Why Bucs Will Likely Use Franchise Tag On Antoine Winfield Jr.

The Bucs have five unrestricted free agents they want to re-sign this offseason, but truly only have the means to keep one of them by way of the franchise tag.

Tampa Bay won’t use the franchise tag on kicker Chase McLaughlin, nor will the team use it on 34-year old linebacker Lavonte David.

That leaves All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., Pro Bowl quarterback Baker Mayfield and Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans to choose from in terms of who receives the franchise tag. Winfield is the most logical selection for one big reason – the tag number for safeties is the cheapest of the three.

Winfield, who played on the final year of his rookie deal in 2023, will receive a one-year franchise tender of $16.224 million if he gets tagged as expected. The playmaking 25-year old would likely reset the safety market, commanding a contract worth $20 million per year, if he were to hit free agency.

So by using the franchise tag on Winfield, the Bucs could save over $3.7 million in 2024 salary cap value rather than sign the former second-round pick to a long-term contract right now.

When the cost of the franchise tag is lower than the market value of a player, it’s always a good idea to use it for one more year of using the player for a “bargain” price. While $16.224 million doesn’t sound like a bargain, it is in Winfield’s case. And the fact that Winfield gets a massive pay increase from the franchise tag means it’s a win for him, too. Winfield made a total of $8,693,747 in his four seasons in Tampa Bay. He’ll make almost double that amount in 2024 if he gets the franchise tag.

However, the longer the Bucs wait, the higher Winfield’s price tag will likely go. It won’t be any cheaper for Tampa Bay to wait until 2025 to do an extension with Winfield unless his play really regresses, and that’s something the Bucs do not want to see.

Why The Bucs Won’t Use The Franchise Tag On Baker Mayfield Or Mike Evans

Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is an ascending player who is in the early stages of his NFL career, but that’s not quite the case for quarterback Baker Mayfield, who turns 29 in April, and wide receiver Mike Evans, who turns 31 in August. That fact could prompt some to argue that the franchise tag would actually be best suited for Mayfield, who had a career year in his first season in Tampa Bay after a mercurial career with previous stops in Cleveland, Carolina and Los Angeles. Why not give Mayfield one more year to prove that 2023 was not a fluke?

Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The only problem is that the franchise tag amount for quarterbacks is $36.293 million. That would be a static number that the Bucs would have to carry on their salary cap all season.

It’s a number that is so massive that it could really limit Tampa Bay’s ability to spend in free agency. Even if Mayfield could command a multi-year contract on the open market worth $36 million per year, the Bucs could significantly lower his 2024 cap number well below the $36 million to give the team more cap flexibility in free agency.

It’s the same situation with Evans, as using the franchise tag on him would cost the Bucs $28,438,200. That’s more than the actual 2024 franchise tag number for wide receivers, which is $20,672,000, because Evans’ cap value last year was more than the franchise tag number. Evans had a $23,698,500 cap value last year in Tampa Bay, so his own specific franchise tag number would be 120% of that number, which is $28,438,200.

There is a huge difference between $20,672,000 and $28,438,200. In fact, it’s nearly $8 million.

With the chance that Evans could possibly command $25 million or more on the open market, a franchise tag amount of $20.672 million would be a bargain. The Bucs would be saving over $4 million in cap value with the same line of reasoning for using the tag on Winfield.

And actually using the tag on an aging player like Evans would be even more prudent than a younger player like Winfield, who is just entering his prime.

But at $28,438,200, the Bucs would be paying about $3.5 million over market value by using the tag on Evans. And that $28 million-plus number is static. That would prevent the Bucs from having even greater cap flexibility than if the team were to use the tag on Winfield, whose tag number would be about $12 million less at just over $16 million.

Bucs’ Previous Franchise Tag Usage

The Bucs have used the franchise tag eight times in franchise history. Most notably, Tampa Bay used the tag on outside linebacker Shaq Barrett after he signed a one-year, $5 million deal with Tampa Bay in 2019 and exploded with a league-leading 19.5 sacks. The Bucs wanted to see if he was a one-year wonder, but Barrett helped Tampa Bay win Super Bowl LV in 2020 and then signed a long-term contract.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

Wide receiver Chris Godwin played on the franchise tag in 2021 and was tagged again in 2022 before signing a multi-year contract extension as he was coming off a torn ACL. Tampa Bay did not use the franchise tag last year.

Former Bucs offensive tackle Paul Gruber was the first recipient of the franchise tag in 1993, followed by defensive end Chidi Ahanotu in 1999. Wide receiver Antonio Bryant was tagged in 2009, and kicker Connor Barth was tagged in 2012.

The post Why Bucs Will Likely Use Franchise Tag On Antoine Winfield Jr. appeared first on Pewter Report.