This week, the Buccaneers signed All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. to a four-year, $81.4 million contract extension, including $45 million in guarantees. The deal was a major cog to fall into place not only for the Bucs’ 2024 season but the foreseeable future.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Winfield Jr.’s deal includes a $20 million signing bonus. His 2024 base salary is $4 million, all guaranteed, dropping his cap figure from $17.1 million on the franchise tag to $9 million.
Winfield Jr.’s base salary goes up to $21 million, fully guaranteed, in 2025, $19.5 million in 2026 and $18.5 million in 2026, giving him cap figures of $26 million, $24.5 million and $23.5 million over those three years. After 2025, his contract will only have $10 million in dead money against the Bucs’ cap.
Notably absent from Winfield Jr.’s contract are the void years that the Bucs leveraged in many of their deals since signing Tom Brady in 2020. Should he play the entirety of his contract, the Bucs will face no dead money from it in 2027. This appears to mark the end of Tampa Bay’s future cap borrowing from the last four years.