The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without former All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. for the fourth straight game in Week 8. While he has been out, the Bucs’ safety play has not dropped off, which could make Winfield one of the Bucs’ most likely players to get traded, according to Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report.
Reynolds noted that the value of Winfield on the trade market plus the cap savings the Bucs could get might be too hard to pass up.
“Trading Winfield, whose play has not come close to the $21 million he makes on average since signing his mega contract extension after his All-Pro season in 2023, makes sense because of the stellar play from fellow starting safety Tykee Smith,” wrote Reynolds.
The Bucs defense has statistically been better with Winfield off the field this season. They allow a 41.3% success rate allowed with him on the field. When he is not on the field, they have a 40.8% success rate allowed.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Could Trade Safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will miss Week 5 vs the Dallas Cowboys.
Smith is in his third season. So, the Bucs would have to decide to extend him this offseason, or have him enter the last year of his rookie contract.
If Smith plays well again in his fourth season, the Bucs are going to risk losing him in free agency, or in the best case, they would be paying a lot more than they would have the year prior. The issue would be that if they extend Smith and they have Winfield on his $21M per year salary, they are putting a lot of money into the safety room.
With Zyon McCollum also making $16M per year, the secondary would not be cheap. The fact that Ifeatu Melifonwu has stepped in as a free agent and performed well enough next to Smith should speak to the lack of impact felt when Winfield was on the field.
They could offload the salary of Winfield and get young and healthier by putting that money into Smith.
Bucs Could Sell at Deadline
Reynolds notes that the Bucs’ Week 8 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons is going to determine whether the team is buying or selling at the trade deadline. Atlanta is tied with the Panthers at 3-4 in the NFC South.
If the Bucs win, they will be 3-5 as well, and they will be right with the two teams. More than that, they beat both of them in consecutive weeks. So, they would be in control of the division.
If they lose, the Falcons would be 4-4 and would have a road win over the Bucs. The Bucs would be 2-6, they would be two losses behind the Panthers and two full games behind the Falcons. That would make it hard to justify staying pat and seeing how things play out at the trade deadline.
This is a significant game for Tampa Bay that could be a turning point moment.
Bucs Breakout Could Make $21M All-Pro Expendable