The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a solid cap situation for 2025, but who are the 10 players set to take up the most cap room for the team next season?
In this article, we examine the costliest players that the Buccaneers are set to carry into the 2025 season. Player contracts can be complicated, though, with many moving parts. With that in mind, we’ve used the players’ 2025 cap numbers as the basis for this list.
Buccaneers’ 10 Highest-Paid Players in 2025
Mike Evans (Cap Number: $25,358,000)
Evans is the Buccaneers’ most expensive player against the cap in 2025, according to Spotrac. He has been the heart and soul of the franchise for over a decade and is coming off a 2024 season where he continued his historic 1,000 yard-receiving streak for the 11th consecutive year. Evans also added 11 receiving touchdowns in 2024, giving him 105 scores in 168 career games.
Big congrats to @MikeEvans13_ for tying Jerry Rice’s record with 11 consecutive 1000-yard seasons! 🏉 Well deserved brother, we are all pumped for you here at @NFLonFOX.
Couldn’t have happened to a better guy both on and off the field 👊 pic.twitter.com/pVHtSu53JU
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski)
Baker Mayfield (Cap Number: $23,875,000)
Mayfield is set to earn $30 million in total cash for the 2025 season, which places him as the No. 16 highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. That is actually quite the bargain deal for Tampa Bay, all things considered.
Based on PFSN’s QB+ metric, Mayfield was ranked as the No. 6 quarterback in the league for his performance in 2024. He has far outperformed his contract, and with his current deal set to expire following the 2026 season, he is due for a hefty extension to keep him in Tampa Bay.
Vita Vea (Cap Number: $22,465,065)
Vea is the motor of the Buccaneers’ dominant run defense. The two-time Pro Bowler finished second on the team with seven sacks in 2024, adding 44 tackles and 13 quarterback hits. He has 222 total tackles (41 for loss) in 95 career games.
Vea is an underrated, but very significant part of Tampa Bay’s defensive identity, and is well-worth his $17.5 million total cash value in 2025.
Jamel Dean (Cap Number: $15,136,941)
Frankly, the Buccaneers would prefer to not have to pay Dean as one of the roster’s most expensive players. He missed five regular-season games in 2024, then exited Tampa Bay’s wild-card playoff game due to a knee injury.
Some in the know feel as if the team is growing frustrated with his injury history. According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, the Buccaneers’ secondary played “not even two whole games together in 2024.”
The front office reportedly tried to shop him in trade offers this offseason, unsuccessfully. The Buccaneers also drafted two cornerbacks during the 2025 NFL Draft in Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish, leading to obvious speculation that Dean’s days in Tampa Bay are numbered.
Haason Reddick (Cap Number: $13,176,470)
The Bucs made an offseason splash by signing Reddick to address their pass-rushing woes. Reddick is coming off an off year in 2024 where he totaled only one sack for the New York Jets, but the season was a bit of a wash for Reddick as he skipped seven games due to a contract dispute.
Now settled in Tampa Bay, Reddick is trying to re-establish himself as a dominant player, like the one who registered double-digit sacks in four consecutive seasons from 2020 through 2023. If he does that, this contract would be an absolute steal for the Buccaneers.
Chris Godwin (Cap Number: $12,938,000)
Godwin signed a three-year, $66 million contract extension from the Buccaneers this offseason that includes $44 million in guaranteed money.
Before his season-ending ankle injury last season, Godwin had reached 1,000 yards in four of the last five seasons and was on pace for a career year in 2024 before the Week 7 injury. He had 83 receptions for 1,024 yards in 2023.
By giving him this hefty deal with such a significant guaranteed amount, the Bucs are gambling that Godwin will be able to return to his pre-injury form and once again form a lethal one-two punch alongside Evans.
Tristan Wirfs (Cap Number: $11,498,582)
Wirfs has an argument for the best player on the entire team. The former first-round pick — 13th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft — was named All-Pro at left tackle in 2024, making him the first player in NFL history to be an All-Pro at both tackle positions.
Wirfs signed a five-year, $140.6 million deal last offseason that made him the highest paid offensive linemen in NFL history, and he is well worth the investment. At just 26 years old, Wirfs is already on a clear Hall of Fame trajectory, and the Bucs have no problem making him their highest paid non-QB.
It should be noted that a contract restructure earlier this offseason cut his 2025 cap hit down to just under $11.5 million.
Antoine Winfield Jr. (Cap Number: $9,136,000)
Winfield was given a contract that reset the market at his position last offseason. The Bucs made him the highest paid safety in NFL history coming off an All-Pro 2023 season where the 26-year-old became the first defensive back in NFL history to record at least five sacks and five forced fumbles in the same season, adding three interceptions to boot.
Antoine Winfield Jr. in 2023:
• 3 Interceptions
• 122 Tackles
• 6.0 Sacks (lead all safeties)
• 6 Forced Fumbles (lead league)
• 4 Fumbles Recovered (lead league)Only player in NFL history with 120+ tackles, 5+ sacks, 5+ FFs & 3+ INTs.#Bucs have the NFL’s best safety. pic.twitter.com/zjuq7oveWY
— James Nagle (@NagleNFL)
Lavonte David (Cap Number: $9,000,000)
After the Bucs’ longtime defensive leader pondered retirement this offseason, David eventually chose to return for one more season in Tampa Bay.
He’s on a one-year, $9 million contract that is fully guaranteed, placing him in a tie with perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner as the No. 16 highest-paid at the position.
Calijah Kancey (Cap Number: $3,952,766)
Despite still being on his rookie deal, Kancey finds himself on the list of highest-paid Buccaneers. He led the team in sacks with 7.5 takedowns in 2024 as he looks to enjoy his first injury-free season in 2025 with his sights set on the league sack title.
Kancey, a first-rounder (19th overall) in 2023, has proven to be a spectacular draft pick by the Buccaneers, and you can expect him to earn a handsome payday that cements his spot on this highest-paid list when it comes time for his extension.
