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It’s official. The Buccaneers have their first opt out of the 2020 season.
Tackle Brad Seaton made the announcement via social media on Thursday. The NFL and NFLPA set the deadline for opt outs at 4PM EST, so players had to make a decision sooner rather than later.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, Seaton qualifies for the league’s high-risk “stipend”. That means the league will pay him $350,000 to sit out. He cited this decision as the “toughest decision I have ever had to make”.
#Bucs tackle Brad Seaton is opting out of the 2020 season. He qualifies for the higher-risk stipend. His statement: pic.twitter.com/xUmS5qX5TR
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 6, 2020
Seaton was vying for the backup tackle job, primarily the left tackle spot behind Donovan Smith. Fortunately, the Bucs still have Josh Wells on the roster, who started in place of Smith in 2019.
The 26-year-old joins a growing list of over 60 players who have decided to opt out and apparently, there may be more to come.
I'm hearing plenty of players are still seriously considering opting out. Players with fully-guaranteed salaries this year are more likely to do it. Those players won't have to worry about getting cut after a year off, since their fully-guaranteed salaries would slide to 2021.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) August 6, 2020
Stay tuned for more updates.