Bucs Sign Evan Dietrich-Smith
March 14th, 2014
It’s a four-year deal
Updated 4:38 p.m.: The Bucs continued their shopping spree this afternoon by signing former Packers center Evan Dietrich-Smith. The Bucs had wooed Dietrich-Smith at One Buc Palace earlier this week.
The signing of Dietrich-Smith evokes a couple of questions:
One, what is the status of Jeremy Zuttah?
Joe finds Zuttah to be valuable, only because he is flexible. He can play center or guard. He was a right tackle in college. At left guard for the Bucs, Zuttah was just so-so. He exceled at right guard for Davin Joseph in 2008. One could argue there was no drop off at all. Of course, Zuttah can play center, too.
The second is, what is the status of Carl Nicks? The Bucs claim Nicks is making progress with his bum toe, but no one has seen Nicks and for all we know, Nicks is just swimming in the training pool. Though Joe likes Nicks, he has only played in a handful of games since he was signed two years ago by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik. To bank on Nicks is, at best, a major gamble.
Joe’s hunch is that the signing of Dietrich-Smith means Zuttah is playing guard somewhere this fall, and maybe not with the Bucs.
As for Dietrich-Smith, he’s no castoff. The mighty Packers wanted to keep him. Aaron Rodgers was lobbying for him. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel weighed in when he inked his new Bucs deal.
The Packers had been talking to Dietrich-Smith on a regular basis, but they were unable to meet his price. Dietrich-Smith had visited the Buccaneers on Wednesday and pursued him throughout the last couple of days.
The deal Dietrich-Smith signed with the Buccaneers was four years, $14.5 million, an average of $3.625 million, which is less than the Packers paid LB Mike Neal (two years, $8 million).
An interesting side note, Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford is a close friend of Rodgers, his former college QB. Joe suspects Tedford has heard all about the quality of Dietrich-Smith, who, per Joe’s research, handled most of the protection calls in the Packers offense.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:23 pm
EDC can also play guard. The bucs now have two quality starters who can play guard or center. Very good signing and due to them not being oversized maulers like Nicks it is evidence the offensive line will be running a zone blocking scheme instead of a power one. Definitely a good value signing by Licht and Lovie.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:26 pm
Plus cutting Zuttah will just provide another hole. One of them will be playing right guard. Collins, Nicks, EDC, Zuttah, Dotson sounds like a pretty good starting group to me. Throw in a guard in the draft for depth, I don’t think the bucs will draft an OT in the first round with the money they invested in Collins. Even though he is 29 his legs are fresh and has plenty of game left in him.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
he’s uncuttable this year, but i wonder if we could offload nicks (assuming he can pass the physical) to a team like Oakland for peanuts. they have the cap room and the need, and it doesn’t seem like we are looking for linemen in the Nicks mold for the new scheme. even getting a 6th or 7th rounder or a conditional pick of some kind would be great it the salary moved to another team’s cap.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
Zuttah should definitely stay with the team and move to Guard.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:28 pm
Figured as much, they wanted some offense but Sanders probably was asking for too much.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:28 pm
Jesus this is like an expansion team. They weren’t joking about a whole different roster. Hopefully they can pull everything together early in the off season.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:29 pm
PFF ranked him as the 8th best center last year. Very solid addition.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:29 pm
@Joe
“To bank on Banks is, at best, a major gamble.”
———————
While you are correct that banking on Banks at this point is a gamble (considering he’s only in his second year and was slightly slowed last year due to his MRSA situation), i have a feeling that you meant “to bank on Nicks….”
March 14th, 2014 at 4:30 pm
Confirmed signings
Offense:
• QB Josh McCown
• RB Bobby Rainey
• TE Brandon Myers
• T Anthony Collins
• G Jamon Meredith
• C Evan Dietrich-Smith
Defense:
• DE Michael Johnson
• DT Clinton McDonald
• LB Jonathan Casillas
• CB Alterraun Verner
• CB Danny Gorrer
Confirmed visits from the following free agents (That we know of )
Offense:
• WR Ted Ginn
• WR Emmanuel Sanders
Defense:
• LB Dane Fletcher
• CB Captain Munnerlyn (Canceled Scheduled Visit)
• CB Walter Thurmond (Canceled Scheduled Visit)
• CB Charles Tillman
March 14th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
I believe Joe that they are not banking on Nicks toe and want to have a backup insurance if he doesn’t play this year.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
4 years, $14 million. i’m not going to pretend to know the quality or ability of this player but for what it’s worth that’s a bit less than Zuttah and you could get 2 of him for one carl nicks, which is more in line the positional value equation Licht is following
March 14th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
Kinda hope they keep Zuttah .. two guys with this flexibility bodes well for depth, even if Zuttah’s primary role is to replace Joseph.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Who do we have for right guard if they get rid if Zuttah? I see Collins, Nicks, Dietrich-Smith, Zuttah, Meredith. Am I wrong?
