Bucs “Leading Suitor” For Nnamdi Asomugha
July 25th, 2011
For the legions of Bucs fans near orgasm at the thought of Nnamdi Asomugha possibly wearing a Bucs uniform this week, Joe presents John Clayton’s latest from BSPN.
“The Professor” took a look at premier free agents and assessed their situations for BSPN.com. He claims the Bucs will be wooing Asomugha.
1. Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Oakland Raiders: Julius Peppers topped last year’s market because of his ability to sack the quarterback. Asomugha, 30, the headliner of this free-agent class, closes off his side of the field to quarterbacks. Over the past three seasons, only 52 passes were completed against him. Like Charles Woodson, who left the Raiders to join the Packers, Asomugha has the type of body that could allow him to play until his mid-30s.
Leading suitors: Houston, Tampa Bay. Dark horses: Baltimore, San Francisco
Repeatedly, Joe’s been clear that the Bucs have far greater needs than cornerback, let alone one in the $18 million salary range.
But an X-factor here could be Raheem Morris’ desires and role as defensive coordinator/head coach/secondary guru. Maybe Raheem thinks he can win a Super Bowl with the greatest collection of defensive backs talent in modern times, which he very well might have if Asomugha comes to Tampa and Aqib Talib avoids the hatchet of Roger Goodell.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:08 am
Just do not see this happening.
Like you Joe, I firmly believe DB is the one area that does NOT need anyone.
I see them signing an LB, DT, OT, WR, & RB.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:10 am
I won’t be devastated if we don’t pick him up…but imagine if we did…
It certainly would cause opposing offensive coordinators to stay up extra late.
GO BUCS!
July 25th, 2011 at 11:12 am
He is a man up defender, he is not a zone defender, he will not work in our system, let the Cowboys over pay him.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:17 am
LOCKOUT IS OVER!!!!!!!!!
July 25th, 2011 at 11:23 am
Dominik once said he liked Rex Ryan’s philosophy: “You can never have enough corners” -Mark Dominik
July 25th, 2011 at 11:34 am
I am starting to be swayed to the other side. Maybe they will make the play for him. Just when you think you have the Glazers pegged, that when they do something else. Also this would be a great way to counter Atlanta’s draft give away for Julio Jones play.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:38 am
We would be absolutley foolish to think that the bucs are NOT considering him. If Talib is suspended then we have who left to cover the falcons #1 and #2 recievers? In the NFC south with pass happy saints and falcons i highley doubt we do not consider him.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:39 am
the discipline over players still has to be negotiated once the union recertifies so talib’s role for the bucs this year is still up in the air. ronde barber is on a one year deal and is slowing riding into the sunset. why is it such a foregone conclusion for so many that the bucs wouldnt sign a top cb? it might be a jonathan joseph or maybe namdi, or maybe nobody at all but with the previous reasons given, and all the money they have to spend, would it be that surprising? i dont see why it would be. except maybe that we have gotten so used to the glazers not spending.
my christmas in july/august wishlist: jonathan joseph, a veteran DT, third down back, Solid young LB and Sidney Rice. guy can dream cant he?
July 25th, 2011 at 11:41 am
I think Joseph is a better fit he’s only 27 and will command about half the money… Just my opinion
July 25th, 2011 at 11:43 am
The bucs have a good secondary, but just run through the schedule and look at each teams #1 receiver and ask yourself how nice it would be to lock that player down with Asomougha. (week 1, Calvin Johnson, week 3 Roddy White, week 4, Reggie Wayne, etc.)
Dont feed me this crap about hes not a cover 2 corner. man corners are more than capable of playing cover 2, He is one of the best press corners in the league (great for cover 2 corners playing a short area) and is very physical (also a great trait for cover 2 corners who support the run often)
Not to mention Talib was on his own “island” much of last year covering #1 receivers, so he would be playing man 1/2 the time if not more anyway…
pay him his 18 mil per year, then worry about stopping the run, because the pass defense just took care of itself.
July 25th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Would be a nice addition and allow Raheem to really get creative with his blitz schemes which I know he is eager to.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Thaaaaats Right!!
That is exactly what Raheem thinks! He( Correctly) that the key to defense is stopping the run. He is exactly right! Nnamdi makes us an immediate SuperBowl contender. If He and Talib Play together- our CBs are the best in the league. Sorry Matty and Drew, no big games against the Bucs!
