Now that Tom Brady is back in the fold, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are all-in on making a run at another Lombardi Trophy. As part of that effort, they have to create themselves some cap space so they can retain free agents and sign replacements for players that leave for greener (no pun intended) pastures.
They made a move Thursday to do just that, restructuring the contract of wide receiver Mike Evans. According to a report from ESPN's Jenna Laine, the Bucs will save approximately $10.3 million against the cap after the move, lowering Evans' cap number from $20.62 million to around $10.3 million.
That creates a bit of wiggle room for Tampa, which has already done a good amount of spending this offseason. In addition to getting Brady back, the Bucs have re-signed Chris Godwin (three years, $60 million), Ryan Jensen (three years, $39 million), and Carlton Davis (three years, $44.5 million) on multi-year deals; brought back Aaron Stinnie and Breshad Perriman on one-year contracts; signed former Falcons wideout Russell Gage (three years, $30 million); and traded for former Patriots guard Shaq Mason.
They will need to find a replacement for safety Jordan Whitehead, and potentially for players like Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski, Jason Pierre-Paul, and more. Tampa does not have much in the way of cap space at the moment, and so the Bucs will likely need to make a few more moves to free up some money for potential second-wave signings and their upcoming draft class.
