A day before Seahawks G.M. John Schneider addressed the potential impact of Washington’s looming “millionaire tax” on the defending Super Bowl champions, Simms and I stumbled into a conversation about state income taxes during PFT Live.
The spark came from the trade that has sent defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa from the Cowboys (and Texas) to the 49ers (and California). In his last stop, there was no state income tax. At his new team, he’ll lose 13.3 percent, off the top.
It’s not as clean and simple as every penny of compensation being taxed, or not, by the state where the team plays. For road trips, the game check is taxed by the state in which the game happens. It gets more complicated as to per-game roster bonuses. As we hear it, some states try to tax the visiting player based also on a percentage of the full-year roster bonuses and/or the prorated portion of the signing bonus for the season in which the game is played.
And, yes, the lack of state income tax becomes a selling point in free agency, which explains Schneider’s concerns about Washington’s tax rate for millionaires increasing from 0.0 percent to 9.9. But, as Odighizuwa will learn the hard way, that doesn’t matter if the free-agent contract also doesn’t include a no-trade clause.
Regardless, the variations in state income tax create an imbalance as it relates to the most important aspect of anyone’s pay — how much they take home.
Simms mentioned on Thursday’s PFT Live that he heard something interesting from someone in the league who saw the tax discussion from the day before. (And, yes, plenty of people in the league watch PFT Live — probably because it features no phony debates, no false praise, no reckless hype, no minced words, and no performative antics.) There’s an argument to be made that the salary cap should take state income taxes into account.
It would be complicated, given that taxes depend on where games are played. Still, every team has eight or nine home games per year. That’s roughly half of the compensation, taxed based on where the team is located.
The real question is whether teams should get more to spend, given that more of what is paid will end up being taken off the top by the state government. Some teams may not want to do it, since having a higher cap means having a higher floor means spending more money that otherwise would be siphoned away as pure profit.
And the numbers would be significant. At a 2026 salary cap of $301.2 million, providing the Rams, Chargers, and 49ers with a 13.3-percent bump would push the cap to $341.2 million for those teams.
The deeper question is whether state income taxes make a competitive difference. As noted the other day, most of the teams in the no-tax states haven’t been to a Super Bowl this century. (The Seahawks and Buccaneers are the exception; the Titans, Cowboys, Dolphins, Jaguars, and Texans are not.)
Part of the problem is that most players don’t fret about state income taxes, even if they should. Players focus mainly on annual average, the true locker-room measuring stick that determines the pecking order among the most and least valuable players.
Although it would indeed be difficult to come up with the right way to determine cap credits, since the total tax burden depends on where games are played, that would be doable. The bigger challenge would be to get all teams in states with income tax to agree to a higher cap in order to account for it.
News flash: Not every team is as obsessed with winning as they pretend to be. For many owners, it’s about profit. Having more money to spend means having less to buy giant yachts or that much-needed tenth home. Especially since the owners of the teams in the high-tax states are also paying those increased rates, too.
Just kidding. The ultra-rich have seemingly cracked the code on eating nearly every ounce of what they kill. Which is another reason why the owners of the teams in the high-tax states won’t want to have more to spend — even if they have to say they do.
Bucs Clips
Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht broke a bit of free agent news on Friday.
Licht announced on social media that the team has agreed to terms on a new contract with tight end Ko Kieft. Licht also made Kieft a fifth-round pick in 2022.
Kieft only missed one game during his first three seasons in Tampa, but he suffered a leg injury in Week 3 last season and was not able to return to the lineup. He has eight catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns when he has been in the lineup.
The Bucs also re-signed Cade Otton this week. He joins Kieft, Payne Durham and Devin Culp on the roster at tight end.
A strange story emerged out of nowhere earlier this week, when the Buccaneers posted a statement disavowing a blue-checked Emeka Egbuka Twitter account, after the account posed the question of whether CTE is real.
“The below account is neither owned nor operated by Emeka Egbuka. It is in no way affiliated with Emeka or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” the gold-checked Buccaneers Communications account posted on Twitter.
The account has since been suspended, but there’s an interesting footnote. Via Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, the Buccaneers had previously tagged the account nearly 60 times.
Glasspiegel reports that the Buccaneers’ social-media team had simply been “duped” by the fake account.
The situation highlights one of the biggest problems with Twitter since Elon Musk purchased it. (The folks at Last Week Tonight took a deep dive into the post-Musk existence of the popular platform last month.) In an effort to generate revenue, blue checks are for sale. Which allows anyone to enhance the apparent authenticity of an account by paying the monthly fee.
The PFT account on Twitter somehow received a blue check under new ownership without paying for it.
The gold check is now the only way to be completely certain that an account is legitimate. That costs, as of this posting, $2,000 per year for a “basic” subscription and $10,000 per year for the “full access” level.
Of course, any criticism of Twitter on Twitter activates the bots and incels. Case in point — look at many of the responses to our tweet posting the original story about the manner in which the Buccaneers were duped by a fake Emeka Egbuka account.
