitive answers and there may be, but I didn't find them in my quick search.

[Bootz]

That would explain why teams don’t play around with that. Those are some pretty severe sanctions.

It did say that teams are given more time to get back under the cap during the offseason, but it didn't say how much time. Obviously more than the 7 days they're given in season. To Doc's question, a team may very well be able to stay above the cap till June 1st without any penalty. Doubt they can go that long though. Wish there were more definitive answers and there may be, but I didn't find them in my quick search.

The part about voiding contracts stuck out to me. Like the league might allow you to sign a player who's cap hit would put you over the limit and give you time to make a corresponding move. But if you're already over, they probably wouldn't allow you to sign a player to a deal without 1st creating more space.

It's probably vague because it's never been tested and teams don't wanna go there.

[Bootz]

And can still add more by restructuring Mike Evans, Devin White, Shaq Barrett and Russell Gage even.

[BucsNBills]

And can still add more by restructuring Mike Evans, Devin White, Shaq Barrett and Russell Gage even.

Yeap. OTC isn't updated yet so not sure what we're at now, but I'm like 99% sure we're in the black now.

[Doctor]

See. And people made it seem like this was going to be hard.

[Buc2]

See. And people made it seem like this was going to be hard.

Some people. We’ve seen this year after year. That’s why I haven’t been in here moaning and groaning over the Bucs cap. They’ll do whatever they need to to accomplish whatever their goals are. Just like the Cowboys, Saints, and all the rest that go through this every year.

[Cheb]

And can still add more by restructuring Mike Evans, Devin White, Shaq Barrett and Russell Gage even.

Yeap. OTC isn't updated yet so not sure what we're at now, but I'm like 99% sure we're in the black now.

We are still $5.6 million in the hole, but have yet to officially cut Lenny and Brate. Combine those two moves and we are just 135k over the cap. From there the Bucs can still restructure:

- Mike Evans for $10 million in savings
- Shaq Barrett for $9.8 million
- Russell Gage for $4.4 million
- Shaq Mason for $4.7 million

So the Bucs can get up to nearly $30 million in cap space by making those four moves with the aforementioned cuts. That would be huge. We could resign Dean and LVD!

[BucsNBills]

Yeap. OTC isn't updated yet so not sure what we're at now, but I'm like 99% sure we're in the black now.

We are still $5.6 million in the hole, but have yet to officially cut Lenny and Brate. Combine those two moves and we are just 135k over the cap. From there the Bucs can still restructure:

- Mike Evans for $10 million in savings
- Shaq Barrett for $9.8 million
- Russell Gage for $4.4 million
- Shaq Mason for $4.7 million

So the Bucs can get up to nearly $30 million in cap space by making those four moves with the aforementioned cuts. That would be huge. We could resign Dean and LVD!

Yeah we could actually end up being active in FA if we free up that much space.

First call I'm making is to Ashawn Robinson's agent. I want him lining up next to Vea to form an immovable brick wall in the middle of the defense. Could pursue some other value defensive players as well to fill out the roster so the draft can focus on offense. Maybe even a QB..

[MJW]

See. And people made it seem like this was going to be hard.

Nobody thought it would be "hard." Since the cap was instituted there's literally never been a team that wasn't in compliance when the new league year began. Obviously there are ways to do it.

That said, People on planet earth think that we have about 30 guys from last year's team not under contract right now that need to be signed or replaced and about $12 to do it with. That's the hard part.

[Terry Tate]

Just out of curiosity, is there much of an argument against resigining LVD if able?

I know he is starting to get up there but his play on the field still warrants a paycheck. He's been an ideal Buc and my pewter colored glasses can't see a scenario where we gain by letting him walk.

[MJW]

Just out of curiosity, is there much of an argument against resigining LVD if able?

I know he is starting to get up there but his play on the field still warrants a paycheck. He's been an ideal Buc and my pewter colored glasses can't see a scenario where we gain by letting him walk.

There's an argument in terms of cold calculation, certainly. He's a 33 year old undersized linebacker whose game is predicated on speed. He could be 35 or 36 before this team is a legit contender again. If I were formulating an actuarial table, he's bad math.

That said, I don't care about any of that. He's the heartbeat of this team. He's been a loyal soldier through endless horrible years under endless worthless coaches. He's earned the right to retire a Buccaneer.