“No Advantage” To Cutting Clayton (Now)
May 21st, 2010
As the weeks slowly tick down to training camp (roughly two months away), nothing gets Bucs fans worked into a froth like the mere mention of wide receiver Michael Clayton.
The Bucs blocking icon, who since his rookie season has come nowhere near to living up to his first round draft pick expectations, is clearly the most hated Bucs player by fans, if not the most loathed athlete in the Tampa Bay area now that Pat Burrell was jettisoned last week by the first place Rays.
It seems that Clayton, who Joe believes to be a good guy, has blamed more people for his lack of catching ability than he has made receptions in his career. Joe truly believes many Bucs fans would be content with another losing season so long as Clayton is not on the Bucs roster this fall.
So it was moderately suprising to Joe to read veteran St. Petersburg Times columnist Gary Shelton, in a chat on the paper’s Web site yesterday, suggest there’s no logical reason to cut the blocking icon.
Now.
Next question: Jemal wants to know when we are are going to cut dead weight like Michael Clayton.
First of all, Jemal, “we” don’t do the cutting. And to be honest, there is no advantage for the Bucs to cut Clayton in May. They aren’t paying him now. The Bucs need to be patient to see what they have in Mike Williams, Reejus Benn and even Reggie Brown. They should be willing to cut Clayton if he isn’t good enough – and in recent years, he hasn’t been – but you don’t toss away players until you have to.
Shelton has hit the nail on the head: Clayton is not being paid now, so there’s really no viable reason to cut the blocking icon as we approach late-May. Now if the Bucs feel that Arrelious Benn, Mike Williams, Reggie Brown, Sammie Stroughter, et al, are meeting or exceeding expectations through training camp and preseason and are healthy, of course Clayton’s time is up.
If there are injuries or the rookies are dropping passes worse than Clayton, the Bucs may be better off keeping the blocking icon and hoping (praying?) that he somehow becomes a mult-dimensional receiver, not just a blocker.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:04 am
“you don’t toss away players until you have to”.
Does this man actually cover the bucs?
May 21st, 2010 at 8:59 am
Great,
So if we dont hear about him getting cut in the next few months, thats a sure sign our recievers are as good as we thought. Lets hope things turn out well and he gets cut.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:04 am
Let’s get real: Stovall, Stroughter, Benn, Williams, and Reggie Brown are virtual locks to to make the team. That’s their five, unless Clayton gets hurt. He’s nothing more than bad insurance.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:18 am
What problem is it if they take this guy into training camp? What if another team has an injury and is desparate…really really desparate..i mean like reaaaallly desperate?
They may be able to get at least something out of him. Dominick has shown a knack for getting draft picks for players that are under performing. Stranger things have happened.
If not you cut him at the end of camp and no harm no foul.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:28 am
Are you trying to tell me that there isn’t a single undrafted college player that looks like he might have more potential than Clayton? Clayton is costing us reps and a roster spot. See if some young guy can come in and do something.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:31 am
“desparate…really really desparate..i mean like reaaaallly desperate?”
LMAO
But, I am not sure the Tuskers are that desperate.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:47 am
I would let the new WR’s get all the reps to get them up to speed, because we all know what Clayton will do, or should I say not do, when the regular season is here. Keep him around for depth, but cut him before the season starts. He’s been given enough chances.
May 21st, 2010 at 10:37 am
the only way i stand clayton in the bucs is if he plays like a TE!!!! u know, he is the blocking icon!!!
May 21st, 2010 at 11:37 am
“WE don’t cut players” – typical condescension from Gary Shelton…
May 21st, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I agree. I think Clayton needs to go for his sake and the Bucs sake. BUT there is no reason to cut him until cuts have to be made. Like someone else said, there is no benefit in it right now. They could have WRs go down with injury or other teams could and might actually offer something for him…..
ya never know.
May 21st, 2010 at 4:31 pm
OOOH OOH OOOOH…I found a good reason to cut him now!!! What if we wait to cut him at the end of camp and he gets picked up by a divisional foe to steal the playbook?? Although, I’m sure the rest of the division aren’t that worried about the Bucs…
May 21st, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Maybe when they release him, they will give HIM a ticker tape parade.
May 21st, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Why cut Clayton?
What happens if the Bucs run out of tackling dummies?
May 21st, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Clayton gets treated like royalty and Bryant was treated like a nobody. No wonder AB was “unhappy.” I sure as hell would be if i was your #1 1200 yd 7 TD receiver, and only getting a cheap one year tender. But Clayton gets a 5 YR/$25 MIL deal for catching 2 TD’s in a 5 year span. Man, I actually feel happy for AB. At least he’s with a team who’s giving him what he deserves. I’m sure he’s going to want to kick our ass bad when we play the Bengals this year.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:26 pm
First, that was a pretty $hitty comment Sheldon made about the “we” comment. He knew what the hell Jemal meant. What an a$$hole!
I bet the Blocking Icon will get paid if he gets a season-ending injury. For a team that won’t pay anybody (but losers), you’d think they’d drop this clown like a hot potato.
This exercise is a complete waste of time and just infuriates the fans (what’s new!).
CUT CLAYTON NOW!!!
May 21st, 2010 at 11:40 pm
@ Patrick
Not trying to defend Clayton or the Glazers or Dom or anyone else, BUT….
“#1 1200 yd 7 TD receiver, and only getting a cheap one year tender. ”
Really? Cheap one year tender? At over $9M for one year? Cheap? Bryant got a great deal for only having one year of production after being out of the league. Nobody had a great year last year, even Bryant. He wanted the big money anyway and got released. Good riddance to Bryant, let him bleed another team dry.
And when they get cut, good riddance to…
Michael Clayton
Ryan Sims
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:17 am
@BamBamBuc
Sorry. I wasn’t real clear on that. What I meant by cheap, is the refusal to sign him to a longer term deal that requires more money to be spent. I agree that 9 M is a lot for one season, but it’s still “cheap” in the way that they didn’t give him a real contract showing that they “really” want to keep him. They were just paying him what they had to.
Also I think money wise it would’ve been smarter to give him a long term deal rather than put so much into one year. For example, give him maybe a 5 YR/$20 MIL or $25 MIL contract. Similar to the one Clayton got, except it would be to a receiver who can actually catch the ball and get us yards and TD’s. That would be about $4 or $5 million a year instead of $ 9 million a year. A contract like that would not have actually been much more than the expensive one year tender that was signed. I think it would’ve worked. Or at least spread the $9 MIL into two years instead of one. The Bengals gave AB a $4 YR/ 28 MIL contract earlier in the offseason, not much more than what Clayton received. For a talented player like Bryant, I think that’s pretty reasonable. Anquan Boldin also received a contract similar to AB too.
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:04 am
“we dont do the cutting”
what a douche bag Shelton is…
May 23rd, 2010 at 4:53 pm
I can give a good reason for cutting him , The bitch is terrible every time the ball is thrown his way the ball hits the ground, whether he drops it, or if he magically catches it he gets hit and fumbles. I think his hands are made of wood. cut him now. Oh and another good reason to cut him would be more reps for the rookies, mark bradley and reggie brown all who are better than clayton. It would also save money which im sure the glazers would not mind either