The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a lot going on this offseason, starting with re-signing Baker Mayfield. Wide receiver Mike Evans is also a free agent, and the team has already started redoing the roster by cutting veteran Shaq Barrett. As the Bucs offseason rolls on, head coach Todd Bowles is speaking out on all the big moves.
Bowles went on Good Morning Football on the NFL Network ahead of the upcoming combine and talked about the Shaq Barrett release and the upcoming Mike Evans free agency.
“Shaq has been great for us over the last 5 years, but these tough decisions have to be made. Who knows we'll see what happens down the line,” Bowles said, per NFL Network reporter Will Selva on Tuesday. He also said of Evans, “Obviously, we want him to retire a Buc.”
Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers are cutting Barrett before a $15 million bonus kicks in for the final year of his contract. However, they will designate him a post-June 1 release to save money, according to Spotrac.
That means Tampa Bay will keep his $14.1M cap hit on the books until June, but then be able to break the rest of the money owned up into cap hits of $9.267 in 2024 and $17.4 million in 2025. Despite the 6/1 designation, Barrett will be able to sign with another team in March.
As for Evans, this Barrett move is related, as the team needs to free up as much cap space as possible if they want to re-sign him. Spotrac pegs his market value at $23.8 million per year, and as the Buccaneers wideout is the unquestioned free agent on the market this offseason, that number could go higher.
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