Thursday, February 14, 2013
The Bucs in free agency
By Tim Kavanagh
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a big splash in free agency last offseason, inking WR Vincent Jackson, OG Carl Nicks and CB Eric Wright. Due to another round of expiring deals -- and a lack of big spending in prior offseasons -- they once again have a healthy amount of room under the projected salary cap, and could certainly fit in some other big deals in the coming weeks if they so desire.
According to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, the Bucs will have around $30.1 million with which to play under the 2013 salary cap, and targeting some defensive solutions appears to be the mandate, with CB and LB help appearing to be the top positions to target. The list of free agent CBs this offseason includes Brent Grimes, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Cary Williams and Aqib Talib, while the FAs at LB include Brian Urlacher, Daryl Smith and Rey Maualuga.
Of course, some of that $30.1 million will be used to retain some of their own talent, as ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas notes:
Pat Yasinskas
They must take care of their own first"I think the Bucs will be active in free agency, but the splurge might not be as big as last year when the team signed Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks and Eric Wright. The Bucs have about $30 million in cap space, but that number will be chopped down a bit if the team re-signs defensive end Michael Bennett and defensive tackle Roy Miller."
