Three Bucs starters set to get a well-deserved payday in 2026 without putting ink to paper
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gotten some very good things from their 2023 draft class. Now, three of them could be set to get a very nice raise in 2026 without having to lift a finger.
Second round pick Cody Mauch, third-round pick Yaya Diaby, and fifth-round pick SirVocea Dennis are all currently within the parameters to receive a bump in their 2026 base salaries under the NFL's Proven Performance Escalator incentives parameters.
Bucs trio set to get PPE bonuses in 2026
The program increases the fourth-year salaries for non-first round draft picks who hit certain performance incentives during their first three seasons in the league. The big one is making an original ballot Pro Bowl, which triggers the highest (third level bonus). A second-level bonus comes for any player who hits 55% or more in offensive/defensive snaps in all of his first three seasons.
The first level bonus comes from hitting certain snap percentages in at least two of three seasons OR averaging that snap percentage threshold across all three seasons. For second round picks, it's 60+%. For third round picks and later, it's 35+%.
According to Over The Cap, Mauch has already locked that up, as he played in 100% of the Bucs' offensive snaps in 2023 and 99% in 2024, so he qualifies for the first level. Had he not gotten hurt, he would assuredly have reached level two. Diaby already locked his level one bump up in 2023 and 2024 based on snap percentages. Dennis was well below the 35% threshold the first two seasons, but his total percentage for all three seasons now sits at 38.4%. So as long as he doesn't get injured and miss any games the rest of this season, he should reach the 35% threshold to earn a level one bump as well.
As level one PPE incentive recipients, their salaries would increase to the amount of a 2026 original draft round tender. While that hasn't been announced yet, according to Over The Cap, the right of first refusal tender is estimated to be $3.453 million for 2026. In 2025, the original draft round tender was $3.406 million, per the NFL. The right of first refusal tender was $3.263. So, as the original draft round tender is a bit more, one could expect the 2026 amount to be in the ballpark of $3.7 million.
Mauch's 2026 base salary is set to be $1.77 million, with Diaby ($1.495 million) and Dennis ($1.145 million) coming in below that. As such, we're talking about a multimillion dollar jump in base salary for all three based on their performance on their rookie deals.
That's a nice little chunk of change as a reward for their good play. And I expect Jason Licht will work to keep all three in Tampa Bay beyond 2026 as well.
Lightning beat Red Wings, 6-3, behind pair of goals from Yanni Gourde
Perhaps it was the early start time, but for the first two periods the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings decided that defense was optional. If it wasn’t for the play of Andrei Vasilevskiy and John Gibson there would have been even more than the seven goals the two teams combined to score. The Lightning emerged from those forty minutes with the 4-3 lead, and not only held off a surge from the home team, but added a couple of goals to win their sixth game in a row by a final of 6-3.
For most of their recent run of success it’s been defense that has powered the Lightning. For Friday’s game, it was the offense, especially from unexpected sources, and opportunistic defense that provided the win. Vasilevskiy, who finished with 33 saves, was especially sharp in the first period as he turned aside several golden chances by the Red Wings. J.T. Compher finally solved the goaltender to give Detroit a lead midway through the period.
The Lightning bounced back on the power play (of all things). It wasn’t fancy as Darren Raddysh ripped a 100 MPH shot on net and past John Gibson. It was the Bolts only power play of the game and they made the most of it. Goals from Gage Goncalves (!) and Yanni Gourde within the first three minutes of the second period gave them a little cushion, but Detroit wasn’t going away easily.
Michael Rasmussen scored 12 seconds after Gourde’s goal to make it a one-goal game. Gourde crashed the net three minutes late to regain the two-goal lead. This time it lasted more than two minutes before Dylan Larkin snuck one past Vasilevskiy.
The goal came with less than two minutes to go in the period and gave Detroit a bit of momentum heading into the final period. The Lightning would be challenged early in the period as the Red Wings pushed for the equalizer. The Bolts bent, but didn’t break. Then they survived a short-handed situation. While they didn’t generate a ton of shots in the final period (just 11 attempts), they made them count. Jake Guentzel put them up two goals with under eight minutes to go by doing what he does – getting in front of the net and tipping a puck home.
Brandon Hagel ended any thought of a comeback with an empty net goal, and the Lightning picked up a big win against a division rival. Nikita Kucherov ended up with two assists while Raddysh ended up with a three-point night.
Coach Cooper characterized it as a complete team win, and that pretty much summed it up. Vasilevskiy carried them in the first period, the Gourde line provided the offense in the second, and the entire team did what they needed to do in the third to pick up the win.
The Goals
Darren Raddysh [3] (Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel) Power Play, 1-1
Gage Goncalves [2] (Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nick Paul) 2-1 Lightning
Yanni Gourde [4] (Unassisted) 3-2 Lightning
Yanni Gourde [5] (Unassisted) 4-2 Lightning
Jake Guentzel [13] (Darren Raddysh, Nikita Kucherov) 5-3 Lightning
Brandon Hagel [13] (Darren Raddysh) Empty Net 6-3 Lightning
