Did you believe that the Tampa Bay Buccanneers would make the 2024 playoffs? Did you believe they would knock off the reigning NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles? If you say you did, then I believe you. I guess. But the fact of the matter is, it happened. And it happened with Baker Mayfield at quarterback. Sure they lost in the divisional round to the Detroit Lions but they were SUPPOSED to lose. They were supposed to lose a while ago. Which puts them in an interesting predicament going into 2024. Do they try to run it back again with hopes they can make a deeper run? A Super Bowl run? Or do they blow it up and focus on the 2024 NFL Draft? We’re here to dig into the contract situations for all of the offensive position players so that Tampa Bay fans and dynasty fantasy football gamers alike can prepare for NFL free agency!

*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

 

Buccaneers Depth Chart for Fantasy Football

Quarterback

Baker Mayfield

Kyle Trask

John Wolford

Running Back

Rachaad White

Chase Edmonds

Sean Tucker

Wide Receiver

Mike Evans

David Moore

 

Wide Receiver

Chris Godwin

Devin Thompkins

Rakim Jarrett

Wide Receiver

Trey Palmer

Russell Gage

 

Tight End

Cade Otton

Payne Durham

Ko Kieft


 

White = unrestricted free agent

Green = role is safe

Yellow = role could be in jeopardy

Red = could be traded or released
 

PROJECTED 2024 SALARIES:~ $198M

ESTIMATED 2024 CAP SPACE: ~$49M

 

2024 NFL Free Agency Preview for Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quarterback

Baker Mayfield

In my opinion, the DISCUSSION has to start with Baker Mayfield but the DECISION should be based on other pieces. Here’s how I would approach things. First off, you find out if Baker is willing to play on a reasonable deal. He earned more than the one year, $4 million he just played on but you aren’t going to throw the bag at him. If it’s reasonable, you check in with your big-name free agents and see if they are willing to run it back with Baker. Namely, Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield, and Lavonte David. If that works then run it back, why not. If it doesn’t all line up, maybe you blow it up. But what is the worst that happens - the team is bad a now you have a decent pick in the 2025 draft?

Kyle Trask

Kyle Trask has had every opportunity to be “the guy” and it just hasn’t happened. Just look at how the Packers treated Jordan Love with Aaron Rodgers on his way out vs. Kyle Trask when Tom Brady left. They likely know what they have at this stage.

BUCCANEERS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE

If you are signing a middle-of-the-pack QB then it’s going to be Baker Mayfield so I don’t see a world where you sign a Ryan Tannehill type. It would need to be a higher-end vet most likely (sorry folks but Jameis Winston isn’t coming back). Otherwise, if you are doing a bridge year, maybe you do just hire whoever for cheap to help this ghost ship float through and deliver cap space to 2025. Who might be willing to play for a couple of million dollars? Joshua Dobbs? Carson Wentz?

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson

 

Running Back

Rachaad White

They leaned on White HEAVILY. In fact, only Saquon Barkley (85%) played a higher percentage of RB snaps than White’s 83%. He’s locked in as the starting RB so the only question is whether they bring someone in to supplement him. Either way, he’s feeling like a fairly safe contributor on this team moving forward with two years left on a rookie deal. 

Chase Edmonds

Edmonds is a free agent and he’s realistically a replacement-level player. There is a reason the White played so much more than anyone else. If they do bring him back, it would be based on affordability and familiarity. 

Sean Tucker

The rookie fell in the draft due to medical issues but was cleared by Tampa Bay. He played sparingly towards the end of the year but he’s an undrafted free agent so it’s not expensive to keep him around. If you have Tucker in dynasty, you are obviously rooting for them to make minimal moves. 