March 14th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
Gotta keep zuttah. Versatility and depth. If EDC went down, who would move over to center? Gotta keep the man! I would think he’s going to play RG now.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:34 pm
They won’t cut Zuttah. He wasn’t the crux of the problem last year and he’s still young. Unless Zuttah shows signs of diminution during camp, he ain’t going nowhere.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Are you guys worried about our offense? Seems we are way more talented on D right now. Offense is slightly better, don’t forget we were last in the league last year…
March 14th, 2014 at 4:38 pm
CALLED IT
March 14th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
Zuttah’s contract isn’t particularly onerous to the cap. He’s tough, smart, versatile, and durable…in my opinion you can’t have enough of those guys on your roster. Then again, it truly does seem as though everyone’s %^!# are on the table right now.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
I wonder is they are done with free agency? The Oline has been redone, and the defense has new pieces to it. I am thinking QB, OT, WR, or maybe trade down and get MLB, TE, or WR.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
Dead Money applies if cut.
Vincent Jackson Cap Hit if Kept 12,432,000
Dead Money if cut 7,296,000
Carl Nicks Cap Hit if Kept 9,357,000
Dead Money if cut 7,071,000
Gerald McCoy Cap Hit if Kept 15,627,253
Dead Money if cut 5,190,000
Dashon Goldson Cap Hit if Kept 9,000,000
Dead Money if cut 9,000,000
Mark Barron Cap Hit if Kept 3,945,273
Dead Money if cut 8,547,546
Mike Williams Cap Hit if Kept 1,800,000
Dead Money if cut 6,400,000
Adrian Clayborn Cap Hit if Kept 2,612,325
Dead Money if cut 2,612,325
Jeremy Zuttah Cap Hit if Kept 4,500,000
Dead Money if cut 0.00
Da.Quan Bowers Cap Hit if Kept 1,226,793
Dead Money if cut 326,025
Mason Foster Cap Hit if Kept 1,520,250
Dead Money if cut 131,250
Lavonte David Cap Hit if Kept 946,836 (FA in 2016)
Dead Money if cut 482,448
Akeen Spence Cap Hit if Kept 616,071
Dead Money if cut 363,213
Tom Crabtree Cap Hit if Kept 825,000
Dead Money if cut 0.00
March 14th, 2014 at 4:50 pm
LUVMYBUCS, I think Ted Ginn was signed by someone. Forget who.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
What a great signing…Move Zuttah to Right Guard…holes filling up quick around here!
March 14th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Tillman signed w the Bears 🙁
March 14th, 2014 at 4:55 pm
With all these guys signing and some at great value. It shows when your head coach is respected the players want to come to Tampa. Not like the last Ball Bag
March 14th, 2014 at 4:55 pm
@BuccaneerBonzai
Jeremy Zuttah Cap Hit if Kept 4,500,000
Dead Money if cut 0.00
It looks like he’s on the chopping block if Nicks is healthy.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
Side note: BUC scouts (Along with others) were at LB Kyle Van Noy’s pro day.
Get’em Lovie & Licht-The Kid is a freaking beast-and would make a great addition to the front 7.
(LVD) – MASON – (KVN)…tandem would be the best young linebacker group in the NFL; bar non.
March 14th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
The Lovefest continues!! Keep Zutah for flexibility and depth. Still thinking Lovelite goes bargain bin shopping and signs a couple more guys. We will be over 1.5 m views!!
March 14th, 2014 at 5:00 pm
I wouldn’t rule out Zuttah being cut. The Bucs would have no dead money and add ove $4 mill to the cap. I think they should keep him because he is very solid depth, but hard to pay a backup more than a starter and you just never know with the way things are going.
