Free Agent CB Doesn’t Seem To Be A Priority
March 27th, 2013
It’s getting obvious that the Bucs covet Eric Wright more so than any free agent cornerback still on the market, such as DeAngelo Hall.
Joe knows Bucs fans repeatedly hit that F5 button while on JoeBucsFan.com because they yearn not just for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to sign any warm body who plays cornerback but to consummate a trade with the Jets for Darrelle Revis.
Bucs fans may be in for a long wait, per Joe’s various research and sources. And eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune cautions Bucs fans clamoring for a quick fix.
Until the Bucs know whether Revis is theirs, they’re not going to be ultra-aggressive in signing free agent cornerbacks. This process could take awhile.
The evidence reinforces Kaufman’s point. It is clear by now that, more than two weeks after the free agent dinner bell rang, Dominik is not pursuing any free agent corners, at least not full throttle. And, yes, Dominik knows how awful his current crop of corners is. He has publicly stated the group needs an upgrade.
This tells Joe Dominik thinks he can get as good (for the price) or better corners in the draft than what is currently on the street.
This brings Joe to Eric Wright, who Bucs fans want Wright in line applying for unemployment more than they want Dominik to upgrade the corner position.
The fact Wright, after losing his grievance against the Bucs that allows Dominik to cut him and void the second year of his two-year contract, is still on the roster tells Joe Dominik thinks Wright is as good if not better than any corner currently on the free agent market.
So unless Revis lands at One Buc Palace, Joe isn’t seeing Dominik signing a corner before the draft, which is just under a month away.
As Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com wrote yesterday, “It’s really not hard to find a cornerback this year. It’s hard to find a really good one.”
March 27th, 2013 at 8:09 am
Exactly what I said yesterday about Wright vs the FAs still on he street, he’s younger, cheaper and he’s not coming off a major injury. Worse case, we don’t get Revis this season, we draft Rhodes or Trufant and we go into the season with Wright and a rookie at CB, and if we really want Revis, we’ll wait until hes hits the market in ’14 and save the picks.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:18 am
After June 1st ,it makes more sense for everybody involved to get Revis.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:18 am
This draft is very deep in corners, so I am not worried.
I am more concerned about us upgrading our pass rush, and replacing Bennett and Roy Miller.
Tampa and the Jets are playing Hardball with each other. The longer it goes on, the better for us. The Jets have a choice, trade Revis now, and get something for him, or let him walk next year, and get nothing.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:20 am
I am one of those that says keep Eric Wright. He is no Aqib Talib and although he did make a stupid mistake which cost us Freeman was the one who imploded our season last year so it was lost anyway. Eric Wright is a good guy who made a bad mistake and then compounded it with his brainless text about having fun out in Socal. The games I have seen he plays pretty decent coverage which is more than I can say about all of our other corners except Leanord Johnson on occasion. If we can draft a couple of corners I think we will be improved in the seconday with Golston. The big question mark is what are they doing on the defensive line. There were a ton of def ends and tackles in FA and we lose Bennet and Miller and are bringing in nobody??? Are you kidding?? Counting on Bowers I think is a stretch and I don’t remember any run stoppers behind Miller that we currently have.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:22 am
flmike, I’m right there tooting that horn with you. Back when Wright lost his case/appeal on the contract issue, everyone was talking about him being toast and how big a deal it was that he “sued” the Bucs.
I wondered why they felt he would have an attitude, since the Bucs had not denied the man anything yet.
He only filed that case because there was a possibility that it could happen. There was no reason for him to be mad at the Bucs.
Your assessment is spot on…except if I were the Bucs, I would get more than one CB in the draft. If two rookies earn starting roles, then all the better.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:23 am
“Dominik thinks Wright is as good if not better than any corner currently on the free agent market”…Easy to say now. Wasn’t true two weeks ago. Keeping Wright because Dominik sat on his hands for two weeks when it comes to signing a corner doesn’t mean he’s doing a good job. It just means he still has his worst case scenario intact…
Im curious to know what other people think Eric Wright is worth if he was a free agent this offseason. He would have received less than Sean Smith (6 mil a year) or Aqib Talib (5 mil a year). I’d argue he would’ve received a lot less considering his suspension and more importantly, just not being that good of a corner. IF he stays in Tampa he should be paid about 2-3 mil a year. Anything more than that means Dominik overpaid the same player two years in a row.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:24 am
Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa, do you think the Bucs go DT in the first round? Word is they want to get an aggressive bull-rusher next to GMC.
