What does the Bucs’ dead money situation actually mean?

The new trendy topic of concern in the Tampa Bay Bucs’ community is dead money. Dead money has been a fairly normal occurrence for the Bucs over the past few seasons. It has been the penalty Tampa has needed to pay for keeping their stars in red and pewter.

The “dead money fear” of 2024 all seemed to originate when social media got a hold of the fact that the Bucs could avoid a dead money hit on their 2024 cap if they re-signed Mike Evans before this past Monday. Posts, like the one below, framed the narrative that Tampa Bay signing Mike Evans sooner rather than later could save the team money. The general reaction among fans— “No-brainer, pay the man!”

Once the Tampa Bay needs to sign Mike Evans right now or they won’t be able to narrative became established, hysteria hit amongst the community after Mike Evans and the Bucs failed to negotiate a contract before the “deadline.”

Somewhere along the way context was sacrificed for a story.

The Bucs saving money by resigning Mike Evans prior to the Monday deadline is not a myth, but it is misleading. Dead money will be/would have been owed regardless. The Bucs agreeing to a contract with Evans would have saved the team’s 2024 cap however, that would have been at the expense of future years. Contract or no contract, there would have been no net gain in long-term savings. These were the portion of facts so many people that were swept up in the narrative missed out on—

Now, for further context—

Last year, the Bucs had around 80 million dollars in dead money. This Mike Evans deadline narrative, at its worst, equates to less than eight. Tampa Bay rushing a contract extension with one of the most important franchise pieces in team history over what amounts to roughly a tenth of the amount of dead money they willingly took on just one season ago would be foolish. The Bucs and Mike Evans are operating on their own timeline and it is not the same one that social media has created.

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