Panthers Will Not Get Kellen Winslow
January 20th, 2011
Two years ago when the Bucs acquired tight end Kellen Winslow, Joe was bummed.
Joe had nothing against Winslow at all. But given his unfortunate track record of missing games due to health concerns and Mark Dominik coughing up a second round pick for Winslow, Joe thought Dominik paid a terribly high price.
At the time, Joe thought the Bucs would have been better off sending a second round pick to Kansas City for future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez.
A few weeks later, the Dixie Chicks did just that: swapped a second round pick to the Chiefs for Gonzalez.
Joe’s rationale was that Gonzalez, a rock with the Chiefs, would be more durable, more dependable and likely last longer than Winslow.
It appears Joe may be wrong as Gonazlez is mulling retirement after the Dixie Chicks suffered a beat down at the hands of the Packers two weeks ago.
Winslow, meanwhile, has been an absolute rock of stability with the Bucs and a valued asset within the Tampa Bay community.
Major props to him for that!
But now, it seems Panthers fans have their eyes on Winslow, claiming he can be had on the free agent market. Panthers fans, specifically Steve Reed at CarolinaGrowl.com, believe the Bucs will cut Winslow therefore he can be had by the Panthers.
On the surface it seems unlikely Tampa Bay would let Winslow, 27, walk after catching 66 passes for 730 yards and five touchdowns in 2010. However, he’s scheduled to make a whopping $8.25 million next season, which is high for a tight end. If the Bucs happen to cut him for salary cap reasons look for the Panthers to swoop in. He has a strong history with Chudzinski.
Simply put, this is wishful thinking. The Bucs quite honestly are not parting ways with Winslow. Dominik has gone on record noting how important he believes a tight end to be. Unless Dominik has something up his sleeve, Winslow will be in a Bucs uniform for the 2011 season.
If there is a 2011 season.
January 20th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Not happening…even if it did, who’s going to throw him the ball? Andrew Luck? Oh wait..he stayed in school. Clausen…LOL
Panthers suck.
January 20th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
This is a stupid fan’s wishful thinking.
Why on earth would a team who is $40 million below the expected salary FLOOR need to cut someone for salary CAP reasons?
Wow I guess Panthers fans are as dumb as they look.
January 20th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Dang that website doesn’t have a comments section.
I was going be the panthers version of Buc You and let them know how stupid they are.
January 20th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
The lead story tomorrow at CarolinaGrowl.com will be about monkeys flying out of people’s asses.
January 20th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
@PANTHERS FAN
Sorry bud, won’t happen. Not in a million years!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Side note: Look at Patrica Yasinskas All NFC South awards…COTY is Mike Smith because Pat said ‘he wants to spread things out’. Are you F’ing kidding me? What kind of journalism is that?
January 20th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Dream on Carolina, this guy is Freeman go to guy on 3rd down, I don’t know how many catches he had for ist down but they were a bunch. The only way this happens is that Raheem and Mark hit the crack pipe!!!!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Love dmoney!!! Yeah!!!!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
bucfanjeff:
Consider the source. The dude is a blogger. Not even Joe trolls for traffic like that!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
wow they really don’t do there homework, we’re nowhere near salary cap trouble
January 20th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
looking at those available free agents tho, I hope they don’t get Zach Miller
that guy is GOOD
January 20th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Joe you are wrong an awful lot…..
January 20th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Joe here,
@Chargedcbh – Really. Feel free to make a list. Joe has written about 7,000 posts on these pages since August 2008. Joe would put his accuracy rate up against anyone in the business.
January 20th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Fernado,
Not sure about Kellen being 3rd down go to guy? Win-slow had 36 first downs out of his 66 catches, where Mike Williams had 44 first downs out of his 65 catches.
