Contracts Buccaneers Must Consider Cutting in 2022 Offseason

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go through a transformational offseason ahead of the 2022 NFL campaign.

Tom Brady's two-year stint at quarterback is over, and with that could come the end of a championship window that was opened when the seven-time champion arrived in Florida two years ago.

Tampa Bay has a handful of key free agents it could attempt to retain to give the new quarterback the best opportunity to succeed in 2022.

Bruce Arians' side faces a drop-off in quality at quarterback, which could lead to it adding more experienced pieces around that player to still contend in the NFC South.

To get to that point, the Bucs may have to use their salary-cap space to bring in younger options at certain positions to grow with the new quarterback, whether it be 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask or a free-agent addition.

Cameron Brate

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Cameron Brate totaled more than 300 receiving yards once in the past four seasons.

That is not good enough for a 30-year-old tight end with a base salary of $6.5 million for the 2022 campaign.

Brate's production was stunted over the past two seasons by Rob Gronkowski's presence, but he still produced around the same amount of receiving yards and touchdowns as he did in the two seasons prior to Gronk's arrival.

Tampa Bay can save $5.3 million in salary-cap space if it cuts Brate during its offensive rebuilding.

That money could open up the potential to re-sign Chris Godwin to a larger deal or it could provide the Bucs with more space to bring in younger options on team-friendly deals.

Brate's release would come with just a $1.9 million salary-cap hit, which is more than worth it to open up around $5 million in cap space.

Ryan Succop

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Tampa Bay can free up $2.5 million in salary-cap space if it releases kicker Ryan Succop before June 1. That number rises to $3.25 million if the Bucs wait until after June 1 to let go of the 35-year-old kicker.

Succop went 25-of-30 on field goals and 56-of-59 on extra points in 2021, but the Bucs could make the argument they would be better off getting younger at the position while saving some cash in the process.

The logic behind replacing Succop would be to drop the average age of the entire roster to prepare for success in the post-Brady years.

Tampa Bay could use the 2022 season to build toward the future, and it could use as much cap space as possible to either retain Godwin and others or to implant a brand-new set of offensive skill position players.

Cutting Succop would not be about production; it would be a money-saving exercise for the franchise.

Bradley Pinion

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Tampa Bay likely is not parting ways with its top stars under contract. Instead, the Buccaneers can save a good amount of cash by revamping their special teams at a cheaper cost.

Punter Bradley Pinion is scheduled to make $2.9 million in the 2022 season. A release would not hurt the Bucs' salary-cap situation, and it would free up that cash to spend on free agents at other positions.

Tampa Bay can't abandon the quality of its special teams, but it could find more cap-friendly options at kicker and punter if it needs to free up cash.

Pinion is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2022 season, so it might not be a bad idea for the Bucs to save some money by letting him go now to add cash to the free-agent fund.

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference. Contract information obtained from Over the Cap.