Tom Brady’s announcement that he will return to the Buccaneers for the 2022 season makes it clear that the goal in Tampa Bay is winning now, not rebuilding. But keeping the roster together won’t be easy.
That’s because the Buccaneers don’t have much cap space, and have quite a few players who are set to become free agents.
The Bucs are currently about $3 million over the 2022 salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com. That means they have to make some moves in the next 48 hours just to get under the cap before free agency starts.
And when free agency does start, they’re poised to lose more players than they re-sign: On PFT’s list of the top 100 free agents, the Bucs could lose No. 9 Carlton Davis, No. 38 Rob Gronkowski, No. 63 Alex Cappa, No. 64 Leonard Fournette, No. 72 Jordan Whitehead and No. 83 Ndamukong Suh.
After winning the Super Bowl in the 2020 season, the Bucs were able to keep their whole roster intact in 2021. But that just isn’t feasible this year. It’s a near certainty that Tampa Bay will lose at least one of those Top 100 free agents.
The good news for the Bucs is they can pour everything into trying to win this year. When the greatest quarterback of all time is coming back for his swan song, you’ll do what it takes, whether that means restructuring contracts to push cap space into future years, or trading future draft picks for veteran players who can help now. Just as the Rams went all-in and won the Super Bowl last season, the Bucs will try it this season.