I don’t watch a lot of college ball, but I don’t recall the “Suh” type of player coming out this year.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:26 am
For better or worse, our corners are coming from the draft.
Wright may in fact be the best talent of what’s available (though I think Nnamdi Asomugha would be a good 1-2 yr stop gap), but I can’t see him being on this team.
Obvioulsy nobody else is in on Revis, so it seems pointless for it to drag on…if there is a deal to be made.
Trufant, the Bucs are coming for you.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:27 am
@BuccaneerBonzai
I wouldn’t mind drafting 2 CBs either, issue being, after picks 13 and 45, we’ll be looking at value picks in rounds 3-5, unless we move back up int the 1st or 2nd and pick another high talent high value CB.
March 27th, 2013 at 8:34 am
Our first 3 picks will be 2 CB’s and a DL (any order).
March 27th, 2013 at 9:07 am
Until they spend some their cap room, I’m not spending on them. They’re not even trying at this point.
35 million dollars under the cap is an embarrassment, truly.
March 27th, 2013 at 9:19 am
The only reason we are so far under the cap is VJax and Nicks agreed to restructure their contracts, get a grip, we are looking at resigning or extending Mike Williams, G.McCoy, Freeman, then the next season you have to look at Clayborn and Bowers, just because we have the space doesn’t mean you just throw cash at free agents, there are 50 plus other guys that you already have under some form of contract that you have to worry about as well. Thank god you’re not running this team, we’d be right back where we were in ’09 after Gruden and Allen destroyed our cap.
March 27th, 2013 at 9:25 am
At this point, it’s probably safe to assume there is better and younger talent in the draft. The Bucs landed the best DB in FA. After Goldson, the jury is still out on the rest of them. Every single one of them have some issues with their game. Not really a single one is considered a shut down corner.
Like flmike said, Wright, talent wise, is probably better or at least evenly talented to the top few cornerbacks available in FA. That’s not saying much, but it is probably a good reason why Mark steered clear. JMO
March 27th, 2013 at 9:33 am
I’ve been saying the whole time people need to calm down about not signing a FA CB. Are there better ones than Wright out there? None without question marks.
Career INT’s:
Sean Smith: 5
Rodgers-Cromartie: 16
Cary Williams: 4
Keenan Lewis: 1
Derek Cox: 12
Antoine Cason: 12
Nnamdi Asomugha: 15 (over 10 seasons)
Eric Wright: 14
No one really stands out. Also, who has the best CB tandem in the league? Most people would say Seattle right? Who has Richard Sherman before last year? A 5th round pick out of Stanford. Who was Brandon Browner? An undrafted free agent who was 27 years old. We don’t need to act like the sky is falling because Dominik isn’t going out and signing just anyone to a new contract.
March 27th, 2013 at 9:38 am
“… just because we have the space doesn’t mean you just throw cash at free agents, there are 50 plus other guys that you already have under some form of contract that you have to worry about as well…”
lol
How many years now has that been the excuse?
March 27th, 2013 at 9:47 am
Teraj. I think he is as good as sean smith, and he has only been suspended once as far as i know. Talib has been in way more trouble. I would think he gets the same type deal as talib if he was on the market.
March 27th, 2013 at 9:53 am
Kaput. I an sure your money will not be missed.
March 27th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Calling it now.. watch for the bucs to draft Tyrann Mathieu. yea yea he’s a headcase he smokes weed ok cool but i think coach schiano is the type of coach that can keep this kid on a positive path and become a great player and on top of that the kid is a flat out baller.
March 27th, 2013 at 9:58 am
“It’s not hard to find a cornerback this year, it’s hard to find a really good one.”
It’s not hard to find a really bad one. Hell, we have 6.
And for anyone campaigning for any of last years CBs. Review their accomplishments. Then review your judging standards. It’s a sad thing that happens here, but we all find ourselves excusing bad players. It’s probably because we have seen such an enormous parade of them.
