The Buccaneers and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul have agreed to a reworked contract that will expire after the 2019 season, ESPN.com reported, citing an unidentified source.
With the new deal's structure, not only does Pierre-Paul, who continues to rehab from a neck injury sustained in an offseason car accident, have the potential to make up to $10.5 million this season but also has the opportunity to be a free agent next spring.
Per the report, the Bucs cleared $4.4 million in cap space, while Pierre-Paul, who turned 30 in January, gets a base salary of $5 million with the potential to make more than twice that based on incentives.
Because Pierre-Paul is on the reserve/non-football injury list, the Bucs weren't obligated to pay him his 2019 salary. The new deal, according to EPSN.com, is "a compromise for both sides" that offers Pierre-Paul some security for 2019 following the single-car accident in May in which he suffered a career-threatening neck injury.
The question the two sides face now is whether Pierre-Paul will see the field this season.
Cleared for football activity in August, he is eligible to come off the non-football injury list in three weeks, which coincides with the Bucs' bye week Oct. 20. The first game he could conceivably play in, if ready, is Week 8 against the Titans on Oct. 27.
He was acquired by the Bucs from the Giants in March 2018, almost three years after he nearly lost his right hand in a Fourth of July fireworks accident in 2015.
In 16 games last season, Pierre-Paul had 12 1/2 sacks, tied for the second-most of his career, and 58 total tackles.
In nine seasons, he has 71 sacks.