The Buccaneers have agreed to terms with edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad on a one-year deal with a maximum value of $6 million, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
Muhammad was in Tampa for a visit on Thursday.
He ranks 59th on PFT’s list of this year’s top free agents.
Muhammad made a career-high 11 sacks, while playing a rotational role for the Lions during the 2025 season. Muhammad also had three sacks in nine games after joining the team in 2024.
Muhammad also played in 80 games for the Saints, Colts and Bears before landing with the Lions.
The Buccaneers lost defensive lineman Logan Hall to the Texans this week.
The Bucs have agreed to terms with core special teams player Miles Killebrew.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Killebrew will sign a one-year, $1.8 million deal with Tampa, following special teams coordinator Danny Smith from Pittsburgh.
Killebrew, who turns 33 in May, played only five games last season before a knee injury ended his season.
He recorded five total tackles for Pittsburgh in 2025.
The veteran special teams ace was a Pro Bowler in 2023 and 2024 and first-team All-Pro in ’23.
In his career, Killebrew has played 766 defensive snaps and 2,957 on special teams. He has totaled 166 tackles, two sacks, six passes defensed and a forced fumble.
The Commanders are adding an experienced running back.
According to multiple reports, Rachaad White is signing a one-year deal with Washington.
White, 27, just completed his rookie contract with the Buccaneers. In 2025, he appeared in all 17 games with eight starts. He rushed for 572 yards with four touchdowns and caught 40 passes for 218 yards.
The deal will reunite White with quarterback Jayden Daniels, as the two were college teammates at Arizona State.
In his 67 career games with 48 starts, White has rushed for 2,656 yards with 14 touchdowns. He’s also caught 205 passes for 1,450 yards with 11 touchdowns.
Wide receiver Mike Evans opted to make a major change this offseason when he left Tampa after 12 seasons in order to sign with the 49ers.
Evans met the media for the first time since agreeing to switch teams for the first time in his NFL career and said he considered a number of options before deciding to move forward with the Niners. He noted that the team is coming off of a strong season that ended with a loss to the Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs and shared his belief that they “were one piece away” from going all the way.
“I feel like I am that piece,” Evans said, via multiple reporters.
The 49ers never had Brandon Aiyuk last season and he’s expected to be released soon. Kendrick Bourne has agreed to sign with the Cardinals and Jauan Jennings appears likely to depart as a free agent as well, so the 49ers may still need to add some more pieces to the receiver room even with Evans in the fold.
The new Daniel Jones contract is impressive. Impressive enough to make a major impression on other quarterbacks who had existing deals.
Two are worth mentioning for now: Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Darnold, who (like Jones) left Minnesota in free agency a year ago, signed in 2025 a three-year, $33.5 million per year deal with the Seahawks. He’s due to make $27.5 million in 2026 and $35.5 million in 2027.
Jones, meanwhile, will make $44 million over the next two years, with up to $12 million in incentives.
So that’s $63 million for Darnold over two years, and $88 million for Jones.
Even before Jones did his deal, Darnold deserved a new contract. He outperformed expectations.
If he had underperformed, the Seahawks would have cut him. That’s an example of the one-way nature of NFL contracts. The team can tear it up if the player doesn’t perform at a high enough level. If the player overshoots the value of the deal, he’s stuck.
Then there’s Mayfield. He’s due to make $40 million this year, with a cap number of $52.975 million. He’s in line for an extension, and the Jones deal will (or should) be the starting point.
As veteran quarterbacks go, there’s a broad range of earning capacity. For those well under the $60 million maximum, deals like the one between the Colts and Jones should have a significant impact.
The Buccaneers are bringing in a possible free agent addition for a visit.
According to multiple reports, they are meeting with defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad on Thursday. Muhammad was the No. 59 player on PFT’s list of this year’s top free agents.
Muhammad set a career high with 11 sacks while playing a rotational role for the Lions during the 2025 season. Muhammad also had three sacks in nine games after joining the team the previous year.
Muhammad also played in 80 games for the Saints, Colts and Bears before landing with the Lions.
The Buccaneers lost a defensive lineman when Logan Hall agreed to sign with the Texans this week.
The Lions are adding to their secondary.
Detroit is signing cornerback Christian Izien to a one-year deal, according to multiple reports.
Izien, 25, joined Tampa Bay as an underrated free agent in 2023. He appeared in 17 games with four starts as a rookie before playing 14 games with 10 starts in 2024. He was on the field for 14 games with one start in 2025, getting 50 percent of special teams reps in games played, along with 20 percent of defensive snaps.
He’s tallied five passes defensed, three interceptions, and three forced fumbles in his 45 career games.
The Buccaneers did not place a restricted free agent tender on Izien earlier this month, making him an unrestricted free agent available to sign with any team. The Bucs reportedly had interest in bringing him back, but were unable to do so.
