Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agency rumors tracker

2017 NFL free agency is just around the corner, with the legal tampering period starting today (March 7) and free agency itself opening on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET. That’ll make for a whole lot of rumors, reports and assorted chaff over the next few days for us to sort through.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are widely expected to be somewhat active in free agency, with some $60 million in salary cap space and a lot of departing players. They’ve been linked to wide receiver DeSean Jackson, defensive lineman Chris Baker, and defensive end/tackle Calais Campbell, and are almost certainly interested in a few players that haven’t been mentioned yet.

On the other side of the coin, Mike Glennon has been repeatedly linked with the Chicago Bears and is almost certainly gone. Vincent Jackson, too, appears to be headed elsewhere.

We’ll be tracking all of the rumors right here, so keep an eye on this post.

As always, read the reports and rumors with some skepticism. Agents will try to hype up their players and the interest in them to reporters, while teams will throw up smokescreens and try to deceiver journalists, because they think NFL free agency is a matter of national security that will fall apart if things become clear.

Buccaneers Free Agency Tracker 2017

Thursday, March 9

4:00 p.m.: Free agency opened and a whole lot of things happened. Let’s talk:

• DeSean Jackson signed a three-year, $35 million deal with the Bucs
• The Bucs re-signed Chris Conte and Jacquizz Rodgers
• The Bucs tendered backup quarterback Ryan Griffin and want to extend his contract
• The Bucs signed defensive lineman Chris Baker to replace Akeem Spence

8:01 a.m.: Jason Licht talked about the mistakes he made in his first year.

8:00 a.m.: Mike Glennon is getting $14.5 million per year from the Bears. Wow.

6:14 a.m.: Calais Campbell is signing with the Jaguars for a ridiculous $14 million per year. Ahem.

Wednesday, March 8

6:19 p.m.: DeSean Jackson is trolling on Instagram, but all signs still point to Tampa.

5:27 p.m.: Also seems like the Bucs may not be after Tony Jefferson at all.

5:20 p.m.: The Patriots are trading for tight end Dwayne Allen, getting a pretty good deal, too.

1:34 p.m.: Looks like Glennon is going to the Bears.

12:33 p.m.: Pierre Garcon is setting the market for DeSean Jackson.

10:33 a.m.: The Bucs like someone! It’s J.J. Wilcox, a Cowboys safety who’s mostly a hard hitter. We’ll see how much they like him over the next couple of days.

10:10 a.m.: Brandon Marshall has signed a two-year deal with the New York Giants worth $12 million, per Ian Rapoport.

Tuesday, March 7

5:52 p.m.: Looks like the Bucs aren’t after Adrian Peterson, which is as expected.

5:15 p.m.: Slow day, but there’s a rumor going around about cornerback A.J. Bouye and the Bucs’ possible interest. Jenna Laine has heard it, but Pewter Report thinks it’s nonsense.

1:29 p.m.: The Bucs are keeping Jacquies Smith, having placed a low tender on the defensive end, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Bucs won’t tender Howard Jones, who is still injured, per Greg Auman.

12:54 p.m. ET: The DeSean Jackson rumors continue hot and heavy. Here’s Ian Rapoport:

12:35 p.m. ET: Looks like a bunch of other teams want to sign Russell Shepard, per Jenna Laine.

9:41 a.m. ET: ESPN’s Jenna Laine reports the Bucs expect Jacquizz Rodgers to re-sign.

Early rumors: The Buccaneers have been strongly and repeatedly linked with DeSean Jackson, who seems most likely to sign. The Bucs have also reportedly shown interest in defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Chris Baker, but those links seem less strong and certain.

The Bucs re-signed William Gholston to a five-year deal the day before the legal tampering period opened.