Koetter Says He’s Unsure Whether Doug Martin Is On The Roster Next Week
September 29th, 2017
Job security pending
In three days, the Buccaneers can welcome suspension-free running back Doug Martin to their roster.
This afternoon, Dirk Koetter said that decision has not been made.
JoeBucsFan.com – Monday you can bring back and embrace Doug Martin, put him on the roster. Is that the expectation at this point right now?
Dirk Koetter: Well, to be honest with you, I’m worried about Friday, Saturday and Sunday and when Monday comes, we’ll worry about Monday. Because every Monday, or every day after a game, Jason [Licht] and I get together and, you know, Jason’s got his ideas on what roster changes have to go. There is that possibility for next week. And, you know, if we are going to bring Doug back on Monday, then we’re going to have to make room somehow. And that could be dictated by injury this week, so that’s why, you know, we’ll worry about it on Monday.
Joe will let fans speculate why Koetter won’t/can’t say he is eager to hand the rock to Doug Martin against the Patriots on Thursday. Is it contract-related, trust-related, bad-2016-film-related?
In 72 hours, we’ll finally have judgment day for Martin.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:29 pm
Then why didn’t you draft a RB in RD 2-3? I don’t get this.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:29 pm
I think it’s a tougher decision with all the guys out injured and not on IR. Throw in the short week playing on Thursday and will they feel comfortable using a rooster spot for a back that hasn’t practiced in 4 weeks.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:30 pm
Dude looked stellar in preseason. Needs to stay and start.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
If doug isnt brought back then why the hell was he starting all preseason? If they planned on not keeping then why not cut him earlier or have him at least not get starting reps in the preseaon? If hes not on the roster than that is a serious failure of preparation by Koetter/Licht on not getting Rodgers/Barber more prepared in the preseason to carry the load.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:41 pm
just face it Joe, Doug will be back Monday even though you have done your best to convince people on this site it will never happen.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:41 pm
PROVE IT, contract with incentives
September 29th, 2017 at 12:44 pm
This is a Belicheck type answer. They know he is playing and to have a fresh leg back on a short week is an advantage . Not to mention the running game is handcuffing the team right now
September 29th, 2017 at 12:47 pm
Yea… I mean our running game has been so stellar, why wouldn’t you want a RB that is clearly better than anyone else on the current roster.
LOL. Typical coach speak, and nothing more.
Doug will be on this roster next week.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
Wtf ever 5 carries 15 yards, Quizz contribution last week, 1-2 with the Patriots coming on a short week, maybe you should start worrying about the future or you won’t have a future, you too Licht, ever heard of defense and a strong running game is a QBs best friend, what use are weapons when the defense drops 8 and still can get to the QB with 3 guys, what a joke
September 29th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
It’s “i have absolutely no reason or motivation to give you an answer on this question right now” related
September 29th, 2017 at 12:51 pm
He is pulling the bellicheat move..dont say much..dont show your hand.. cmon my dood.. OF COURSE doug will be back on Monday…ffs
September 29th, 2017 at 12:52 pm
Winston needs to stop preaching, and start finishing drives, you bucs family needs you to stop talking, and start producing, enough with the soft a55 family crap after every win, it’s getting old
September 29th, 2017 at 12:52 pm
Can you imagine how good this offense would look with the NFL’s #2 rusher????
We didn’t find a way to get him though.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:56 pm
LOl….of course DK has to honestly answer like that….and of course DK will feed Doug the rock until he PUKES !
September 29th, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Or how about the number 1 rusher Kareem Hunt in the 2nd round instead of a backup non playing Safety, but yeah no idea if Doug will be on the team Monday (sarcasm), really need a win this week or JBF might want to put up a site is UNDER CONSTRUCTION for awhile lol
September 29th, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Just coach speak from the “straight shooter”.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:03 pm
What exactly would Martin have done with the 5 carries Jacquizz got last week. Can’t blame Koetter and Licht for not being eager to bring back a bad running back. That’s what Martin is at this point until he proves otherwise.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Funny one Eric! These people only believe Koetter is a straight shooter when it suits them. … Team would be nuts to pay Martin what he’s earning. And does anyone think he’ll be a effective next year. Belichick woudl have moved on long ago. Martin is only worthwhile if these other guys get hurt. I’d rather give the rock to Barber.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:17 pm
Ga. Buc fan 41years Says
“PROVE IT, contract…”
That’s essentially what he has right now. A prove-it contract. None of his contract is guaranteed now. So that means the Bucs have the freedom to release him after any season.
Why even make a new contract? Keep him as is, draft a replacement next year and walk away. Don’t commit to more years with a new contract.
And if he does well, he becomes trade bait.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:19 pm
Joe, let’s be serious for a sec. You know as well as I do that the Bucs don’t have a choice but to bring Martin back. And they have players who can be cut.