Nicks has no trade value. The Bucs have no one with trade value at all…except maybe Zuttah or on of our stars. I pray to God they don’t trade away one of our stars.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:01 pm
Agree, this move was made so Zuttah could move to RG
March 14th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Be nice to sign Smitty. Or are they going to wait till the end of preseason to bring back Underwood?
March 14th, 2014 at 5:03 pm
Joe….please help me…with all this signing how much are we under the cap? Are we going to have enough $ left for the draft ?
March 14th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
@bonzai – what about koenan? He’s probably the most expendable at this point since he’s a punter and I could send my little brother out there to do as well as he did
March 14th, 2014 at 5:09 pm
Smith signed with Baltimore, damnit!
March 14th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Tillman signed back with the Bears
March 14th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
I think Tampa is in a terrific position to draft best available!
Brilliant times!
March 14th, 2014 at 5:14 pm
All Options On The Table.
As a fan… so much for growing with the team. That goes out the window. We won’t recognize anyone when TC hits
March 14th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
@Patrick in VA
I don’t know, because he is the kick off guy too. Barth as a strong leg for field goals but not kickoffs. Maybe he can take a paycut or renegotiate his contract.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Patrick in VA Says:
March 14th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
@bonzai – what about koenan?”
His salary is just over $4 mill. No dead space if cut.
But I wouldn’t recommend getting rid of him. It took time to find a good punter. He was under orders to put teams on the twenty to prevent run backs last year.
Connor Barth also leaves no dead money if cut. That might happen if his injury throws off his game. I think he would free up over $4 mill as well, though I’m not looking at the numbers right now.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
This is why people love you. You have the best coverage of Buccaneers reporting I’ve ever seen and your information is concrete, analytic, and informative. It’s no wonder why you’re such a superstar success. Keep doing what you’re doing man.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
I never thought that Tillman would leave Chicago. When I saw him receive the Walter Payton Award with tears in his eyes, I knew there was an emotional attachment that money was not likely to break.
He will be happy in Chicago and we can’t win them all, but we’re winning our share! Go Bucs!
March 14th, 2014 at 5:20 pm
@my bucs we were @ roughly 11.5 before we signed EDC so based on his deal were probably sitting around 8 and I think we need 3.5 for rookies, so around 4.5 to play wit
March 14th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
They may keep Zuttah as a back-up if he takes less money. If not Zuttah is Zwieback. I think that’s toast!
March 14th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
Great Move! We need to bolster up protection for Manziel. Don’t want him getting hurt in his first year.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
It is still very early…there will be many FAs still cut for cap purposes….all sorts of possibilities remain for some good deals….it has now become mostly a buyers market. The longer we wait….the lower the price gets on remaining players looking for work.
I think we should keep Zuttah….we need the depth & versatility he provides.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Lines are getting fixed. Love it.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Sammy!!! #7
March 14th, 2014 at 5:28 pm
Since we are talking about the cap, isn’t Gerald McCoy going to be a free agent pretty soon? Obviously it would be wise to extend his contract to free-up some money. 15mill for McCoy, wow!
March 14th, 2014 at 5:28 pm
Good pick up but damn can they at least keep one familiar face from the line? Zuttah is a decent player.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:36 pm
And please keep Barth; he’s been the perfect kicker for us.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:38 pm
This offense is going to be fine boys…we still have some money left to sign a slot guy and we still have the draft. The offense was extremely injured last year and the reason we weren’t good wasn’t because of talent people. It was because of the coaches and leadership. Every single player is inboard with Lovie, new and old and the Bucs are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season barring a slew of major injuries. Haven’t been this excited in a long time and with the Bucs only getting younger only adds to more excitement. Now let’s lock up McCoy and David so I can buy their jerseys In the new white ones, look way better than when originally came out. FIRE THE CANNONS
March 14th, 2014 at 5:45 pm
According to:
http://overthecap.com/calculator/?Team=Buccaneers
$15,343,204 (Before we Sign Evan Dietrich-Smith)
March 14th, 2014 at 5:48 pm
According to:
http://overthecap.com/calculator/?Team=Buccaneers
$15,343,204 (Before we Sign Evan Dietrich-Smith)
——————————————-
it’s down to roughly 11 and change then.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:49 pm
Releasing:
• Michael Koenen-$3,250,000
• Jeremy Zuttah-$4,000,000
• Luke Stocker-$763,172
• Anthony Gaitor-$658,404
++ $8,671.576
++ Gerald McCoy extension (additional cap space)
March 14th, 2014 at 5:50 pm
if you get rid of Zuttah, who’s your right guard?
