The Tampa Bay Buccaneers look to have a very strong backfield this season. After an injury-riddled season in which he only played in 10 games, Bucky Irving is working his way back to full health and looking to regain the explosive form he showed as a rookie in 2024. Joining him will be Kenneth Gainwell, whom the Bucs signed in free agency after a career season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The pair could be one of the most exciting running back duos in the NFL, and Gainwell is excited about what he and Irving can accomplish on the field together.
Behind those two, Tampa also has touchdown-machine Sean Tucker, who had the highest TD percentage of any RB in the league with at least 25 carries last season. It was widely assumed Tucker had the Bucs' RB3 job locked down for the upcoming season. One prominent Bucs' reporter believes that may not be the case. Greg Auman of Fox Sports wrote a very interesting mini-thread on X (Twitter) wondering whether Tampa may be leaning toward keeping Josh Williams over Tucker as the team's RB3.
Money May Be An Issue One of the main reasons Auman hypothesizes that the Bucs may cut Tucker is, of course, money. Tucker was given the full restricted-free-agent tender of $3.52 million for this season. Auman notes that RFA contracts are not guaranteed, and that is a lot of money for a team to pay its third running back. He also wonders whether the Bucs could cut Tucker with the hopes of signing him back on a lesser deal. Doing so would risk losing him to another team's waiver claim, but Tampa may decide that money is best used elsewhere.
Legitimate Competition Money issues aside, Tucker is also receiving strong competition for his spot from Josh Williams. Their preseason stats are almost identical, as Auman points out. Williams has run for 36 yards on 10 carries while Tucker has nine carries for 35 yards. Each has scored a TD. Williams also has 3 catches for 26 yards, and Tucker has a pair of receptions for 11 yards. If the Bucs are comfortable with Williams as their RB3, moving on from Tucker would create extra cap space for this season.
With the addition of Gainwell and a healthy Irving, Tampa may also find its RB3 seeing the field less than in previous seasons. Would the team really want to pay $3.52 million to a running back who is barely used? Final Thoughts Auman brings up some very interesting points. He is not predicting that Tucker will be cut; he is just talking about it as a possibility after Williams saw the field first between the two in Saturday night's victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Williams has looked comparable to Tucker in the preseason and may be viewed by the team as a more cost-effective depth option. However, Tucker has carved out a role in this offense no matter who is in front of him and has shown the ability to produce whether as an RB3 or even as a lead back when necessary. The Bucs know what they have in Tucker and that he can be trusted in whatever role he is given. There is only one week to go before we found out who will be on the 53-man roster, who will be on the practice squad, and who will have to hope they land with another team.