July 25th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Whether or not they sign him or another CB I have a strong feeling they WILL sign a FA CB in spite of Joe’s perception that CB is somehow the strength of the team.
Asomugha happens to be the best player in FA and a lockdown corner. The concept that the Bucs don’t play man is shared by casual fans who occasionally watch games and think they play Cover 2 all of the time (they don’t). The better your corners are the easier it is to throw blitzes out there and Raheem is not shy about being creative in that dept (unlike Monte). Whether it’s Asomugha, Joseph, Marshall or another CB I think you’ll see one coming in to give Ronde some help while Talib serves his personal lockout.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
“Nnamdi makes us an immediate SuperBowl contender.”
I can’t believe I just read that. That statement is just about as asinine as the lockout. Who has ever been one good CB away from a Super Bowl?
July 25th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Naamdi is talented, but he just doesn’t seem like good value. I assume he’d play well in our defense, but the cover 2 could get almost as production out of a less talented (and less costly) player.
I’d much rather see big money go to a linebacker or d-lineman.
I guess if there’s really nobody else out there, and the team HAS to spend money to hit the floor, it would be okay. But paying top dollar to a top-talent CB isn’t cost-effective, given our schemes.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
I cant F-ing believe it … A message board with actual FA chatter … This cant be real … Put the lawyers and legalists in Jail … Football is BACK
July 25th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
@Muaha Deeb, Nnamdi is great, not good.
I agree with Travis completely, we play some excellent wide outs and some pretty good quarterbacks this season. To think that we can get 10 wins again without adding some pieces is ridiculous. NA gives us a clear advantage over the Saints and Falcons. Sign the man, so that I can dish out a healthy serving of “I told you so”.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Hey Joe, been awhile! i agree with you the Bucs have more pressing needs. However, take a moment and really think about our defense if we had Nnamdi. Getting him would be a smack in the face to the Falcons, then we can really see how good Matty Ice is. Talib, Barber and Asomugha! Rhonde blitzing from the slot, our defense would be incredible. I really think he could put us over the top. I would love the Bucs to pick up Noel Devine from West V.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Mauha Deeb- don’t worry, you promised we weren’t gonna sign him- no chance. You need to stick to those cute lil dance classes with yer girl, and leave football decisions to the more Aggresive types. Aquiring the best player available is always the right move( save QB, if you have one). Nnamdi is listed as the top FA available this year. In this deep group!! To not want him on your team is insane! The whole point is to get the best players, train them to be a team, and Dominate!! Its not to be cheap, or keep mediocre talents (or brains). You’d rather start EJ Biggers than Nnamdi?
Anyone who can say that is an idiot, and doesn’t get the point of football.
July 25th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
And I like EJ Biggers, by the way. He may become a good CB. Nnamdi is, in all expert opinions. The best CB in the league. – big difference
July 25th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
I’m for Joseph. Younger and while he’s much more than half the player, he comes for less than half the $$ that the Bucs would have to pay for Aso. We need that money for Davin Joseph and a solid LB.
July 25th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I think signing a CB at the age of 30 to an $18+ mill a year contract is a horrible move for a franchise trying to build a “lasting contender”. Spending that kind of long term cash on one guy outside of your QB is a bad move. No CB in the league is worth that kind of money. The strain it will put on the Cap in the near future would cause some guys on the rise now to be let go as cap causalities. End of the lasting contender.
I’ve never said Nnamdi was bad, and I’ve actually written before that if we do sign him we would have without a doubt the best CB tandem in the league(Nnamdi, Barber, Talib). I just don’t think his value as even “the best CB in the league” is worth $18 mill a year. That is insane money for a CB. He is not worth that dollar. Give him for $10 mill and I might be with you.
July 25th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
The only “I told you so” that could be said is that, if they signed him, I was wrong wrong when I said they wouldn’t. That isn’t much of an “I told you so”.
On the other hand, an even better “I told you so” would be the one waving over Capt Tim’s head with the ridiculous”Nnamdi makes us an immediate superbowl contender”. Absolute hilarity.
July 25th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
thanks…Mauha….
July 25th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Mauha, this team could go out and sign Asomugha, Darren Sproles, Jason Babin, Davin Joseph, Jeremy Trueblood, and still have to spend millions and millions to get to the salary cap.
July 25th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
^^ dont touch Jason Babbin with a 10 foot pole. 1 year wonder who overachieved with a fantastic dline coach (Jim Washburn)
Asomougha’s age doesnt mean much, hes 30 so what? How old is Rhonde? 36. How old is Charles Woodson? 34. How old is Champ Bailey? 33.
