It’s certainly an eventful offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Tom Brady gone, it looks to be the end of a very short era. However, they must get past this quickly, since there are other key Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agents that should be retained if they would like to stay a competitor in an interesting NFC South.
Below, we will look at the Buccaneers’ cap space to see how much they have to spend. However, teams can now manipulate the cap to sign nearly any player they would like. We will also go over other Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agency information, including their own 2022 free agents and define what each type of free agent is.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cap Space | NFL Free Agency
As of March 11th, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cap space ranks near the bottom of the NFL. They are roughly $10.8 million over the cap. With a long list of talented Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agents about to walk away, the team must get creative to figure something out. Oh yeah, and they need a quarterback as well.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agents 2022
The following are the 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agents as of March 11th.
| Player | Pos | 2022 Team | Type | Snaps |
| Alex Cappa | RG | UFA | 100.00% | |
| Ryan Jensen | C | UFA | 97.40% | |
| Chris Godwin | WR | Buccaneers | Franchise | 70.40% |
| Jordan Whitehead | S | UFA | 69.80% | |
| Ndamukong Suh | IDL | UFA | 62.80% | |
| Carlton Davis | CB | UFA | 55.90% | |
| Rob Gronkowski | TE | UFA | 53.60% | |
| Leonard Fournette | RB | UFA | 52.70% | |
| Jason Pierre-Paul | EDGE | UFA | 52.70% | |
| William Gholston | IDL | UFA | 44.40% | |
| O.J. Howard | TE | UFA | 30.90% | |
| Kevin Minter | LB | UFA | 29.00% | |
| Pierre Desir | CB | UFA | 27.00% | |
| Steve McLendon | IDL | UFA | 20.40% | |
| Andrew Adams | S | UFA | 18.80% | |
| Dee Delaney | CB | Buccaneers | Signed | 18.70% |
| Ronald Jones II | RB | UFA | 18.50% | |
| Zach Triner | LS | RFA | 17.30% | |
| Le’Veon Bell | RB | SFA | 13.90% | |
| Breshad Perriman | WR | UFA | 12.90% | |
| Richard Sherman | CB | UFA | 12.30% | |
| Giovani Bernard | RB | UFA | 12.30% | |
| Josh Wells | LT | UFA | 10.50% | |
| Pat O’Connor | IDL | RFA | 3.90% | |
| Blaine Gabbert | QB | UFA | 3.70% | |
| Rashard Robinson | CB | Buccaneers | Signed | 2.20% |
| Justin Watson | WR | Chiefs | Signed | 0.00% |
| Donell Stanley | C | SFA | 0.00% | |
| Curtis Riley | S | UFA | 0.00% | |
| Aaron Stinnie | LG | UFA | 0.00% |
Defining the Type of NFL Free Agents
Unrestricted Free Agents
An unrestricted free agent (UFA) can freely talk to or sign with any team after the start of the new league year. Any player with four or more accrued seasons in the NFL can be a UFA.
The net loss and gain of UFAs for a team are used to calculate the next season’s compensatory draft picks, but no other compensation is available to a team that sees a player leave as a UFA.
Restricted Free Agents
A player must have three accrued NFL seasons to be a restricted free agent (RFA). Before the new league year begins, a team can place one of three tenders on a restricted free agent (first, second or original-round tender). Essentially, this gives the player the option to return to the team on a one-year deal.
The RFA is allowed to seek deals with other teams, but the tendering team (original team) has the opportunity to match the offer and keep them. If the tendering team doesn’t match the offer, the signing team may need to give a draft pick according to the level of tender used on the player.
Exclusive-Rights Free Agents
Exclusive-rights free agency (ERFA) is only eligible to players who have two or fewer NFL seasons accrued. Teams can use an ERFA tender to any of these players before the start of the new league year, and it stops the player from negotiating contracts with other teams. The player can sign the tender, which is a one-year deal at their position’s minimum salary, or they can negotiate for a longer extension.
Finally, RFAs or ERFAs who do not receive a tender before the league year begins become “street free agents.” Street free agents have the same rights as UFAs, but they are not counted in the compensatory pick formula.
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