The List Of Bucs Free Agents
March 3rd, 2026
Defensive tackle Greg Gaines.
The free agency dinner bell rings at noon on Monday, March 9. What an exciting day that will be!
No, Joe doesn’t expect the Bucs to run out and buy a bunch of expensive free agents, but late that night Adam Schefter could jump on Twitter and declare that the Bucs have re-signed Mike Evans. And Schefter might also tell the world the Bucs signed a starting inside linebacker like Quincy Williams, or Quay Walker or Tremaine Edmunds.
Perhaps the Bucs will nail down some of their own free agents next week, as well?
For those wondering about those free agents, Joe has a list below:
Unrestricted Free Agents
WR Mike Evans
WR Sterling Shepard
RB Rachaad White
QB Teddy Bridgewater
LB Lavonte David
LB Deion Jones
LB Anthony Walker
CB Jamel Dean
CB Kindle Vildor
G Dan Feeney
G Michael Jordan
T Charlie Heck
DL Logan Hall
DL Greg Gaines
TE Ko Kieft
TE Cade Otton
Edge non-rusher Haason Reddick
Restricted Free Agents
Safety/corner Christian Izien
RB Sean Tucker
OLB Markees Watts
Exclusive Rights Free Agent
Long snapper Evan Deckers
The restricted free agents need to receive a “tender” from their current clubs by Wednesday, March 11, at 4 p.m. Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht already has said he wants running back Sean Tucker to return. Joe assumes versatile Christian Izien is desired, too.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:25 am
Unpopular opinion.We move on from Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Unfortunately, both our great Wide receivers have become old and brittle.
It’s The NFL. Sad but true.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:28 am
Get rid of them all.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:43 am
Not fair to say Godwin is brittle. 2 catastrophic type injuries in his career, yes. And those injuries were so bad that recovery time for each of those injuries extended into the following season. He’s never been prone to the nagging type injuries though.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:44 am
Sign none of them im done with losers on this team
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:46 am
I would say it’s important to stay the course and try to keep both Evans and Godwin. Maybe Godwin could do a restructure to make Evans more affordable.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:46 am
They are besties after all!
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:50 am
Quite a few of those guys would be good to have back. Are we going to be able to improve on some of them? Maybe but it will be difficult and we will need to in order to be competitive.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:51 am
That’s a lot of junk by Ring of Honor GM Jason Licht.
Yikes.
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:55 am
Let Godwin go sign Evans to a 2 year let him retire as a Buc, bring back David, Jones, Jordan, Otton
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:00 am
Just read an article that listed the best FA by position. Out of about 100 players the Bucs listed about 4-5. The rest of the list above were considered not worth listing. BTW, Mike Evans was listed as best WR FA. Say goodbye.
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:02 am
Don’t wanna lose a long snapper
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:14 am
Joe…. Well played.
Edge non-rusher Haason Reddick
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:19 am
A lot of turnover would be a good thing.
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:23 am
@oscar i agree with you godwin isnt injury prone but his running style might be setting him up for these type of injuries
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:37 am
To me, those 3 LBs and those 2 Guards did the least to help us win games last year.
So, whether through free agency or draft — I’d love some special attention there.
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:46 am
Gaines, Hall and Otton if the deals aren’t too much. Same for Evans. The rest aren’t coming back and/or aren’t worth bringing back. Lots of good defensive interior linemen in this draft
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:46 am
Rumors is Mike’s going to the 49ers wild
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:50 am
Are the Bucs ready to win a Super Bowl? No we are not. That’s why i don’t want Evans and David back. With the money we save from not resigning both it will give us a chance with about 30 or so million to sign 2 really good or 3 good free agents on defense and could then draft another WR. We don’t owe either one anything. Both have been paid well, but their time has past. Father time always wins. It’s time to look at what makes the team better and signing them both is not good for the teams future.
March 3rd, 2026 at 12:18 pm
Excellent use of burying the lede with edge non-rusher Hasson Reddick.
Now keep in mind that Ring of Fire GM J-Licht bid against himself for his services…while making him the 3rd highest paid Buc in 2025.
Love the descriptor nonetheless!
March 3rd, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Re-sign:
– Hall (if the price is right)
– Jordan (cheap depth)
– LVD (for @ $5M as a rotational player no longer a starter)
– Otton (if the price is right – I would like to see an upgrade at TE)
– Shepard (practice squad/back-up)
– Izien (cheap/solid depth)
– Evans – let him test FA. Too injury prone the past 2 seasons.
March 3rd, 2026 at 1:37 pm
What is Joe’s intel on Keift? Is he going to be ready to play? It seemed like he was a big factor in the run game in 2024.
March 3rd, 2026 at 1:40 pm
Good one Joe on Hasaan…..😆 Go Bucs!!!
