Buccaneers Plan To Release RB Leonard Fournette

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Buccaneers plan to release RB Leonard Fournette when the new league year begins on March 15.

Earlier in the day, Buccaneers GM Jason Licht mentioned recently that he felt Fournette was still a three-down back in this league.

Releasing Fournette outright would free up $5 million in 2023 and leave behind $3,470,588 of dead money.

Fournette, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2017. The Jaguars declined Fournette’s fifth-year option and later waived him at the start of the 2020 season.

Fournette was entering the final year of his four-year, $27.15 million contract and set to make a base salary of $4.16 million for the 2020 season at the time of his release. The Buccaneers signed him to a one-year contract worth up to $3.5 million soon after and brought him back on another one-year deal worth up to $4 million for the 2021 season. 

The Buccaneers signed Fournette to a three-year, $21 million last year. 

In 2022, Fournette appeared in 16 games for the Buccaneers and rushed for 668 yards on 189 carries (3.5 YPC) to go along with 73 receptions for 523 yards and six total touchdowns.