Vincent Jackson will stay a Buccaneers at nearly $10 million for 2016

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will bring back Vincent Jackson in 2016 at his full $9.8 million salary, according to Pewter Report.

That's a bit of a surprise, given Jackson's lackluster performance in 2015, his age, his struggles with injury and the likely availability of a few quality wideouts in free agency. Jackson caught just 33 passes for 543 yards and three touchdowns in ten games this season, the first time since 2010 that he didn't manage to reach the 1,000-yard mark. At the same time, the Bucs' passing offense clearly struggled without Jackson, leading to a dismal performance and four straight losses to end the season.

Jackson's entering the final year of his contract, and the Bucs may want to keep his veteran presence around. The team actually has decent depth on paper, with Louis Murphy returning from a torn ACL and fifth-round pick Kenny Bell having spent all of 2015 on injured reserve. But it's hard to see any of the team's players behind Mike Evans as reliable. Jackson should at least provide some consistency in 2016 -- but the Bucs will have to find a future replacement sooner rather than later.

With news coming out earlier that the Bucs are likely to keep Alterraun Verner as well, it seems the Bucs aren't particularly inclined to cut players for salary cap reasons this year. That may come back to bite the Bucs down the road when they do need cap space, though.