BUCCANEERS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE

They have a starter who is capable in all phases of the game. Pass catching is the more valuable and hard-to-replicate skill in the NFL so, if anything, they could supplement him with a short yardage back via free agency. However, we’d like to see him continue to get the bulk of the work in all phases.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Gus Edwards, Ezekiel Elliott, D’Onta Foreman, Rashaad Penny, AJ Dillon

 

Wide Receiver

Mike Evans

Coming into the season, Mike Evans essentially told them he wanted an extension or he was going to test the market. Then he went out and had one of the best years of his career, making it that much harder to retain him. Given how top-heavy the free agent market is at wide receiver, it’s going to cost a pretty penny to keep the future Hall of Famer so we could see him donning new colors for the first time in his career.

UPDATE Mike Evans has been signed to a new two-year deal worth $52 million

Chris Godwin

Godwin is under contract for 2024 but he has void years in his deal for the three years after that meaning he’s likely to hit free agency unless an extension can be figured out. If they are truly blowing it up, trading Godwin to get something for him before he hypothetically walks is on the table. At 27 years old though, Godwin still has some years of high-level ball left so hopefully an extension can be worked out.

Trey Palmer

Despite being a sixth-round rookie, Palmer rose through the ranks fairly quickly to the WR3 chair in this offense and was playing ~80% of the snaps at times. If you are a Palmer fan in dynasty, you are hoping they do blow it up where Palmer can potentially be a top-two target on the team. On the flip side, if they run it back with Evans and Godwin, there is some risk they upgrade at WR3. But we like Trey Palmer, especially at his price point.

Deven Thompkins

Thompkins is an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA) which means they can retain him for a cheap deal where he can continue to serve return duties and sprinkle in on offense. No reason not to have him back.

Russell Gage

After some injury-filled seasons and lack of production even when healthy, there is a real chance Gage does end up becoming a cap casualty. They could release him with over $11 million in savings, only $2.1 mil in dead cap.

Rakim Jarrett

Jarrett was placed on injured reserve midseason after not contributing much. Like many undrafted free agents, whether he makes the team in 2024 isn’t as much about the money but the coveted 53-man roster spot.

David Moore

He’s a free agent. If they move on from Mike Evans and blow it up, they might retain Moore as a cheap bridge year split end.

BUCCANEERS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE

This all hinges on Mike Evans. If Evans is back, they don’t really need to do much. As Chris Godwin said himself, they believe they have the right pieces. If they are blowing it up, expect them to fill out the roster with journeymen that won’t affect the compensatory pick formula. Mike Evans signing with another team would likely net them a third round compensatory pick so they wouldn’t want to jeopardize that. So we are talking about cheap bodies to fill the roster while putting SOMETHING on the field like the Dolphins and Lions did in their bridge years. Like David Moore.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Demarcus Robinson, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine Ikhine, KJ Osborn, Josh Reynolds, Chris Moore, Laviska Shenault, Jaylen Guyton

 

Tight End

Cade Otton

Again, what happens with Mike Evans could be crucial for Cade Otton’s production To say he “earned the full-time job” would be an understatement - he led all tight ends with a 96.5% snap share on the season, playing literally 100% of the snaps in multiple games. Of course, he was the third fiddle behind Evans and Godwin so his production wasn’t always consistent. If they move on from Evans and/or Godwin, he has a big window of opportunity here. If they go all in, there’s an outside chance they upgrade at tight end but I think Otton has earned this job. He crushed in the two playoff games.

Ko Kieft

Kieft did his job as a primary blocking tight end - even on 80 pass plays, he blocked on 23 of those which is almost 30%. If Payne Durham takes a step forward, he could be released as he only carries $66,000 in dead cap with almost a million dollars in savings.

Payne Durham 

If they keep the tight end room as is, Durham will continue to operate as the backup to both roles. Otton is pretty solidified as the pass-catching tight end for now so he needs an Otton injury to have any fantasy relevance. 

BUCCANEERS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE

The tight end room is actually pretty solid as is so no reason to go crazy. They have pressing needs at other spots. And I’m not sure that even the top options would be that big of an upgrade over Cade Otton. MAYBE Dalton Schultz or Hunter Henry but Otton is cheaper and arguably just as good, if not better.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Dalton Schultz, Hunter Henry

 

NFL Free Agency Previews

Discover our other breakdowns for the rest of the league ahead of 2024 NFL free agency: