Tampa Bay Buccaneers could cut Darrelle Revis to pursue signing Peanut Tillman

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved fast and swift to lock down Lovie Smith as the team’s next head coach and that has opened up a floodgate of rumors about what will be the next roster moves for the Buccaneers moving forward. Mike Florio from ProFootballTalk.com speculates that it might be in the Bucs best interest to make their next big roster moving the release of cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Cutting Revis does make fiscal sense, since the Buccaneers are paying Revis as they go and only owe him $16 million in non- guarnteed money next season. If the Buccaneers were to release Revis, they’d save $16 million and be able to put that towards bringing in one of the numerous free agents that might want to play for Lovie Smith.

One of those guys Florio points out could be cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who is a free agent this upcoming offseason. With the Bears preoccupied with locking down Jay Cutler, Tillman is one of a slew of Bears players being linked to Tampa Bay thanks to the arrival of Smith.

Swapping out Revis for Tillman is a gamble, but so was giving Revis $16 million per year. The Buccaneers would also retain a third-round draft pick as the final part of the Revis trade with the New York Jets. Bucs fans might not be open to cutting a guy who cost the team a first-round draft pick that ended up being rookie stud Sheldon Richardson, a guy the Bucs would have loved to plug into their defensive line.

But there’s a new regime in town, and while there’s no certainty that the Buccaneers will cut Revis and collect their $16 million and third-round draft pick, there’s also no guarantee that the new system Smith and Rod Marnelli are brining in will fit Revis Island.