My point is ELITE corners play great into their mid 30’s
Honestly Charles Woodson has played his best football from age 30-34.
We can sign Nnamdi to a 5-6 year deal and still get ELITE play from him. Dont kid yourself
July 25th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
To further prove my point Dion Sanders came back and played great football when he was 38. Darrell Green played until he was 40… The list goes on…
July 25th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
CreamsicleBananaHammock I agree 100%.
I have heard everyone talking about redoing contracts at the end of the year to get up to floor. Next year’s salary cap floor is going to be at least what this year’s is 99% is around $119 million.
Don’t forget about 2013 when we would really need to pony up the TV contracts will be redone and the cap may go up as much as 70% at least 50% and the teams will have to spend at least 89% of that and the league as a whole 95%.
That could push the cap to an easy $180 million in two years.
18 million won’t sound that crazy in two years.
How often does a Top 20 player in the league become a unrestricted free agent at the age of 30?
July 25th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
The “lasting contender” theory is BS. The Bucs were the hot young team in 97 and the window of opportunity closed after 2002. That’s 6 years before they were faced with the reality that they had to retool the team. It was Free Agents like Brad Johnson, McCardell and Rice who helped get them over the hump despite the “core” guys. Shaun King wasn’t taking them anywhere and Regan Upshaw wasn’t getting any pressure on the QB.
If Freeman turns out to be the stud fans dream he’ll be we may have a Peyton Manning type of team where the QB can will the team victories. But if you want to win the big one you need other people (like say this years Charles Woodson) to hold the fort on the other side of the ball.
July 25th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Plus the 18 mil is a B.S. Number anyway. He , like all great players, is looking for the big contract that ensures his financial security. The per year amount isn’t nearly as important as the ” life of the contract” amount. A long term deal would drop the yearly amount significantly. He’ll want more than Darrelle Revision just signed for( the nearly unanimous 2nd best corner in football) , but not significantly more. The raiders threw 18 mil out there to excuse not signing him
July 25th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
It just amazes me to have people arguing against drastically improving the team. This isn’t like grocery shopping people. It’s uniquely talented people. It’s not like one brand of canned corn is a better deal, cause it’s cheaper!!
Pro football is about Championships. All else is failure.
I think our young Offense has the components to win. Most importantly( by far), is the fact that we have a franchise QB.
We need to get as much talent around him as possible- Quickly- to extend his window as far as possible. You don’t take chances that 7th round pucks can stop Roddy White and Julio Jones!!! You get the best CB that comes available!! And if he happens to be THE BEST CB IN THE LEAGUE, then you stop and say a prayer of gratitude, then hand him the big check. We sign him, a couple of OLBs( which, by the way, are much cheaper than Shutdown CBs- for good reason!), and a speed DE, and our defense will be able to stop the pass, and control the run.
We have tons of money, a franchise QB, the biggest FA market in history, and a talented young core of talent! We go sign some big money talent- what’s wrong with you people! Everyone bitches the team didnt spend money. But it’s the damn fans whining to be cheap?!??!
Let’em spend the money- they’ve been saving it for today. Stop thinking small, and start yelling to sign the best FAs out there! We can afford it, and it’s time!
July 25th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Dominik also said, “You can never have too few $18 million corners.”
July 25th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
What he said
July 25th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
bucaneers showed last season they will not hesitate to overpay a player to get them on their team, even if they arent a best fit to start immediately (ask briscoe)
July 25th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Well said Captain Tim. We have tons of reasons to sign the guy, and very few reasons to not.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
A handful of reasons to sign him…but 18 million reasons not to. Doesn’t sound like much of a competition.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
He may or may not come, but who cares what his cost is…that is for Dom to figure out. I just want the best team, it is not my money so I do not care if he is not a good bargain…I really did not think he was coming to Tampa, and I still don’t, but if he does more power to the Bucs.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
alot of people keep bringing up ‘HES NOT A PLAYMAKER’ to that i say “how can you make plays when QBs dont throw at you? a CB with alot of INT’s gets thrown at alot more than Nnamdi, to hell with it its not your $$$$ its the Glazers $$$$ and the HAVE to spend alot of it. lets get a “sut down CB” to go with our “Franchise QB” we have the room to spend to cover all areas of need so lets get the best player to help shut down this pass happy NFC SOUTH. BUC IT IM OUT
July 25th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
18 million$ to majorly improve the team when we have tons and tons to spend. What exactly is the problem? He’ll be playing at a high level for another 6 years barring a serious injury.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Just playing the protagonist here for Dominik (and the Glazers). I actually wouldn’t mind at all if they offered him a four year deal at around $12-$15 million per. That would probably be enough to get him. The Raiders set an overpriced one-team market when they gave him a highly irregular, very inflated deal but I don’t see the rest of the league falling in line with those inflated numbers. It’ll be somewhat less than that but he’ll still be the highest paid CB in the league.