Too me it looks like, third-and-Mike!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I can’t picture it. Winslow has been better than advertised. The ONLY way that’s a possibility is if his knee is is deteriorating. If the knee is Chronic( I.E. Antonio Bryant), then there would be a parting of the ways. I don’t think there is another Tight end that would fit here as well as Winslow- bar none!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Nobody has answered the call of Joe’s question. Do you really think that the Glazerhouses are going to pay Winslow’s 8.25 million in 2011? If not there are only two other options: 1) Opt out making him a free agent which places you in a bidding war; or 2) Negotiate a longer-term deal with more guaranteed which is difficult to do with Winslow’s leg history.
I think that if I was Winslow’s agent I would force the team’s hand and not negotiate in the stratosphere until the option date passed.
This will get interesting.
January 20th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Joe,
You were wrong once, but you were mistaken! LOL!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
However, Steve Reed must not be too astute because he said: “if the bucs cut him for “salary-cap reasons.”
A) there is about to be no CBA; and B) this team isn’t anywhere near the prior salary-floor so it certainly wouldn’t be because any concern with the “salary-cap.”
This is the lowest paid team in the very modern era.
January 20th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
I don’t know? Besides catching, I sure like my tightends to block!
January 20th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
They aren’t parting ways with one of Freeman’s main targets and a big red zone target.
Besides, WHEN there is a new CBA the Bucs will HAVE to spend money to get to the floor. If anything, I see them reworking and resigning most their guys. They won’t do it for the sake of it (Ruud), but if the guy is worth it….
January 20th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
As far as Winslow’s contract:
It was a 6 year deal singed 2 years ago…. he isn’t going anywhere
January 20th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Winslow has been a great TE but honestly I can’t see the Bucs paying him 8.25M. Salary cap reason..no. Just not wanting to sped that much..yes.
the guy has been an important addition for sure, but he will probably be asked to take a paycut. Hopefully he will. I think the blogger in question should have just said Bucs may not want to pay him that much. nothing to do with the cap that isn’t there. Just cheaper options. I hope im wrong but lets be honest, the glazers are tight on the purse strings. We had a great season as one of the lowest payrolls in the league and more than likely will look to repeat that strategy. All that said I hope Winslow is a Bucs next year, but at 8.25 the blogger in question may be onto something. salary cap (no) cheap owners (yes). 8.25M= a lot of dough for an aging oft-injured TE (yes). love the guy. he will be asked to take less. let’s all hope he accepts.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Hopefully the Steelers cut Mike Wallace, James Harrison, and Troy Polamalu; Falcons cut Roddy White and Michael Turner; Vikings cut Adrian Peterson; Jets cut Darrelle Revis…. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Stupid Panther fan…….
January 20th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Kellen Winslow is under contract for next year. This is insanity. There is no reason to have this conversation. The source on this one is worthless. This is the first anyone has heard of this and it comes from a fan blogger just throwing crap against the wall.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
With the way the Glazers pinch pennies…they might. $8.25 million for a TE with bad knees?
Roy Cummings said a week or so ago on ESPN that he thinks the Bucs are going to draft a TE in the first round.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
They also traded a 3rd rounder for him… so why cut him now?
January 20th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
lol…WE signed him to that contract, therefore WE were willing to pay him that much. Salary cap reasons? I believe we have the highest salary cap in the league (or close to it). The guy must be living in 2003.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
@Guest#27:
8.25 million is the answer to your question.
If you opt out, you still have the right to negotiate with him and you hope that you end up with the best offer and that it is less than 8.25 guaranteed over 1 year. I think the Glazers would pay that for two years, or maybe something like 10-12 for 2 or three years – but not much more.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
I may be wrong but I believe Winslow’s salary is guaranteed as part of his deal. He didn’t receive a signing bonus just guaranteed money.
Winslow, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, agreed to a six-year, $36.1 million deal that includes $20.1 million in guarantees. With incentives, the deal could grow to $42.1 million.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
From what I understood, once the salary cap kicks in, there is also a mimimum salary pay roll, to which the Bucs are dangerously close…correct me if Im wrong. Seems that if you are going to be force to spend money, why not a great tightend which is a very important position in our offense.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
“…and you hope that you end up with the best offer…”
HUH?