I would love to get some “really good” CBs. But I think the mistake is- we didn’t sign any “good” Cbs. We need to starters. But you have to have 4 good CBs in today’s NFL. The Falcon, Saints, and many others FREQUENTLY run 4 Wr sets. This is a passing league, not the good ole days, where you only had 2 CBs on the field most of the time. Having 3 or 4 is now the norm.
And we have none.
A couple of last years rookies( mainly Johnson) showed promise. But not starters yet. Not wise to count on Ronde- he may not be back. The rest are bad.
It’s great if we sign a (healthy) Revis! But we still need 3 more. And they can’t all be rookies!!
But I’ve been screaming this- on this site- every offseason for 3 years. And they keep ignoring the CBs. And they keep losing.
At least they aren’t spending any money!
March 27th, 2013 at 9:59 am
@Teflon DOn
I’ve been thinking the same thing, he’s a first rd talent who will be graded out at a 4th or 5th because of his issues, even if they stretch and take him in the 3rd, he’s a huge value pick.
March 27th, 2013 at 10:08 am
Is it me , but I don’t recall Eric wright playing bad . I thought he played well when he was in there. I can only remember QB pointing at whoever Biggers was covering and throwing it towards biggers. I know he messed upo once with BUCS but if you can resign him cheap, why not??
March 27th, 2013 at 10:55 am
Needs:
1 starting CB (minimum)
1 starting RT
1 starting NT
1 starting TE (Stocker? Crabtree? The other division TE’s are Graham, Gonzalez, and Olsen)
1 starting LB (Casillas has 8 starts in 3 years)
The teams needs depth in a lot of spots. That’s a whole lot of eggs in one draft (and FA post draft) basket.
Besides last year, with what 3 starters, how many immediate starters has Dominik gotten from his drafts each year?
And, the team is one play from Dan Orlovsky as the starter.
That’s some serious dice rollin’.
March 27th, 2013 at 11:44 am
The rays didn’t draft Buster Posey cause they just traded for Navarro.
Myron lewis is being counted on.
Dom is brilliant in some ways but NOT in talent evaluation.
dont let your ego ego Dom ruin my team
March 27th, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Everyone needs to calm down. It is clear what is going on here:
1. We’re going to get Revis before training camp, count on it.
2. It’s true, Wright is as good as any FA out there, look for us to restructure his contract.
3. Ronde is coming back, he’s just going to take it easy this off season and stroll in around training camp.
4. We are going to draft a corner first or second round.
So:
CB1: Revis
CB2: Wright or Rookie (whoever comes to ball come camp and preseason), Nickel: Ronde/whoever loses out on the CB2 spot,
Dime: Leonard Johnson.
This is bad at all people. Be patient. Why does everyone want to fork over money for a FA that is as good as Wright? Why does everyone want to hurry up and give away this years first for Revis when it isn’t necessary?
March 27th, 2013 at 1:24 pm
Great, CB starters covered, correct?
How about the rest of the needs for starters and depth at the other spots?
It’s not that they want someone as good as Wright, they want someone reliable off the field. We know this about Wright. Lots of smoke from the USC thing. He signed a huge contract that had safety nets built in case he screws up. What does he do? Immediately gets arrested for DUI (I know, it was dropped), and then takes adderal (while knowing he could lose all the guaranteed $), and gets suspended.
Is it so wrong that people want a reliable player both on and off the field? (with the off field part, tied to onfield, via suspension)
If he was willing to risk that $ twice, within 6 months of signing the deal, what makes you think he is now suddenly reliable?
March 27th, 2013 at 3:04 pm
“Joe knows Bucs fans repeatedly hit that F5 button while on JoeBucsFan.com…”
Classic! Yes, that’s exactly what I have been doing.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Is Dominick a moron or what? You think a barely average cornerback is worth 7 million dollars when there are cheaper and BETTER ones on the market right now? He violated clauses in his contract, so you could cut him and not suffer a huge loss. Even if we landed Revis, we need more corners! Sign some free agents damn it.
Keep in mind, if we get Revis, we’re likely not gonna have a draft this year. No 1st or 2nd picks.