Professional.

There aren’t a whole lot of players who would have happily sacrificed their numbers in a contract year. And Bucs tight end Cade Otton may have sacrificed money in order to help the Bucs win.

Last year, Otton ranked 20th in the NFL in target percentage for tight ends (targets per passes thrown). But there was one possible reason for that. The Bucs’ offensive line was ravaged by injuries.

Joe can’t recall seeing a Bucs offensive line that had only one starter (center Graham Barton) play the whole season.

Just two weeks into the season, the Bucs were down three starters (Tristan Wirfs coming off surgery, Cody Mauch with a blown knee and Luke Goedeke with a bum foot).

Because it was a full-blown emergency, the Bucs needed Otton back to block and help keep Baker Mayfield in one piece.

Joe asked Bucs tight ends coach Justin Peelle last week if Otton being “neutered” to help block held Otton back from being used more as a weapon.

Peelle wouldn’t fully go there — in part because Joe used the word “neutered” — but yeah, Peelle said, Otton was held back to block “maybe a little bit.”

But, Peelle added, that’s where the Bucs needed him. And Otton didn’t have one cross word to say about it, which added to the respect coaches already had for him.

“[Otton] had no issues doing it,” Peelle said. “But that’s what we needed to do, right? That we felt, as a coaching staff, that was our best opportunity to win some of those games, was to do that.

“[Otton] never said anything [about his blocking assignments]. He was fine with it. I mean, he’s the ultimate, ultimate team player and will do whatever is asked.

“Sometimes you got to. That’s the way football goes sometimes.”

In 2024, Otton’s target share of passes thrown was 19 percent, 14th in the league. That’s when the Bucs’ offensive line was mostly healthy, as was Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan.

Last year, Otton’s target share dropped to 15.9 percent, 20th in the league. However, Otton ranked fourth in the NFL in total routes run for tight ends, per Sumer Sports, so perhaps he just didn’t get open enough or wasn’t seen.

Joe sure would like to see Otton used more on deeper passes. He had a helluva catch in Seattle for 27 yards when Mayfield rolled to his left and found Otton down the left hashmarks.

Otton has the ability to stretch the field a little. Joe hopes Zac Robinson utilizes that skill.