Bucs Are Studying Free Agents
January 19th, 2012
No, the Bucs aren’t waiting to sign a new head coach to dive in deep into the study of unrestricted free agents.
And talking about the subject today on The Dan Sileo Show on WDAE-AM 620, coordinator of pro scouting Shelton Quarles didn’t even mention the Bucs’ build-through-the-draft philosophy or downplay the Bucs’ potential role in the free agent market.
“I don’t think we want to get behind the 8-ball and try to wait until we find a coach. We want to go out and find the best talent we can possibly [can] and do a good job of evaluating the potential UFAs,” Quarles said. “And then at that point, once we have a coach in place, then we can go about pinpointing the guys in particular we want to bring to the football team. I think that’s the route were going to go and that’s what we’ve been doing thus far since toward the end of the season.”
Of course, scouting pro talent doesn’t mean buying pro talent. But Joe’s not seeing how the Bucs can avoid making a couple of splash plays in free agency this year.
Joe suspects Quarles especially is very aware of the Bucs’ desperate need at linebacker.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
About time.
3xCB, 2xLB, 2xS, LG, RT, C, WR, RB.
Obviously we aren’t getting that many free agents, but let’s please make a dent.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
They better make an EFFORT at
Carl Nicks
Cortland Finnegan
LaRon Landry
January 19th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
exactly Tampa 2
January 19th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Need LBs SS LaRon Landry or Micheal Griffin anyones thoughts?
January 19th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Need a WR too Desean Jackson, Bowe we need something cause this team could turn around with some F/A and a good draft
January 19th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
i agree Tampa2, althought i like Terrell Thomas and Brandon Carr just as much as Finnegan, maybe even more. i’m a Giants fan too, and i can tell u Terrell Thomas is a VERY underrated corner. if he comes back at 100%, he is a game changing player because of his versatility.
but i def agree with Joe’s last statement, and D’Qwell Jackson should be high on the list of priorities.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Worried about Landry’s achilles. Finnegan will probably be franchised, but if he isn’t he should be our #1 target. Nicks or Grubbs would be great. I’d also like to see us target a good vet target for freeman, Bowe would be my first choice if he isn’t franchised.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Tulloch also would be great here.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Shouldnt Shelton Quarles be an expert at scouting LineBackers??
C’mon MAN! Get us a couple backers
January 19th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
your right Meh Landry 50/50 Grubbs would be amazing for us honestly i say were not far from being a good team but there alota work and alota pessimist
January 19th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
OG – Carl Nicks
SS – Michael Griffin
WR – Desean Jackson or Robert Meachem
January 19th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Reggie Nelson had a solid year for Cincinnati. Like to see us make a run at him.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
That’s the same mentality they should & will have when it comes to the draft, you can do some scouting but you don’t start narrowing your draft board down until you have your coach & staff in place. So the article this morning about Kiper having us taking the RB means nothing.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
They need a DB and/or a WR depending on witch one they do not draft with pick 5. They also need LBs. As far as I am concerned the entire bunch except for Foster, are expendable.
I would love for them to move Foster outside and get a MLB in FA.
I think this goes 1 of 2 ways. They either make some splash moves for some FAs because by the 2013 year they will have to, so why not ease into it and start now instead of being forced to spend next year on talent that might not be worth it.
OR
If they spend nothing this year then I would not be surprised at all if the Glazers truly are strapped for cash and are looking to sell. I know that is a stretch and I have only heard a whisper of that rumor once, but I think this FA period will be telling when it comes to that.
January 19th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I would not mind Bowe or DeSean Jackson as a FA WR, but if Blackmon is there, I would rather have him. He is a bigger body that runs every route. DeSean stretches the field but does not run alot of routes underneath and when he does, alot of the time the effort is not there.
If you watched over the years, many of his big plays come when everything else has broken down.
January 19th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Justin Blackmon is smaller than Dwayne Bowe (same height, weight, as Mike Williams)
January 19th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
“Of course, scouting pro talent doesn’t mean buying pro talent. But Joe’s not seeing how the Bucs can avoid making a couple of splash plays in free agency this year.”
I wouldn’t get TOO excited about Quarles talking UFAs…I mean he is the Pro Scouting Coordinator meaning that all he does is scout non-rookies…
I’m waiting with bated breath to see if we actually do anything and I mean ANYTHING in free agency.
January 19th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Tampa2,on the $$with nicks,heard jj watt say he was the toughest lineman he went against.landry is a must,finnegan has the swag but carr or ross would be solid.my hope is for 2stud fa lb.tulloch and jackson would be spot on fits for our d
January 19th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
nicks,landry,one of the jacksons D or V, j finley
cut k2 and faine…slide zuttah to center…
draft claiborn in 1/hightower-burflict-dre kirkpatrick in 2
man…..safetys…landry&t jackson
…..need a rb(chris rainey?)in the 5th…
linebackers and j trueblood are thew only weak spots
January 19th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
If we whiff on Carl Nicks, Glenn Gordy LG Georgia, is the closet thing in this years draft that i’ve seen. If he slips to the second round, do we take him?? (he’s a mountain)
January 19th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Yea we def need to take Nicks away from the saints. We need help on the O-Line and this guy makes sense. If we went after Doug Free last year i dont see why we dont go after Nicks who might be the best Guard in the league. I like Landry but he gets injured too much. I say we get D’qwell Jackson and some WR help. I like Terrel Thomas too if he can recover from this injury he can be our TOP CB if Talib goes. Way too many holes to fill in the draft alone. Get these guys some help.
January 19th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Tampa2
Regarding the size of Blackmon – he plays bigger. He just LOOKS like a dominating number 1 WR. I don’t care what the 40 time says, he gets down the filed and stretches coverage. I do not care what the tape says, he plays strong and physical and big.
He instantly makes the entire WR corps better. Imagine Williams or Benn out of the slot and Briscoe or Stroughter as the number 4 & 5 guys.
January 19th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
@Dave Thanks, i hear people saying we need that big body, game breaker but then compared size, speed and thought he’d be another Mike Williams with better hands maybe. I agree we need him but i’m stuck on Richardson or Claiborne. I’d prefer a proven veteran at WR in Free Agency. Gonna be an interesting off season
January 19th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Listening to his description of them both. I must say, I really like Clements better. Philbin worked mainly with the 0-line and running game. If i recall correctly, neither was very impressive the last few years.
Now the QB play and passing game was on fire the last couple years. Rogers went from a no body. To being considered one of (if not) the best QB and a SB champ within (what?) 4 years?
My vote is and has been for Clements. But at the same time. I would still prefer Marty Shottenhiemer being elected the HC for the normal 3 years with a 2 year option. Let Clements be the OC /Asst. HC being groomed for the HC job after he and Shotty get this team on track. Plus we would get to see how well he was as a OC calling plays and such.
January 19th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
oh bleh! Sorry that was for another post.
For FA’s i hope we pick up some good leader by example type of Veterans in key area’s to help teach and grow the very young talent we have. My suggestions are:
MLB
CB
RB
WR
FS
and possibly 0-line
I hope my predictions on what we get in the draft are reasonable. So i believe we will have very good talent (top 100). CB, OLB, RB, o-Line, coming from this years draft.
If they do things correctly we could very well have turned this team around this off-season ( personnel wise). Just don’t go hog wild and over pay condidates who are not worth.
Like last year. I would have taken J. Joeseph over Namdi Asomuagh. That’s what i am hoping for out of free agency. Just good players with great leadership potential.
January 19th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
Why wouldn’t they be blind to the need at LBer?? The same people were totally blind to it last spring!! And we had the same cast of losers two years in row!! Everyone knee our LBers sucked last spring, and all they managed to do is cut the only decent LBer we had( Ruud)!
I expect more lip service, Dom to do his ussual lousy job of evaluating Veteran talent, and another year of Black and Hayes- possibly the worst pair of outside LBers in the history of the NFL
And Foster proved he can’t play MLb last year, so instead of playing him at SAM, I’m sure they’ll let him continue to suck at MLB
With Dom the brains of the outfit, I expect more dark days. Gino HYes will probably get a huge new contract
January 19th, 2012 at 8:56 pm
Warning to bloggers.. Don’t mention Dominick’s work schedule or Joe will block you. I’m done with this site.
January 19th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
My only point in continuing to mention the GM’s work ethic was to show how annoying it could become. The same way Dominick is mentioned as a Rock Star.. Yes I know how he got the nickname but it doesn’t make any less annoying.
January 19th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Doubtful about Hayes. He was even benched for lack of plays. I can almost gurantee he is gone during F.A. If we let Rudd go, we can let Geno go. Black got the deal because of FAKE potential. Dude looks like he is a beast and plays like a kitten. He too will have his doom day.
January 19th, 2012 at 9:53 pm
I want Finnegan on our team. Dude has a serious attitude problem on the field that I love.
January 19th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Lotta guys I’d like to see here.
But I dont expect it to happen. They knew the LBers and Secondary sucked last spring- yet they did nothing to improve, and actually made it worse by being to cheap to resign two experienced team captains.
It’s the same blind people leading the parade again this year, with same problems, and a team that has developed a quitter mentality.
Expect the parade to go over the cliff again.
January 19th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Pinpointing is the easy part.
Signing is another matter. Glazer boys have had a critical case of alligator arms vis a vis their wallets for five or six years.
Somebody needs to explain the fools gold theory before the glazers catch wind of this
January 19th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Imagine how mortified Quarels was watching that defense last year… Like watching a prison rape over and over, week after week.
They have got to recognize that the LBs and secondary units are in shambles and need immediate attention.
January 19th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Like watching a prison rape!
Well stated sir!
January 19th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
@ Brad. Can’t say as I blame him. Until anyone can prove he has a bad work you have no reason to say he does. Unless your at his side 24/7 youhave NO idea what he does. I don’t really care for Dom either. Joe has the point of Put up or Shut Up!!
January 19th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Our #1 priority would be D. Bowe… he’s just the type of weapon #5 needs… I would also make #2 that LB from CLeveland with a less than glamourous name. We could then move Mason Foster outside and draft another OL.. The rest is open to debate, but the one thing we can all agree is WE NEED TO SIGN SOME FREE AGENTS…
January 19th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
What in the world gives anybody the impression that these folks are gonna make those kind of signings happen?
January 20th, 2012 at 12:42 am
Blackmon will not be there at #5. We’ll need to address a fast WR with free agency (Mike Wallace and Lloyd are FA’s and would be amazing fits if somehow Pitt/St.L fails to retain them)
I think taking Clairbourne at 5 is most ligical pick or trying to drop down a few slots and go for either another DB (Dennard or Kirkpatrick with his recent weed arrest would be there) or RB Richarson. I’d love to get any of these guys with an additional 2nd rounder to boot.
January 20th, 2012 at 1:43 am
I think it a bit funny that Golden Boy Suh ended up with a whopping 4 sacks this season. I believe he had twice as many cheap shots and lead the league. Just wanted to throw that out there.
January 20th, 2012 at 10:53 am
BigMac, don’t tell Thomas that he’ll call Suh a bust and come up with a kindergarten nick name for him.