When 1 + 1 = 3
February 23rd, 2013
Joe gets a kick out of all the offseason news that doesn’t add up. Bucs fans have been treated to a good dose of that the past couple of days.
One example is Bucs beat writer Roy Cummings reporting that the Bucs are considering keeping Eric Wright and his $7.5 million contract for 2013 in tact, rather than cutting him and/or renegotiating his contract. But at nearly the same time, Cummings quotes Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik saying the Bucs will be very careful about using their cap space and the Bucs will not consider using the franchise tag on Michael Bennett or anyone else.
“We want to make sure we utilize (our cap space) to its best possible potential, because there are a lot of teams that are over the cap and in tough situations and we don’t want to get in that position. So, we’re going to be very smart with how we use the actual salary cap space that we have and the amount going forward, whatever that is and however long it takes.”
So are fans to believe the Bucs are actually considering keeping unreliable, overpaid and largely unproductive Eric Wright but not paying Michael Bennett a few extra million (franchise tag vs. new longterm contract per year) to stay in Tampa?
Joe isn’t buying it.
Joe doesn’t inhale much of the smoke blowing around these days. It’s the typical late-February wind around the NFL.
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:28 am
Joe, your take makes complete sense to me.
It would appear that there is posturing going on to not reveal any information that would tip off what the Rock Star GM is cooking up. Can’t wait to see how its all going to play out. I wish March 12 would hurry up and get here!
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:31 am
Dont know why you continue to quote this guy. Cummings is, by far, the worst of a VERY bad main stream media.
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:35 am
I personally believe we keep wright, however at a restructured contract that is. It looks like the eagles are trying to keep DRC by, changing Naumdi’s contract. (Wild guess) But with If we keep Wright, Bennett and get one Free Agent CB and one CB in the draft we are back in it.
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:37 am
I’d rather go 0-16 than keep Eric Wright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:38 am
The Bucs should not be in any hurry to cut Eric Wright. They hold all the aces. They have no NFL-imposed deadlines, owe no money until the season starts, and wright nor his agent can talk to other teams because his contract is still in force. He’s literally neatly packed away on ice until the Bucs decide to make a move.
They can afford to wait until training camp is over or at least OTAs. See what you’ve got in terms of performance from FA and the draft, then take action be it offering a new non-guaranteed, performance-based, incentive-laden contract or showing him the door. Hold him out of full contact drills for prevention of injury and any possible injury settlement. All the good jobs will be filled by then and will make any and all contract negotiations in the Bucs favor!
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:41 am
I swear if we keep Wright at his current contract.. Dominik and Schiano are officially the two most stupid people in the entire NFL. He let his team down with a suspension that could of easily been avoided, he was ALWAYS injured, and he was not anywhere close to playing up to his contract. How about forcing this bum to 2 million a year? if he doesn’t accept that get rid of this pathetic football player, we could use more cap space to get players that wont let there team down
February 23rd, 2013 at 12:39 pm
@Buccanay – Joe’s quoting Cummings’ reporting. It’s not Cummings’ fault there are mixed messages coming out of One Buc Palace.
February 23rd, 2013 at 12:54 pm
It makes sense to keep Wright. The thing most people are forgetting is that we don’t have to get out of his deal this year, we can get out of it next year. If you are stranded on a desert island, why would you pour out your last bottle of water? Nobody else in the CB group can cover worth a lick. Wright also won’t eat up 20 million guaranteed over next 5 years like a Bennett deal would probably require. I think you keep Wright, sign a man cover guy like DRC from Philly or a physical corner like Toler from Zona and do into year with those two and a draft pick as your top 3 guys. Only on Madden can you trade, your 1 starting corner, cut the other, and sign two quality starters. Its not reality and if we cut Wright we are looking at Leonard Johnson/a rookie opposite whichever free agent corner we want. Keeping Wright, tagging Bennett (to see how Bowers/Clayborn play out this year), and signing a free agent corner is the way to go this offseason. And by tagging Bennett, you also get that 11 million off the books next year should we need the space to potentially franchise freeman.
February 23rd, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Why cut a “starter” when you are under the cap by $30-40 million? So what if he’s overpaid, why should we care as fans, unless it’s preventing us from getting other players? It’s not. So we’re overpaying him by how much, $2 or 3 per year really. Salaries are out of control high and hard to wrap your head around sometimes, but that’s the Glazer’s problem, not ours as fans! The smart thing to do is keep him until you replace him, or need the cap space. Also, teams can’t go around cutting everyone’s salary that “underperforms” unless they want to give every “over-performing” player a raise! Not to mention the future ramifications, locker room unrest and the fact that no “new” FA’s will want to come play here either, as we would be a front office that doesn’t live up to commitments and/or is cheap. Finally, what will all the “experts” here that say he’s soooo over-paid say when we cut him and still have the worst secondary in the NFL?….. they’ll say….”the Bucs are too cheap”!!!!!
February 23rd, 2013 at 3:46 pm
If he restructured his contract and took a big pay cut I’d keep him. Then you pick up a CB in free agency like DRC and were good at CB and can focus on other holes in the draft. Wright’s a #2 corner when healthy or not serving a suspension. We still need a #1 CB.
February 23rd, 2013 at 4:17 pm
@joe – Cummings “reporting” sucks! Colin Klein was gonna be the “competition” for Freeman, at one point, according to this hack.
February 23rd, 2013 at 6:08 pm
All I did in that story was lay out the three options the Bucs are in fact considering. I believe that to be responsible reporting. I do appreciate the mention, however.
February 23rd, 2013 at 7:59 pm
@SirustheVirus
I think that’s what a lot of people don’t get. Wright’s suspension voided all his guarantees. So, we could potentially restructure his whole deal and knock him down to a contract that’s in line with his on-field performance. We don’t have to keep him on at the original deal.
February 24th, 2013 at 6:59 am
Thank goodness for the rational comments from macabee, BrianW and Kevin. The last bottle of water in the desert was perfect. Here’s another. You’re a below average (7-9) guy. You still managed to get a date for the prom; but she got a pimple (took Adderal). But before convincing another girl to be your date, you tell pimple-face to get lost. What logic.
February 24th, 2013 at 7:44 am
Its all about the draft.
If we cut Wright before the draft, the other teams will expect us to draft a CB.
So we are laying low, so no one knows what the Bucs are thinking!
Its just like playing poker!
Keep Wright or cut him?
Who cares.
Lets talk after the draft and FA. Ok?