Two words dominated the discourse of Tampa Bay’s offseason prior to last week: Cap space.
The Buccaneers approached the new league year with a deficit of more than $50 million — the remnants of their successful all-in approach with Tom Brady — but they got creative and made some necessary moves to sneak under the cap line. Not only did they become compliant, but they did so while also retaining key free agents like Jamel Dean and Lavonte David. They also made some smart low-key additions like defensive tackle Greg Gaines and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Current estimates have the team as $500,000 back in the red, but Jason Licht and cap wizard Mike Greenberg can implement additional tricks to create more cap space as necessary.