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Bucs are keeping the gang together, and that’s an expensive gamble

John Romano | At some point, it becomes counter productive to be too top-heavy under the salary cap. Is Tampa Bay at that point?
 
Now that the smoke has cleared, Lavonte David is back with the Buccaneers. So is Chris Godwin. And hopefully Shaquil Barrett. The only casualty may be the salary cap.
Now that the smoke has cleared, Lavonte David is back with the Buccaneers. So is Chris Godwin. And hopefully Shaquil Barrett. The only casualty may be the salary cap. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
Published March 9, 2021|Updated March 9, 2021

TAMPA — They survived the pandemic and the regular season. They navigated past injuries and expectations. Eventually, they bested the entire NFC, then the AFC, too.

Now comes the latest challenge to stand before the Buccaneers: their own success.

It’s a beast, for sure. Success has a tendency to swallow both perspective and common sense. You get so caught up in where you have landed that you forget how many steps it took to arrive.

Yes, the Bucs have another Lombardi Trophy in the lobby, but that means their players now have a lot of accountants on retainer.

And Tuesday, in the final hours before the start of free agency, the Bucs began paying the bill for their Super Bowl run. They slapped a franchise tag on Chris Godwin, which means his salary will land somewhere above $16 million in 2021. Then they signed Lavonte David to a two-year, $25 million deal.

This is great news! (Hopefully.)

This is the perfect strategy! (Theoretically.)

Look, everyone wants to see the band come back for an encore at Raymond James Stadium. It took years to put this roster together and it would be a crime to break it up after one winning season.

But there are costs here beyond the millions flowing out of the Glazers’ checking account. The NFL is a stickler for parity, and the salary cap is designed to keep dynasties at bay.

So now that Godwin and David have apparently cashed in, the Bucs need to figure out a sensible way to pay Shaquil Barrett what he’s worth. And Rob Gronkowski. And Ryan Succop. And Ndamukong Suh. And a few of their 20 or so other free agents.

And, when they’re done, have enough room under the salary cap to sign their draft class, as well.

Related: NFL Finances 101: The terms to know as free-agency period beckons for Bucs

Oh, sure, there are ways to make it happen. Restructure enough existing contracts and you can manipulate the salary cap to make 2021 look feasible, even if it makes the 2023 season look barren and desolate.

You see, the problem with going for broke is that sometimes you end up that way.

If you were around for the Bucs’ Super Bowl title in 2002 you know what I’m talking about. That team didn’t have as many high-profile free agents — there were three starters on defense and one on offense — but the Bucs restructured the contracts of Mike Alstott, Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks, Ken Dilger, Martin Gramatica, Keyshawn Johnson and Joe Jurevicius to free up salary cap space.

It didn’t work. The Bucs went 7-9 and were shedding salaries a year later.

There’s a reason why, of the last 21 Super Bowl champions, 13 failed to win even a single playoff game the following season. As difficult as it is to build a Super Bowl roster, it can be even harder to keep one intact.

Related: Super Bowl 37 champs know how hard it is to repeat

That’s because the cost of winning is high in the NFL. The stars gobble up larger percentages of the salary cap, and that often means role players get squeezed out.

So the Bucs can probably fit Barrett, David and Suh under the salary cap, but does that mean they lose Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Steve McClendon on the defensive line? How about Joe Haeg or Aaron Stinnie on the offensive line?

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Jason Licht and Bruce Arians have not been shy about making difficult choices in the past. In his first 13 months on the job, Arians had already parted ways with former first-round picks Gerald McCoy, Vernon Hargreaves and Jameis Winston. And that doesn’t include Kwon Alexander, Peyton Barber, Adam Humphries, DeSean Jackson and Carl Nassib, who were eventually traded or left via free agency.

And, in retrospect, do you miss any of those players?

The point is that choices must be made every offseason. And you have to base those calculations on what a player is capable of doing in the future instead of those fond memories of the past.

So is it good news that Godwin will be back? Of course it is. And David, too. Hopefully, within the next week, there will also be word of Barrett coming to terms on a long-term deal.

But the Bucs are on their way to opening the 2021 season with at least eight players making $12 million or more in average annual salary. The only team that even approached that level of big-money salaries in 2020 was Kansas City with seven players.

And I suppose that makes sense. The Chiefs and Bucs were the last two teams standing last season. But, at some point, a salary structure that is too top-heavy will topple and fall.

Ah, but maybe that’s a worry for another day. After all, Licht and Arians gambled that Tom Brady was the missing piece last season and walked away with one of the greatest stories ever told in the NFL.

Now, it looks like they’re willing to double down on the idea that there is enough magic in this roster to ante up for a second Super Bowl run.

That’s good news. (I think.)

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.