The Buccaneers have their top draft pick under contract.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that edge rusher Rueben Bain has signed his rookie deal with the team. It’s a four-year contract and, as is the case with all first-round picks, the team holds an option for a fifth season.
The four-year deal is worth over $23.76 million with a signing bonus of just over $13.74 million.
Bain was usually projected to be drafted before the Bucs were on the board at No. 15, but he wound up sliding to that spot in what the Buccaneers believe was a piece of good luck. They benefitted from another slide in 1995 when they picked up defensive tackle Warren Sapp and Bain might have been channelling that common thread when he donned Sapp’s jersey for Thursday’s arrival to Tampa’s rookie minicamp.