Offense has plenty of uninjured talent. Snip-snip.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:20 pm
I just hope Martin comes back with a determination beyond any we’ve seen from him before.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:25 pm
Doug will be back
September 29th, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Eric Says
“Just coach speak from the “straight shooter”.
That wasn’t coach speak.
He was just honest. Joe read more into it than it was. Koetter was making a point. Koetter didn’t say he was unsure if Martin would be here, he said he was unsure of how it would be worked out for him to be here.
Look, why make stuff up. Koetter said if Martin comes back. Those are his words, not Joe’s. –Joe
How can they decide who will be cut yet? He was being honest when he said that injuries will probably help that decision.
The running game doesn’t exist without Martin. Heck, it may not exist WITH Martin. But the Bucs don’t have any choice. They have to bring him back. The only question is who will get chopped to make room, unless an injury puts someone on IR. Which is what Koetter was clearly saying.
No coach speak at all.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:27 pm
First of all, the bucs could have let Doug go and they didn’t? Jacquizz is a backup for a reason! and lastly, do not believe that Doug is sitting on his hands and not working out to stay in shape.
Final thought, until the Bucs find a running back better than Doug, or Doug gets another opportunity to prove himself and fails; you so called Bucs fans, stop talking about the past please!!
September 29th, 2017 at 1:34 pm
The only real question is what the contract will be and if Doug himself will reject it.
Come Monday, Licht could tell Doug, “we’re tearing up your new contract and will give you a one year deal worth $3mil” and Doug could say, “Nope, I’d rather go sign with another team; thanks for the good times, peace out.” … and then go and sign with the Packers 🙁
Personally, I expect to see Doug get the majority of the carries in the Patriots game, but we’ll see …
September 29th, 2017 at 1:35 pm
At this point in time, Dougie holds all the cards. Koetter better hope Doug doesn’t hold out for more money
Martin not only has fresh legs, he’s not beat up, he’s clearly the best RB talent Tampa has, he knows all of the plays and protections. Jameis and Doug have history together. He’s now drug free
Doug Martin holds the keys to the playoffs Just imagine, 8 yard run on 1st down, where does JW go on 2nd and 2? Evans for 15, Hump for 8, DJ for 35, Brate or OJ down the seam? Maye, they just hand it off to DM for 5 and chew the clock
Koetter dreams of these scenarios That’s why they built the team this way.
The biggest screw up was letting Dalvin Cook go to Minnesota.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:41 pm
Or I should say classy answer for a classless question. Sorry Joe.
“Classless” question? We’re 3 days away. So it’s a good question on Sunday night? Totally uncalled for. Joe asked a straight and timely question. –Joe
September 29th, 2017 at 1:52 pm
The jury will have an answer after the Giants game.
This is a game in which our running game is facing the worst rushing defense in the NFL. Is time to let Rodgers and Barber split the carries. Lets see what we have in them. IMHO neither has done enough to convince us they can handle the job without the other. This will give us a better picture of how to handle Martin on Monday.
Disaster Sunday (vs. the Vicks) did not show anything on our running game since it had to be abandoned in the first half when we trailed by 17 points. Its some what lazy to use the stats to make it seem different.
Anyway, what I would love to see is Rodgers and Barber having a solid game like they did against Chicago by running over 100 yds. This way Licht may have leverage to make Martin sign a 1 year re-structure contract in the likes of Sweezy’s latest contract.
Martin does not deserve 5-7 million dollars this season. But a healthy Martin may cause some advantage for Winston progression.
Go Bucs!!!
September 29th, 2017 at 1:53 pm
Then licht is a bigger moron than he is being given credit too, draft an RB because your RB stable is horrible, from the decision to draft simms who is garbage to the 2 guys who should be working at dunder miflin and not in the nfl as RBs…so yes dougie is going to play and come out like a man on a mission because the bucs need him….26 yards rushing is an awesome stat
September 29th, 2017 at 3:08 pm
While a valid question, the response tells me it’s a coach that is focused on the upcoming game. Perhaps he reads jbf and already knows your distain for martin and his response was a calculated one just to eff with you??? 😉
September 29th, 2017 at 3:53 pm
He will be on the roster. He will have his same contract. There you go. That will be the story in a few days.
Until then we have this little thing called the Giant game, which as it turns out is a giant game. Hard to believe but this is pivotal in week 4 (3 for us)
September 29th, 2017 at 3:54 pm
Joe I’ll speak for Koetter on this one. Yes Doug will be on the active roster for Thursday nights game next week.
September 29th, 2017 at 4:02 pm
If Doug ain’t taking snaps against the Pats, we’ve got issues…
September 29th, 2017 at 4:22 pm
He’s been and still the best back on the roster. Oh, and our run-game is struggling. Yeah, it’s probably a good chance that he’ll be toting the rock here shortly.