It makes sense to me that Meredith is your main backup if Nicks plays, and starts at LG if Nicks can’t.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:52 pm
Zuttah shouldn’t be cut without first attempting to renegotiate his salary down to 2 million or so. He’s versatile and is a capable starter or quality backup.
March 14th, 2014 at 5:57 pm
@Zam
G Willie Colon -cheap options
March 14th, 2014 at 5:58 pm
IMO-Zuttah might get traded
March 14th, 2014 at 6:04 pm
smh..Who knows
Albert Breer @AlbertBreer 1h
As of this AM, Raiders led the NFL with $59.9M in cap space, followed by Bucs ($46.2M), Browns ($33.7M), Jets ($27.9M) and Bengals ($27.6M).
March 14th, 2014 at 6:06 pm
Joel Corry @corryjoel (Former Agent)
@AlbertBreer The Bucs’ cap room is an illustration of a team remaking the roster w/out going into cap hell by having “pay as you go” deals.
March 14th, 2014 at 6:08 pm
Luv,
Word is out. Nobody is going to trade for a Buccaneer short of McCoy or David. Why trade, just wait until we cut them! Especially Zuttah!
March 14th, 2014 at 6:24 pm
bye steve smith
to dirtybirds 3 yr/ 11 mill
March 14th, 2014 at 6:24 pm
@LUv
I seen that to and thought it must of been a typo
March 14th, 2014 at 6:25 pm
@Macabee
I was trying to be positive ..lol-You know hoping for the best
March 14th, 2014 at 6:32 pm
Has there ever been a stronger rebuke of a previous regime than what Licht & Lovie are doing to the Schiano/Dom legacy?
March 14th, 2014 at 6:33 pm
@Couch Fan
Lol, I had to put my drink down like– WE HAVE WHAT-gtfo of herrre.
March 14th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Yeah hopefully Barth comes back fully healthy. He’s been our best kicker since Matt Bryant. Lindell is terrible.
March 14th, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Good signing. I say keep Zuttah. Can never have too much depth on o line. Financially there is no benefit to cutting Nicks this season so he’ll be here regardless. Count me in the crowd that hopes Manziel or Bridgewater falls to #7
March 14th, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Totally agree! Barth makes a lot but I really hope we keep him if he’s back to form. He was incredibly accurate and dependable when he played, a la Matt Bryant.
Lindell is absolute garbage.
March 14th, 2014 at 7:09 pm
I’m certainly wrong about Bucs moves (often), but I think they keep Zuttah if for no other reason than he’s got starter experience at multiple positions. He is an insurance policy if somebody gets injured or a solid starter if he wins the camp position battle. I’m not sure what Licht thinks about $4M, but that doesn’t seem terrible for a guy with his experience and versatility.
With that said my track record suggests Zuttah will be cut any minute now….
March 14th, 2014 at 7:45 pm
If McCoy counts almost 16 mil against the cap this year – why the heck have they not locked him up into a long term deal that has a more favorable cap number and give the kid some bonus money!
“Give the kid some bonus money!” McCoy made $10 million last season. He’s got plenty of spending cash. The Bucs won’t lose him. There’s no hurry. –Joe
March 14th, 2014 at 8:10 pm
Mr. Smith seems to be rather intent on winning games in the trenches. Amazing work so far. All younger up and coming guys except McCown.
Seems like with Collins not likely a LT would be the pick. Not sure how Mack would fit in.
Sammy Watkins or a QB?
I’m scared of a WR that high, we’ve always failed at that, and I’m kinda like Joe is about running backs, you can get a WR in later rounds easily.
If what they view as a franchise QB is there, they take him IMO, because the opportunity to do that is rare. Key being “what they view”.
March 14th, 2014 at 11:33 pm
3.2 m to a punter is insane, I dont care what anybody says. To top it off Koenen was straight booty anyway. Im in favor of cutting him and signing any SOB that can kick a football for peanuts. Not in favor of Zuttah. Im a big fan of his. I respect his game and his versatility and think he’s worth the 4M cap price tag.
March 14th, 2014 at 11:34 pm
Not in favor of cutting Zuttah…. Joes, whats up with an edit button. Make it happen.