Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting cornerback Jamel Dean recently took a hefty pay cut to remain with the club, as opposed to starting over.
"It was just more like I'm comfortable here," Dean said on Thursday, via the Tampa Bay Times. "So it's just really not about the money anymore. I'm not in the mood to try to figure out a whole new team and city and go through all I went through my rookie year. So just to save me a headache."
Rick Stroud of the Times and Josh Queipo of Pewter Report reported the news earlier this week. Dean reduced his salary from $12.5 million in 2025 to $4.5 million, with performance bonuses of up to $750,000. In exchange, Dean will be a free agent next offseason, rather than in 2027. His 2026 salary was not guaranteed.
That's a large chunk of change to squeeze from a veteran player as the season approached. Couple that move with Chris Godwin taking less to remain in Tampa, and the Bucs are benefiting from some key vets taking less money.
The pay cut suggests that the Bucs were prepared to move on without Dean, whom the club inked to a four-year, $52 million extension in 2023. An already young Tampa secondary would have been very green sans the seven-year pro.
In the season-opening win over Atlanta, Dean generated six tackles and three passes defensed, but dropped a potential interception.
"I thought from a man-to-man standpoint, it's the best press-man technique he's had since he's been here," coach Todd Bowles said of Dean. "From a zone standpoint, there's some plays he'd want to have back. They were minor plays, but you would still want to have them back.
"But I thought he competed at a very high level. He's been businesslike since he's been here. He's been healthy. He's been helping the young guys to come along, so he's been great."
The Bucs recently extended fourth-year corner Zyon McCollum. Rookies Benjamin Morrison (second-rounder) and Jacob Parrish (third-rounder) represent the next wave of defensive backs in Tampa. The performance of the rookies during camp is likely what made the Bucs comfortable about approaching Dean about a pay cut.
"It's good to have them there, though," Dean said of the rookies. "They say they've been watching me since they were in high school. That's crazy to hear that. I'm like, 'Oh, guys, I'm getting that old, now?' But it's good to have them there because it kind of reminds me of the situation I was in when Richard Sherman came (to the Bucs in 2021) and now the roles reversed."