March 3rd, 2026 at 1:53 pm
Bucs need to upgrade in a MAJOR way.
o Re-sign Izien (quality backup).
o Re-sign Dean (IF he wants to come back … he won’t … and IF the price is right … it won’t be; his Market Value is $12.5 mil but he’ll be offered much more).
o Re-sign Evans (IF the price is right … it won’t be; his Market Value is $13.3 mil but he’ll be offered much more).
o Re-sign LVD (as a part-timer and IF the price is right; his Market Value is $7.4 mil but that’s way too high for a part-timer).
o Re-sign Otton (only IF the price is right … it won’t be; his Market Value is $7.9 mil but Bucs won’t pay that).
Move on from all the rest and be willing to pay good $$$ for QUALITY UPGRADES. Need to re-do a number of high-value contracts for players who we want to keep after next year (only Mayfield, Wirfs, Goedeke come to mind). Bucs have $112 mil in CAP Value tied up in those 3 alone; should be able to clear $50-60 mil in salary CAP by redoing those contracts. Add that to our existing $11.3 mil of CAP space plus the $18.7 mil we’ll free up by only carrying forward 33 of the 51 on our existing salary CAP roster (they all count as part of the Top-51 number, but many will be replaced by FAs and draft picks). That’d give us a total of around $80-$90 mil to play with to balance our salary CAP by season’s start.
March 3rd, 2026 at 2:34 pm
OLDSCHOOL1976 … ‘Gaines, Hall and Otton if the deals aren’t too much.’
Agree with you on Otton (if the price is right), but not Gaines & Hall. If we don’t substantially upgrade our DLine with 2 beasts to replace those 2, our pass rush will be just as dismal as last season, maybe worse.
Vea has been our only ‘big dog’ in the trenches since Suh wasn’t re-signed. In our 2020 season he missed all but the first 5 games, but we still had other beasts to compensate. Last season Vea played in all 17 games & gave us a career-high 763 def snaps (73%). By far his best availability. PROBLEM: That was way too much time for the big dog to be on the field, and if you watched him in some of those 4th qtrs, he was pooped. Hurt our pass rush AND hurt our run defense IMO.
But when he wasn’t in there, who’d we have to hold down the fort? Gaines (6’1″ & 312 lbs)? Logan Hall (6’6″ & 283 lbs)? Kancey (6′ & 280 lbs)? Elijah Roberts (6’4″ & 295 lbs)? Sorry, but none of those scream BEAST. Top defenses have figured out the value of manning the interior DLine with ‘beasts with bad attitudes’. Time for the Bucs to catch up.
March 3rd, 2026 at 3:04 pm
Unpopular opinion, but at this point Greg Gaines is not that far of a drop off from Vita Vea for the cost savings
March 3rd, 2026 at 3:18 pm
Production-wise? There’s 4-5 on the list that warrant “consideration.” Truthfully, there’s a lot of back-ups and the ever-AWOL “non-pass rushers”!!!
A lot of fillers!
March 3rd, 2026 at 3:59 pm
Last year — Tyleik Williams 6-3, 328lb — 8 solo tackles 10 assists, 1 sack for that first round draft choice in the Detroit defense.
Compare to Elijah Roberts — 6-4 295lb — 10 solo tackles, 4 assists, 2 sacks as a 5th round draft choice for the Bucs.
I actually would like to continue that trend — instead of picking a limited skill big man in the 1st or 2nd round this year — I’d rather pick that limited skill big man in the 5th round again this year.
March 3rd, 2026 at 4:35 pm
Mike and Greg if any. Everyone else , hell even them 2 can go 💯
March 3rd, 2026 at 4:43 pm
Gaines is improperly used. Asking him to play injured because he was better than anyone else they had didn’t help. Gaines is a true NT. That’s where he belonged. Should have played him and Vita together as they did in college. Arguably the best DL combo in 2017. You want to know how good he really is ask Arron Donald. Super bowl starter and Champ.
I’m sure Gaines would like to move on and probably will whether the Bucs want to keep him or not. Needs to play more.
NT isn’t a big pass rush spot. All anyone cares about is pass rush it seems. Teams ran all over us!
March 3rd, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Can Ko Keift learn to be a long snapper?
March 3rd, 2026 at 5:36 pm
So many people hang around this site that clearly aren’t even Bucs fans to begin with.
March 3rd, 2026 at 6:03 pm
Izien is the most important.
I swear he’s just as good as Winfield.
March 3rd, 2026 at 6:23 pm
Tucker is the only one on the list I’d resign. I also wouldn’t be welcoming David back with open arms either.
March 3rd, 2026 at 6:29 pm
Thank you Defense Rules for the cap situation research and analysis. I have never been one for cap chicanery so I’m thrilled the Bucs have made it out of their Brady era liabilities but I’m all in on plowing up a new mess restructuring and going at FA like the Eagles. The Bucs are Super Bowl contenders if they spend FA dollars this off-season.
