Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean is scheduled to make $2.751 million in salary and bonuses this season, which means he will have made $5.406 million on his rookie deal. Scheduled to become a free agent in 2023, Dean admits what many players won’t say out loud: That second contract is motivating.
A big year for Dean in 2022 should mean a bigger long-term deal in 2023.
“I’m taking like a new approach into this year knowing that it’s the last year of my contract,” Dean said on a Slice video produced by the team website. “And I feel like, you know, I won’t know if I’m going to get a second contract or not, so I’m trying to do the best I can to try to earn a second one.”
Dean and Carlton Davis were teammates at Auburn before becoming teammates with the Bucs. Davis signed a three-year, $45 million deal this offseason to return to the Bucs.
Dean, a third-round choice in 2019, will get his chance to prove he’s worthy of a similar deal in 2023.