Lots of cap space left

If the Bucs are successful in making a splashy trade between now and the draft, they certainly have the salary-cap room to accommodate a pricey player.

I'm told the Bucs have approximately $25-million in cap space left, giving them plenty of flexibility.

Some of that money will go toward this year's draft class, but not as much as say, last year. That's when the Bucs chose Gaines Adams, the No. 4 overall pick who required a hefty signing bonus that results in a sizable cap number. The Bucs also had two second-round picks last year -- Arron Sears and Sabby Piscitelli.

These are rough numbers because a team's cap room figure is always a moving target, but let's assume they're still at about the $25-million mark. The Bucs are required to spend about $100-million, or 86.4 percent of the salary cap to meet the mandated "salary floor" -- the minimum each team must spend on payroll. Tampa Bay is at about $91-million based on the information I have.

Comments

[glenn]

Thx for the salary cap update, Stephen. Keep it reasonably current, if you could, as most of us don't have a clue on how it is calculated. GM's in the NFL = job security!

[shane]

why is there a required "salary floor"

[Erik]

Stephen - did you ever hear the Marques Douglas contract details? I've never seen any $ info, just that it is 4 years. Hard to know if it's a good signing when we don't know how much it's for. Thanks for all your great work.

[jersey buc]

there is a salary "floor" so that owners are required to spend the money they take in to be competitive, rather than pocketing it and putting out an inferior product. They owe it to the NFL, and to the fans who see their ticket prices escalate every year. Baseball should have the same rule.

[Stephen_Holder]

Yeah... What he said. That's right on jersey buc.

[Duane Davis]

Now what owner would put out an inferior product to just save money. Only a fat, old cheating liar who would probably wear a loud sports jacket would do something like that. Oh...yea. Nevermind.

[GH]

I didn't know this about the "salary floor". Why don't they use this in baseball? I hate the marlins for using about 15 millon total salary... but that is mlb.. back to NFL... my question is: will this years draft class push us up to the salary floor and if not, what happens then? we just give more money to a player?

[Kennedy]

I could be wrong, but don't the Bucs have a couple of restricted free agents that they have to wrap up? That, plus any contract extensions should use up a tidy sum, but what if they get money back from Plummer's bonus? Would that count toward cap space? I knew I should have taken Trig in College.

[Stephen_Holder]

Kennedy, you're telling me? I was a journalism major. I almost got a D in math in college. Didn't seem relevant to my career goals at the time. Boy, was I wrong. Anyhow, yes, they still haven't formally signed Jovan haye, I believe. He has been tendered at, I think, about $2 million or so. Deadline for RFAs to sign is in a couple weeks.