The Eagles started out 2025 with 5 years of big dead money ahead of them (-$50 mil for 2030- yes 2030!) which would incline one to think they’ll be stuck like the Saints have interminably been but that’s not the case. Lurie has understood that the 2030 new media deals will bring in so much more money that the Eagles messy tab will come out in the wash. I’m not opposed to the Bucs making a similarly-styled and motivated cap mess of themselves.
I’d follow Defense Rules’ FA prescription but what is ear-marked for a potential Dean return I would give to Alex Anzalone to displace Dennis or Dre’Mont Jones from the Ravens to replace Logan Hall. The Bucs could comfortably sign one of these guys and bring back 31.5 year old with low mileage, proven back-up OG Aaron Stinnie for the same money some other team will give Dean. Probably less.
March 3rd, 2026 at 8:43 pm
A lot of free agents. It would be nice to have a player so his thing and play strictly his position without asking him to do all kinds of stupid hybrid things that the NFL has seen for years. We could have the best players but if Boweles is not using
The players to their strengths what then how can they perform.
March 3rd, 2026 at 9:18 pm
Keep all the restricted FA’s. Make offers to Evans(nothing ridiculous), Otton, Kieft, Jordan, and Gaines, and one or two guys that contribute on special teams. Let the rest walk.
March 3rd, 2026 at 9:56 pm
Izien, Otton, Mike, Dean, Tucker (rather have White x10) in that order of priority. By signing them the fa/draft focus can be squarely on the defensive front 7. ILB, DT, Edge in that order
March 3rd, 2026 at 10:05 pm
QB Altmeyer in the 6th rd would be a good sub for baker
March 3rd, 2026 at 11:30 pm
Chi Buc speaks the truth. Altmeyer is an uncanny analog of Mayfield. He doesn’t have Mayfield’s arm talent but he is tougher than a $2 steak, has the clutch gene and can thrive in a system built for Mayfield for a long stretch without needing his OC to adjust the offense. This undersized son of Mississippi St.’s long-tenured orthopedic surgeon knows the game and that his future is holding a clipboard and being an intellectual asset in the QB room- until they need him to win the Super Bowl.
Resigning Mike Evans for what he asks and bringing back Aaron Stinnie on a 3 yr/$6 mil deal is all the Bucs ought to do in FA toward the offense. Stinnie is only 31.5 yrs old and having him on the roster could have made a big difference last season. Altmeyer is an upgrade to Bridgewater and I’m fine with rolling with the TE depth the Bucs have after Otton leaves. The Bucs just have too many WRs. Do the Rams need a freak TE? No- Puka Nacua runs the same routes as a move TE and makes good on TE style red-zone targets sent his way too. If the Bucs are going back to a Rams-style offense with Robinson stay on the bleeding edge of that approach. Evans, Godwin, Egbuka and even Tez are all the red zone and third down support the Bucs need. The first 3 can all block as well or better than many TEs.
Defense is where the dollars can be well spent. David is worth bringing back at his price as are Gaines and Izien. After that is revamping. Let Logan Hall and Dean walk and spend some of that money on Dre’Mont Jones, a 29 yo Hall replacement who brings proven production and the ability to be a force as a stand up rusher. He can be had for 3yrs/28.5 mil. Another great target at that price point is Alex Anzalone. A little restructuring could allow the Bucs to sign both Jones and Anzalone and make a bit of a splash. Combine those signings with some early pass rush talent from the front end of the draft and some long, fluid developmental ILBs later, maybe one more DB and Bucs will be cooking with bear grease on D for the first time in years.
March 4th, 2026 at 2:23 am
Hopein1Hand … Signing Aaron Stinnie would be a stroke of genius since he played for us as late as 2023, IF he has anything left in the tank. Only played 193 offensive snaps for the Giants in 2024 & 60 snaps in 2025, and so the question is WHY. Were the Giants relatively healthy & didn’t need to use their backup Guards, or was he just further down the pecking order?
Looked up Dre’Mont Jones (6’3″ & 281 lbs) and his production is rather impressive. Pro-Football-Reference says that over a 17 game schedule, he’s averaged 6 sacks, 14 QB hits, 7 TFL and 40 tackles per year. Only missed 10 games in his 7 years, so his availability is very good (averaging well over 600 def snaps per year & hasn’t missed a game in over 3 years). He was a 3rd Rnd pick of the Broncos back in 2019 and done reasonably well. Spotrac shows his Market Value as being $10.3 mil.
March 4th, 2026 at 6:58 am
“”So many people hang around this site that clearly aren’t even Bucs fans to begin with.””
Well Matt, that would mean we (including me) have 90%+ trolls in here, Pewter Report and every Buc podcast I’ve seen since the great collapse of 2025. When you have an epic failure like we witnessed first hand and then have the HC/DC say we as coaches have done all we can then you’re going to see a rebellion from the fans. That’s not good enough. We hear about accountability alot from this organization. It’s a shame they don’t practice what they preach.
March 5th, 2026 at 7:51 am
Release Todd Bowles!!!