The NFL salary cap may be rising at a rapid pace in recent years, but it still at some point does, by design, limit how much talent a team can accumulate through free agency. Sure, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or any team for that matter, probably would have welcomed the arrival of a Milton Williams or Charvarius Ward or Josh Sweat in this year's free agency period. However, the Buccaneers have put an emphasis on retaining their own homegrown talent on second and third contracts, and that has pushed a lot of the team's cap space in that direction. And, of course, there is plenty of competition from other teams on the open market.

Fortunately, the Buccaneers have a pretty strong roster thanks to a number of good drafts in a row so they didn't necessarily want or need to go on a free agency shopping spree this spring. That said, team architects are always looking to improve a roster in any way they can. So if the Buccaneers can't pay for every superstar that hits the market, let's bend the rules a little bit and steal one…gently and with his permission, of course. And to make it a little personal, let's swipe someone off a roster in the NFC South.

That's the fanciful premise that Team Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Contributor Gabriel Kahaian and I will be debating today as we continue our annual tradition of Fourth of July Week Roundtable discussions. We've got one Roundtable lined up for each day this week, culminating in Independence Day on Friday, all dealing with some topic regarding the Buccaneers' upcoming season. Here's a full schedule of the week's topics:

Monday, June 30: Which Buccaneer will make the biggest leap in 2025?

Tuesday, July 1: What player would you steal from another NFC South roster?

Wednesday, July 2: What headline would you like to read at the end of the preseason?

Thursday, July 3: What specific statistical goal would you like to see the Bucs achieve in 2025?

Friday, July 4: Which Buccaneer will have the most surprising accomplishment in 2025?

So the idea here is to choose one player to transfer from either the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers or New Orleans Saints roster to Tampa. We do not have to factor in a player's salary or length of remaining contract, as the primary goal is to make the team better this week. However, it does make sense to consider age because, if possible, we would like to grab someone who could be a factor for at least a few seasons.

Also, we definitely are going to factor in what the Bucs' current roster looks like. Carolina rookie receiver Tet McMillan is an intriguing option, but the Bucs already have a lot of high-level receiving options to sort through in their passing game and they already used their own first-round pick on a wideout in Emeka Egbuka. It would be better to hit an area of at least some need on the depth chart, even if there aren't a lot of obvious weaknesses on it.

The three of us are not going to be duplicating answers, so order of selection could matter and were are going to rotate that order from day to day. This time, Mr. Kahaian goes first, I'm second and Bri will finish it off. You're up Gabe…go steal us a player!

Gabriel Kahaian: Falcons safety Jessie Bates

Taking a look at the landscape of the NFC South, there were plenty of intriguing options to choose from. Ultimately, I decided to go with the best player available, which also happens to significantly improve the defensive side of the ball, and take Atlanta safety Jessie Bates.

Since entering the league in 2018, Bates has been one of the gold standards in the secondary across the league. He's a two-time second-team All-Pro and has recorded three or more interceptions in six of his seven NFL seasons. Just this past year, the Pro Bowl safety was the only player in the league with four interceptions and four forced fumbles. The 28-year-old has established himself as the backbone of the Falcons' defense. Atlanta signed him as a free agent back in 2023 and that decision is paying dividends.

Pairing him up with another All-Pro safety in Antoine Winfield Jr. would keep opposing coordinators up at night. They would have to curate their game plan knowing two ballhawks would always be lurking, ready to ruin their Sunday afternoon. Because of Bates' size, he would most likely move to strong safety, allowing Winfield to play his more natural position. Also, without Bates on the Falcons' roster, Baker Mayfield would have a clearer path to the explosive plays he emphasized during this year’s minicamp. Adding Bates to the locker room is a no-brainer.

Scott Smith: Falcons outside linebacker Jalon Walker

That's a good choice, Gabe, and I like how it hurts the Falcons as much as it helps the Bucs. It does kind of add to the logjam the Bucs have in the secondary and it's not immediately clear how you would get Tykee Smith on the field. If you put Smith back in the slot, is there any work for rookies Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish, let alone third-year man Christian Izien. But that is the classic "good problem to have" and we've seen how quickly a team can burn through secondary depth during the season. In the end, if you have a chance to put Jessie Bates on your team, you take it and then figure out the rest.

My pick is a bit riskier and I had a hard time pulling the trigger. An unproven rookie? What if he misses? Shouldn't I grab a guy who has already established himself as a great player in the NFL? Well, sure. I mean Atlanta guard Chris Lindstrom is a great player but I kind of don't want to mess up the chemistry on a very good Bucs line that has all its starters back. And the Bucs already have a whole lot of mouths to feed in the passing attack, so swiping Drake London from the Falcons would probably be overkill.

What I really wanted to find was either an edge rusher, because you can always get a lot of those involved in a rotation, or an off-ball linebacker to increase the competition next to Lavonte David and perhaps even slide into David's spot whenever he hangs up the cleats. The thing is, the NFC South is not really loaded at those positions right now. You know the division as a whole was searching to upgrade at edge rusher when the Falcons and Panthers combined to take four of them among the first 77 picks in the entire draft. A few years ago I would have probably stolen Cameron Jordan from the Saints, but I think it's a bit too late in his career to make that choice.

So I'm rolling the dice on one of those four new edge rushers invading the division and going with the first one taken, former Georgia star Jalon Walker, who went 15th overall to Atlanta. Walker was mostly a situational edge rusher his first two seasons with the Bulldogs, and last year he played off-ball linebacker. That makes him a bit of a projection at both positions, but he was a first-team All-American last year and he did lead Georgia in sacks. He's fast, fluid and very athletic and could possibly have a bright NFL future at two different positions. If I could steal him for the Bucs I would probably start out with him in the edge rush rotation but I might take a look at him at off-ball linebacker down the line. And those were the two positions I said I was looking for, so it's almost like I'm taking two rolls of the dice here.

Yes, the Buccaneers signed Haason Reddick in free agency and he has designs on a fifth double-digit sack season in the last six years. They may have gotten a draft steal in the fourth round with David Walker and they expect continued progress from Yaya Diaby in his third year. But, again, it's not difficult to get another player into that rotation, and as the season goes on you simply lean more on whichever guys prove to be the most productive.

Brianna Dix: Falcons defensive lineman David Onyemata

I debated this topic and almost went with Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn, but given the Bucs acquisition of both Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish via the draft and Horn's injury history, I decided to go with the Falcons' disruptive interior, defensive lineman David Onyemata. Bolstering the middle of the Bucs' defensive front will only benefit the second and third levels of Todd Bowles' defense.

Onyemata is on a stretch of seven straight campaigns with at least 30 pressures and has logged 54 defensive stops over the previous two seasons. While he may be 32 years old, Onyemata is about as durable as they come, coming off another season with 500-plus snaps. With immense power, Onyemata is a bulldozer coming out of his stance and can knock offensive linemen back with violent hands. The aggressive player has cemented his place as one of the league's most dominant interior forces and Bowles would find a way to maximize his ability in packages with Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall. The Eagles are on the Bucs' 2025 schedule and Onyemata would play a vital role in helping Tampa Bay to stop the 'Tush Push.'

He spent the majority of his career with the Saints but Onyemata has been productive for Atlanta over the past two years and adding another elite presence in the interior of the Bucs' line will only create more opportunities for Yaya Diaby, Haason Reddick, Chris Braswell and David Walker to get after the quarterback. His talent level is too good for the Bucs to pass up if given the opportunity to poach from the NFC South.