September 29th, 2017 at 4:34 pm
i run my business by the week as well. in my business, there is little use planning for next weekend before this weekend is complete, just like the NFL. So I get this. They’ll almost certainly bring Martin back, unless there’s something we don’t know. But for this very moment, to the coaches, Martin is completely irrelevant. So to me, Coach is absolutely giving a very good honest answer.
September 29th, 2017 at 5:17 pm
I don’t see any reason why Koetter would say anything. First, it’s not his role; that’s for the GM to answer. Second, why demotivate the other RBs for this weekend. Let them have it in their head that a lights out game means they the new #1, or worst case, #1 behind Doug. I see a three reasons the Bucs cut him at this point: 1. They lose badly Sunday and for whatever reason, think their season is over and want to save the $ (not likely); 2. They believe his good pre-season brings some trade value and they send him to team that needs a RB, maybe in exchange for a CB or LB or RG or LT? 3. Doug blows a golden flow test (not likely). But know, I’d not expect Dirk to talk about next week going into Sunday.
September 29th, 2017 at 5:22 pm
Koetter is worried about this week. Next week can wait for next week.
September 29th, 2017 at 5:23 pm
I didn’t have any confidence in Martin during the offseason. Still don’t. PRAYING he proves me wrong.
If he struggles tho……
#SaquonOnDayOne
September 29th, 2017 at 5:51 pm
At this point it doesn’t really matter until Jameis starts hitting his war’s and not throwing into triple coverage.
Then again, it’s gotta suck being the qb for the team with the worst defense in the league. You automatically know going into every game that you are going to be playing against an opposing offense that will almost score at will. At that point you HAVE to make something happen.
This isn’t going away any time soon….
September 29th, 2017 at 5:55 pm
Martin will obviously be here next week and anyone who thinks otherwise is ignoring every single indicator there is – aside from coach throwing an “if” out there which I would do as well in his shoes. Why give the Patriots (who are already spending some time looking at and gameplanning for the Bucs) unnecessary info in regards to who they will be facing in 6 days?
Doug WILL be a Buccaneer in 2017 and unless he gets hurt at some point will be our #1 RB and will lead this team in rushing yards.
And a welcome addition his talents will be. After Martin, our RB stable is a bit lacking by NFL standards to say the least.
September 29th, 2017 at 6:04 pm
If he’s not then Licht needs to be cut along with Koetter. Cause why waste Dougs time by not cutting him earlier. Their run game isn’t exactly that great.
September 29th, 2017 at 6:07 pm
If Jason Licht were smart, give Detroit a call and offer something for Zach Zenner. This kid is like a 220b Christian Mccaffrey and THEY HAVE HIM AS THEY’RE NO.4 BACK!!!
Being that far down on the depth chart they obviously don’t think that highly of him….go watch his game tape.
September 29th, 2017 at 6:15 pm
Not sure Doug would be any good after not being in football shape for well over a month. He’d get no contact in the short week either. We’ll see, I have my doubts.
September 29th, 2017 at 6:45 pm
Pluck McWeapon off of S.F.’s practice squad;)
#SuckForSaquon
September 29th, 2017 at 7:22 pm
I wonder if Martin gets his entire 7 mil for the season ( or whatever it is ) or just game by game checks as he wasn’t technically on the week 1 active roster…which would trigger a full season of guaranteed pay. Licht’s Out painted himself in a corner by not adding any real competition for Martin.
September 29th, 2017 at 8:30 pm
Some people’s ego will not allow them to admit when they’re wrong.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:51 pm
Jo and a lot of other people here sometimes just read into things that do not exist.
He is basically saying he’s worried about the Giants on Sunday right now he’s not thinking about Monday. They have a ton of injuries and odds are after Sunday they’ll have more.
So they’ll figure out the roster then and Martin is part of that decision.
Sounds pretty fair and direct to me
September 29th, 2017 at 11:34 pm
they probably waitin on drug test result
September 30th, 2017 at 12:56 am
Hahahaha
September 30th, 2017 at 12:58 am
Only someone with an agenda would think otherwise
September 30th, 2017 at 8:02 am
Speaking of “three days” (now TWO DAYS!). It’s up the Bucs. Do they insist all stand for the national anthem in their military town and bring back the thousands of disgusted season ticket holders who have their tickets up for sale? Do they have their head in the game and come out and play for 60 minutes like professionals or do they act like team captain Mike Evans in an unctrolled, unprofessional way because they are getting beaten? Do they get to Eli to keep him from carving up the Bucs or do they just talk about what they have to improve after the game and invite angry fans to talk to them some more? Do they continue to insist the Charles Sims should be on this roster as he dances his way yet again to a run-stuffed one yard loss on third and short? Does Martin come back ready to play and make a difference for the rest of the season. Sorry, but that’s all a tall order for this team. I’m afraid we have the same old Bucs. And there is no adult leadership like Vincent Jackson to straighten them out anymore. Only diaper-wetting Mike Evans.