Buccaneers will tender Russell Shepard and Bradley McDougald, maybe Danny Lansanah

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will make "qualifying offer" to Russell Shepard and Bradley McDougald as restricted free agent, but it's not a given that they'll do so for Danny Lansanahas well. All of that according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Given their value as players, those are likely to be original round tenders with no compensation, which cost teams some $1.5 million last year.

Under such a tender, McDougald and Shepard would play for the Bucs this year and hit free agency next year. Other teams could sign them to a contract this offseason, but the Bucs would have the opportunity to match any such offer -- and players rarely switch teams that way. Don't tell that to George Johnson, though.

Shepard is nominally a receiver, but has rarely gotten the chance to do much at that position. Instead, he's a special teams specialist -- and a very good one. Meanwhile, McDougald started fifteen games at safety last season, though he saw his playing time reduced several times during the year. He's more of a strong safety than a deep free safety, and his production was disappointing with two interceptions and four passes defensed after flashing in limited time in 2014. But he's likely to get a new chance under defensive coordinator Mike Smith.