When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave cornerback Jamel Dean a 4-year, $52 million contract extension in March 2023, they had plenty of results to point to that showed the former third round pick deserved that kind of money.
In his first 4 seasons, Dean won a Super Bowl and had 7 interceptions and 41 pass deflections. That included at least one interception each season and a franchise rookie record of 17 pass deflections in 2019.
It’s been tough sledding since then. In the last 2 seasons, Dean has just one interception, 11 pass deflections and has missed 9 games due to injuries. Those numbers landed him on Bleacher Report’s list of the “Most Overpaid Players” in the NFL.
“The six-year veteran was frequently burned in coverage in 2023 and was not a No. 1-caliber corner last year,” Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon wrote. “He isn’t much of a playmaker, either (three interceptions total in the last three seasons), and he’s simply not living up to a four-year, $52 million contract.”
Dean, 28 years old, is scheduled to make a base salary of $12.5 million in 2025 and $13 million in 2025.
Buccaneers Facing Tough Decision With Dean in 2025
The 2 biggest needs for the Buccaneers on defense are at edge rusher and cornerback, where they have zero depth behind Dean and fellow starter Zyon McCollum. That scenario lends itself to the Buccaneers biting the bullet on Dean’s contract for at least one more season.
Another scenario sees the Buccaneers select a cornerback in the 2025 NFL draft if they’ve seen someone they think could be a starter from the jump — much like Philadelphia Eagles rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in 2024 for the Super Bowl champions.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine put Dean on a list of NFL players who could get fresh starts with other teams in 2025.
“This is less about a change of scenery and more about Dean’s inability to stay healthy with a giant $15.2 million salary cap hit in 2025,” Laine wrote. “Dean has been called a great teammate and a hard worker, and it’s rare to find a player with his length and speed. But he has missed 18 games in six seasons — missing nine in the past two years.”
Dean Could Become Salary Cap Casualty If No Trade
While the better move would be to find a trade partner for Dean — much like the Buccaneers did with Carlton Davis III in 2024 — the reality is the final move might be to cut Dean in a salary cap move.
Davis is a player the Buccaneers almost certainly wish they could have back. After 1 season with the Detroit Lions in 2024, he signed a 3-year, $54 million free agent contract with the New England Patriots on March 10.
From Bleacher Report: “The Bucs would create $8.4 million in cap space if they parted ways with Dean. For a team that’s going to have limited options to create cap space, that could be tempting. Chris Godwin is among the team’s pending free agents, so it could be a priority to carve out space for his extension. Dean started 12 games this season and only registered seven passes defended while giving up a passer rating of 91.2 when targeted.”
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