Just play ball.
If you look at Spotrac.com, the Bucs have 21 players currently in a contract year.
Yeah, [many of them](https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/manage/_/team/tb) are backups. But not all.
Mike Evans, Luke Goedeke, Cade Otton, Zyon McCollum, Logan Hall, Rachaad White and Haason Reddick are the big names who are in contract years.
Of course two days ago, you can scratch Goedeke off the list. One of the best right tackles in the game agreed to an extension on Tuesday.
So yesterday Bucs coach Todd Bowles was talking about Goedeke’s new deal when Bowles was asked about what McCollum had to do to re-sign with the Bucs or get an extension before the end of the season.
Play ball, Bowles said.
> “He just needs to play,” Bowles said, suggesting McCollum doesn’t need to worry about anything else but playing good football and the money will come. “We’re trying to win games. The money comes with it and that’s part of it.
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> “I don’t get into people’s contracts and money or what they need to do to get paid. If you play well and you have great seasons, you get paid.
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> “You know, you can’t pay everybody if you got 10 or 15 people up at the same time. Zyon is one of our key players. He’s very important to us and he does a heck of a job day in and day out. He just needs to keep working. He’ll be okay.”
Oh, Joe is confident McCollum will get paid by someone. Is McCollum in danger of losing his job with the Bucs? No.
Having typed that, the Bucs will be negotiating from a position of strength. The Bucs didn’t draft two cornerbacks on Day 2 of the draft this spring just to stand on the sidelines and pick their noses.
While many fans believe Jamel Dean is on thin ice, Joe can’t say either he or McCollum is in danger. But if McCollum doesn’t have a good year, the Bucs could squeeze him in negotiations, knowing Benjamin Morrison is waiting to get on the field, and that Jacob Parrish, from Bowles’ own words, can play outside corner.