The Bucs have created some cap space by restructuring Antoine Winfield Jr.’s contract.
This is according to Greg Auman of Fox Sports.
Bucs have restructured the contract of safety Antoine Winfield to free up more 2025 cap space. His $21 million base salary was shifted to a minimum salary and bonus, and a void year was added. The net result is creating $15.86 million in new cap space.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) April 2, 2025
The team signed Winfield to a four-year, $84.1 million contract last year making him the highest paid defensive back in NFL history at the time. Since then four cornerbacks have surpassed Winfield’s $21,025,000 APY.
Bucs Clear Cap Space With Antoine Winfield Jr.
Bucs Fs Antoine Winfield Jr.
Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today
Antoine Winfield Jr. was due a fully guaranteed $21 million in base salary this year. The team has lowered that number to $1.170 million according to Greg Auman, while converting the remaining $19.83 million to a prorated signing bonus. That proration will occur over five years, including 2025. The result is Winfield’s cap number lowering from $25 million to $9.136 million for 2025 and the team saves $15.836 million in cap space.
On the other side of the ledger, the team pushes that savings into the future and Winfield’s cap hits inflate in each of the next three years. In 2026 his cap hit goes up from $23.5 million to $27.466 million. His 2027 cap hit moves from $22.1 million to $26.066 million. And his 2028 dead cap moves up from $4 million to $11.932 million.
This also, for all intents and purposes, solidifies the Bucs’ commitment to Winfield in 2026 as a potential pre-June 1 cut next year would result in a decrease in salary cap space.
Winfield struggled through injuries in the first year of his new contract last year. He played in just nine games, recording 60 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and three passes defensed.
Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles And Safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. And Mike Edwards
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Mike Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles addressed Winfield’s health at the NFL Annual Meeting on Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“[We’re] 100% confident he’ll be healthy,” Bowles said. “He’s been training his butt off. ‘Win’ is a guy who’s going to train, he’s not going to say much, he’s going to train and get back to himself. He always has a chip on his shoulder – whether he’s a first-round pick or a free agent, he’s going to practice. Him and Lavonte [David] are going to practice the same way. If he can stay healthy, he’ll be the same guy he was two years ago.”
Bowles noted how frustrated Winfield was with the injuries limiting his ability to make plays last year.
“With the injuries, yes,” Bowles said. “He got injured first, the second one was friendly fire – obviously, that was frustrating for him. He could never get his feet on the ground and the season kind of ended that way. He’s very determined this year to come back and be who he was.”