The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had spent a good chunk of the preseason where they are struggling financially. They barely had any room to move as their salary is close to the cap. With the season fast approaching, the Bucs need cap space just in case a sudden injury causes them to lose a player.
However, they have made moves to clear some cap space just before the season begins. This should give the Bucs a tiny bit of financial flexibility to make emergency signings mid-season.
Field Yates confirmed that Tampa Bay converted a chunk of wide receiver Mike Evans' salary into spare cash by reworking his contract.
Source: the Bucs converted $2M of WR Mike Evans base salary into a bonus, creating $1.6M in 2019 cap space. Tampa had been tight to the cap before this maneuver.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 5, 2019
ProFootballTalk's Josh Alper added supplementary details to the new contract of their first-choice wideout:
The move creates $1.6 million in cap space for the Buccaneers this year while adding $400,000 to the cap hits in each of the remaining years of his deal.
Evans has a base salary of $13 million this year. His salary climbs to $16.75 million in 2020 with $11.75 million guaranteed and a cap hit that’s just under $18 million.
Evans has been one of the more consistent performers for Tampa Bay this season. He has a career catching rate of 55.1%, but his performance in the 2018 season showed a massive jump in his production at 62.3%. His receiving yards last year was also at its highest at 1,524.
The Buccanneers finished at the bottom of the NFC South with their 5-11 record. If Evans manages to perform at the same level he did last year, this move will be seen as a masterstroke by the Bucs front office.
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