The Buccaneers have made their first big move of the off-season, well, besides signing veteran running back Andre Ellington. Reports are flowing in, first from Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, that the team is going to franchise tag left tackle Donovan Smith, giving them one more season to work out a long term deal for the 25-year-old offensive lineman.
The Bucs don’t have a great deal of cap room to work with as it is and this move will only hamper their spending flexibility moving forward. Tagging Smith will cost a little north of the $14 million mark for the 2018 season as the team is still trying to work out a long-term solution with the former second-round pick; A deal that could reportedly hover around the $12-13 million mark annually.