The ($)401k Plan
June 4th, 2023
Not selling a retirement plan.
This one is for the cap space junkies (not to be confused with the “Space Ghost” roadies).
Look, when you leave college and max out your credit cards at Atlantis in the Bahamas for a draining week in the sun with your bros and island women, you know that for the next year your good times will be limited to watching football games on the tube eating bologna sandwiches washed down with Big Storm Brewing beers.
That’s basically what is happening to the Bucs this fall. They maxed out their Amex Centurion card competing for Super Bowls with big-name veterans alongside Tom Brady.
Now the Bucs have Kyler Traskfield and hope to win a lousy division.
As reported yesterday, the Bucs have, as of June 1, $401k of cap space.
No, that’s not a retirement plan (rim shot!).
Joe once heard from an NFL suit that in a perfect world, teams want to enter the summer with roughly $10 million in cap space to cover rookie salaries and to have a cash cushion to sign players when salary cap casualties hit the market or an injury strikes.
With less than a half-million of Team Glazer loot available, Joe wants to know who won’t be on the roster come the Week 1 kickoff between the Bucs and Vikings?
Updated post-June 1: A look at where all 32 NFL teams stand in salary cap space: pic.twitter.com/W5XDH51P9K
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 2, 2023
June 4th, 2023 at 12:50 am
Evans and Shaq can be restructured for over $9 million each. Licht has the flexibility.
June 4th, 2023 at 1:02 am
It’s not cuts that will get us straightened out. Unless they made a cold-hearted move with Shaq. The only way to clear a reasonable amount of space is the trade Devon White or extend Mike Evans. I’d like to see both. Notice how we haven’t signed any draft picks? There are no other ways to create space, so one of those things will be happening before training camp.
June 4th, 2023 at 2:03 am
Evans will definitely be restructured, Shaq on the other hand will not be. He’s 30 years old and coming off an achilles injury.
June 4th, 2023 at 2:31 am
If it wasn’t for his injury I think Shaq would have already been restructured.
Probably just figuring out ME13s final touches to his last contract.
June 4th, 2023 at 4:12 am
kgh4life … ‘Evans will definitely be restructured, Shaq on the other hand will not be’.
Mike Evans can’t really be ‘restructured’ because this is the last year of his contract. He either needs a new contract this year or he becomes a FA at the end of this season. He’s currently making $16 mil a year (average) and his Market Value (per Spotrac) is $23 mil per year. Bucs obviously don’t want to pay that much for a 30-year-old receiver, even though it’s Mike. They probably would’ve done a deal long before this (and reduced his CAP hit in the process) if they were willing to pay that amount. Kinda looks like we have a stalemate, but things can change quickly.
Shaq could be restructured, and yet he hasn’t been (even though the Bucs desperately need the savings via a reduced CAP hit). Gotta wonder why. Trading him, given his injury status, is unlikely. My guess is that Licht & company have decided to bide their time for now and see how his recovery progresses. If he’s not ready for Game 1 though, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see an injury settlement or for the Bucs to just release Shaq & take the hit.
White is the only other major candidate for either a new contract, for being traded, or for being released (highly unlikely). He’s doing a lousy job of playing ‘The Negotiating Game’ IMO, but in the end I could see the Bucs giving him a new 3-4 year contract in the range of what Jamel Dean is making (say around $16 mil a year) and reducing his CAP hit this year down to around $5 mil or so.
June 4th, 2023 at 4:42 am
Joe … ‘As reported yesterday, the Bucs have, as of June 1, $401k of cap space.’
That number’s spot on, per Over-The-CAP. Spotrac however shows us as currently being $1.6 mil under the CAP (Top-51 number of course).
Looks like the primary difference is in the Dead CAP record keeping. OTC shows our Dead CAP as being $75,323,702 based on 11 players. Spotrac shows it as being $74,313,700 (roughly $1 mil less) based on 28 players, so that explains most of the difference. Not a clue which one is right.
June 4th, 2023 at 7:45 am
If you can figure out the cap structuring, you have too much time on your hands to waste
June 4th, 2023 at 7:54 am
If you can let it sit for 5 years….ticker symbol BIOR and AI
theyve both had a run and i cashed out but buying back in next week…if you want to be more conservative, put your 401k in something that follows PRUFX, its going up and i was telling my guys at work to get into this back in January, 20+ percent return so far in 4 months …..
sorry, didnt realize….i saw 401k and went off, sorry Joes
June 4th, 2023 at 7:59 am
and Caleb Williams….trade up for whatever it takes….probably the Cards and we have a guy very familiar with them in Mr Arians…welcome to Tampa Caleb!
June 4th, 2023 at 8:07 am
According to nfl gurus we are going to be one of the bottom five teams in the nfl. So having the worse salary cap situation doesn’t make sense. I realize its too early to set this in stone but still to pay all of these big salaries for minimum results is not very shrewd.
June 4th, 2023 at 8:08 am
I just made yall rich….screenshot this….all good
June 4th, 2023 at 8:33 am
Stay put in the 2024 draft and pick Drake Maye he should be available at 2 or 3 Bwahwahwahwah
June 4th, 2023 at 9:39 am
im ready to pound the miller lites on Sunday and expect the lovie smith kick to the crotch this year!!! Thank god i wont be drinking bud light…
Im a bucs fan in Savannah, Ga, just sacked up the 400 bucks for youtubetv.. Im nervous about the reliability? directtv app was so bad i normally had to hook my laptop to my tv to watch the games without interruption.
June 4th, 2023 at 11:26 am
Kyle, this is probably not the year to pay $400 for YouTube. Unless of course you like Greek Tragedies. I suspect the Bucs even in this weak division are headed for a total disaster. Pirate Ship will be scuttled this year.
June 4th, 2023 at 11:55 am
I’m curious, and maybe the IraJoe’s or a knowledgeable fan has the answer to a hypothetical question:
What happens of a team doesn’t create cap space to sign rookies? Do the rooks become FA’s? Go into a sort of lottery? Is it part of the CBA?
I don’t think it’s ever happened, but what if it did?
June 4th, 2023 at 11:57 am
Restructuring/extending players the team KNOWS will play out that contract is good cap business.
June 4th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
1000% Certain Licht has a plan. 0 concerns.
June 4th, 2023 at 1:10 pm
Allen Lofton Says:
June 4th, 2023 at 7:45 am
Some people find it interesting. It’s an essential part of building a team. I’d rather be the nerd who understands the cap than the boobs who start calling for signing every big name free agent when they become available. And then whining and crying when they don’t. Knowledge > ignorance.
June 4th, 2023 at 1:21 pm
Kyle its too bad you live in Georgia 🎯’s got a big sale on bud 💡 Bwahwahwahwah
June 4th, 2023 at 3:20 pm
@Cobraboy –
I would expect the rookies will re-enter the draft the following year. It shouldn’t be any different than if one holds out. i.e. Bo Jackson.
June 4th, 2023 at 7:21 pm
What’s up “Joe”? Got the high school interns writing your stuff over their summer break?
Otherwise it’s so lazy to whine and moan without a brief mention that the Bucs could easily restructure Evans’ or other contracts to get to a fiscally comfortable spot. Lame.
June 5th, 2023 at 1:32 pm
Guaranteed the Bucs have plans A, B and C to deal with cap space.