Hope?
He will go elsewhere on principal.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
The Salary also goes back to 3.3 Million in 2012 and 4.5 for 2013 and 2014 so it’s not like they have to pay him big money every year. Doubt they cut him for that.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Roy Cummings said the Bucs would draft a tight end in the first round???? If thats true Roy needs to be writing for Panthergrowl or whatever you call it. If the CBA goes as planned like everyone is saying the Glazers will whether they want to or not have to INCREASE their payroll by league mandate. That means signing all of our current free agents or ones that make sense AND signing a few more just to get to the floor. In other words cheap or not the Glazers will have no choice. This year should show the true intentions of the Glazers. We now have an excellent youthful foundation and need just a very few highly talented FA’s to complement. If we just sign one good FA pass rushing tight end and maybe a middle linebacker to replace Barret Rhud I will be very happy.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Sorry I had tight ends on my mind obviously that was pass rushing D end.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Joe,
This is fun. Lets make fun of stupid Panthers fans more often.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
I think those of you saying the Glazers won’t pay 8 mil for Winslow’s contract aren’t accounting for one very important detail. They played a part in making the contract that way. This isn’t the contract the Bucs inherited from Cleveland when they traded for him. They wrote up a new contract, and in my opinion, intended to see it through so long as he performed at a high level. Well, its clear that he is still playing at a high level so I find this notion rather ludicrous.
January 20th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
lol Wishful thinking by Steve Reed indeed. No way the Bucs cut Kellen.
January 20th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
considering the fact that the panthers are more stingy at signing fa’s than the bucs i find this very hard to believe. the escape clause in winslow’s contract im sure only activates if he didnt play a certain amount of games.
January 20th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
As cheap as the Glazers can be, this is not going to happen. We rarely (if ever) get rid of players that are still playing at a high level. Winslow is in the prime of his career, so unless they want to trade him to us for their #1 pick, it’s not happening.
January 20th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
K2 is worth every freakin penny. He is Mr Clutch and always manages to play and play well, whether he is hurting or not. I have grown to love this guy and he is a Buc, and he will get paid. Shoot, there are QB’s making $20Mil+ now and Peppers is a $20Mil guy. K2 is worth every penny and he is good for our young players to learn from. Besides, why in tarnation would K2 wan’t to go to Carolina? Who’s going to throw him the ball? Uh Nobody. He would be better off playing catch with Thomas.
Now on the flip side, I could surely see John Beason coming to Tampa for a pick or a couple young players.
January 20th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
@ d-money, yeah, no comments on CarolinaGrowl.com whats up with that, lol?
I agree with you guys, why would they let K2 go when they are developing their franchise quarterback? That makes no sense at all. My concern is that K2 seems to be on borrowed time given his injury problems. So, what is the long term solution for a quality pass catching TE?
January 20th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I went to an away game against the Panthers a few years ago. Its true they are pretty stupid, but let me tell you, there is not an ugly girl in all of Charlotte.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
@ sounds cool, field trip to Charlotte!
January 20th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
@ espo on above post, sorry.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Stupid gossip… Similar to the Nnamdi rumor. At least this guy is a silly blogger instead of an official ESPN reporter.
January 21st, 2011 at 5:07 am
K2 ain’t going nowhere, but Tampa.
January 21st, 2011 at 5:41 am
I can see Faine getting cut but winslow I don’t think has missed a game and he is productive
January 21st, 2011 at 5:51 pm
much as I like him, I find it hard 2 pay 8.25 milli 2 a TE who can’t run or pass block 2 save society, along with bad kness that are getting worse as he gets older. Looking at how our WR’s are progressing it wouldn’t surprise me 2 see us get a better blocking TE with decent hands 2 help with blocking as a whole, while throwing it more 2 our WR’s in more 3 WR sets. More Williams, Benn and Briscoe… less TE action.