The Bucs and their front office have done a good job over the years of navigating the salary cap, while also making sure their players are well compensated.

Recently, ESPN’s Dan Graziano compiled a list of player and team-friendly deals, and the contract for safety Antoine Winfield Jr. The former Golden Gopher safety earned a dub for having a player-friendly contract of four years, $84.1 million.

Graziano writes, “Winfield is the league’s second-highest paid safety by average annual salary, just slightly behind Joseph. But the rest of the deal is great for Winfield in comparison. Winfield got a $20 million roster bonus in 2024 and fully guaranteed salaries of $4 million in 2024 and $21 million in 2025. He’s sure to make $45 million over the first two years of the deal and would make $64.5 million over the first three if he stays in Tampa Bay. It’s strong money, given the rest of the safety market.”

Winfield being on a player-friendly deal may seem like it isn’t helping the team, but when he is healthy, there are not many safeties who are better than him. He has become the leader of the Bucs’ secondary, and when Lavonte David retires, he will assume the role of captain of the entire unit.

This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Bucs star defender seen to have a ‘player friendly’ deal