You won’t find me complaining if we sign him. I just don’t see the Bucs dropping that kind of dough on one single player when they could get three or four very talented free agents to help the team for the same money.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
56.6mil under the cap. I think he’ll fit. I would love to see them make a run at Mankins and Clabo.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
I’m going to address a couple things here…
Nnamdi Asomugha has maybe a 7% chance of being signed to Tampa. First, he is 30 years old. The Bucs won’t sign anyone over 28 unless they are already on the roster. The only exception to this might be Tiki Barber on a 1 year deal…but that’s unlikely at best.
Nnamdi Asomugha is the wrong type of CB for Tampa.
@Joe
Those are the things that make me agree with you, Joe. However, I do not agree on the money issue (so Ira will be wrong…again).
In the new CBA, the Salary Cap was lowered…but the Cap Floor went up. Teams now have to spend something like 88% of the cap in order to meet the minimum.
ESPN is reporting that The Bucs have the furthest to go…around 56 million.
Over the past years, fans and media have complained that the Glazers were not spending. I’ve held firm that the real reason for this is the looming lockout…they’ve known it was coming. Before that, they were in dire straights with the cap (thanks, McKay!) so they had no choice but to reduce spending at that point.
I have no doubt that the Bucs will use that money to resign some players. I see certain ones remaining for sure.
However, I believe people are overlooking a key factor in all this. The Bucs are always…always looking for deals on great players.
There are multiple teams over the cap right now. Because to ceiling has been lowered, they will have to cut some top notch players.
Look for the Bucs to take advantage of that.
But also, I still think they make a surprise move from the start…they WILL bring someone in…a name…I just don’t think its Nnamdi Asomugha.
I would be surprised if Antonio Cromartie comes up in conversations for Tampa. His numbers are down, which means a better price, and we have a head coach who specializes in CBs. Antonio is only 27 too.
It’s a gamble, yes, but the kind that might be worth it.
Trade expectations…
Say goodbye to Josh Johnson. He deserves to start, he’s under the radar, and the Bucs can get a good pick for him from the right team. There are a lot of teams needing quarterbacks and only so many to go around.
As a result, the Bucs will likely bring in another QB to replace him as backup. I have a suspicion as to who, but we’ll see.
Possible moves:
1. Reggie Bush. He has no stats worth looking at, but he would be a veteran leader from a competing team (our biggest competition). And it’s entirely possible a change of scenery is exactly what he needs. Blount will be our starter.
I’m guessing Caddy is on his way out the door. If not this year then next.
2. Tiki Barber. Another possibility. Odds are the Bucs will look after another RB in the draft next year. Tiki would be a veteran, one year deal on the cheap, with the potential to revive his career. At thevery worst, he would be as good as Caddy.
3. Graham to be released? I think so. It’s time the Bucs had a true FB again.
4. Eric Wright. With the Browns he had won the starting job…and then his knee was injured. It was the final year of his contract last year when the injury occurred.
Wright was accused once of sexual assault, but those charges were quickly dropped. He is young, and has the potential to be great. He was considered the best CB of his draft class, but dropped to the second round because of those charges. Tampa might be the perfect place for him.
Stovall Released? God, I hope so. We DO NOT need him here. Let’s use his roster spot on someone with potential.
July 25th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
I still remember mark and raheem saying you cant have enuff DBS on a team…
July 26th, 2011 at 12:48 am
i love how people think our system handicaps us from getting him wouldnt he give us more flexibility in which systems we can play? wouldnt raheem LOVE to play mastermind and say sure i can do this but now that i have this guy and talib and biggers/mack/barber at nickle, i can do so much more with blitzes (linebackers and safeties maybe even get barber a few more sacks, throw the dog a bone here), last year he only blitzed only about 15 percent of plays, dont you think he would like to be a little less predictable?
there are valid reasons to not get him. but because he doesnt fit our system is not one of them.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:57 am
Actually, Dan, yes it is.