Bucs Primed For Summer Spending Spree
May 12th, 2014
“We need to get our new general manager in here, but just as a general rule, you know there’s a reason why there is a salary cap. And we want to use all of our resources to get as many good football players in here. It’s kind of as simple as that … We want to be right up; we don’t want to have a lot of money in reserves. No one does. I mean you want to use money to get as many good football players. And it takes money to get good football players in here. So that’s our approach.” Lovie Smith, January 2014.
Shortly after Lovie Smith was hired, he talked (interview here) about how the concept of not spending all available salary cap dollars ran counter to his core beliefs.
Well, the Bucs didn’t make any fancy, expensive draft-day acquisitions like the 49ers did acquiring Stevie Johnson, and they didn’t make bold moves to get back into the first round and draft another expensive player. So Tampa Bay still has a pile of salary cap room for 2014.
OverTheCap.com and other outlets peg the Bucs with more than $12 million under the cap after 2014 picks are signed.
Now Joe doesn’t now exactly how Lovie defines “we don’t want to have a lot of money in reserves, but Joe thinks the quote above is pretty darn clear.
So when where and how will the Bucs spend this available cash?
Joe suspects the Bucs’ pro scouting department will be working overtime this summer scouring the league for talent that could be released as part of a personnel change or salary cap maneuvering.
One thing is certain, the Bucs will have all they money they need to pounce.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:52 pm
Now this I can agree with. We are going to sign a few more impactful (hopefully) players once 2nd round of cuts start coming out.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:56 pm
BIG DOG, can you get off Josh Freeman’s NUT SACK already. ..
May 12th, 2014 at 3:56 pm
This may be the single coolest, smartest most spot-on
that any Buccaneer coach has ever said.
Basically it’s a shot across the bow to the owners:
“Please don’t handicap me with a stingy payroll”
GO BUCS!
May 12th, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Richie incognito and davin joseph.
one of the two will be signed
May 12th, 2014 at 3:58 pm
Time to get rid of our overpaid punter & free up more cap room.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:00 pm
I say extend GMC and front load the new deal. Make good use of that cap room.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:03 pm
God Bless Davin Joseph, but he’s done. It happens to the best of us.
I’ve been saying Incognito for a while.
Only problem with signing his, is the “Anti Ritchie circus “that will follow him.
And god forbid he blocks ” emperor of BSPN” Michael Sams.
They’ll try to arrest him for a hate crime.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:06 pm
Budget-basebment types like: RG Mike Brisiel, another wideout, an OT for depth, another DT for depth/camp competition, another OLB.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:17 pm
—————————————-
This may be the single coolest, smartest most spot-on
that any Buccaneer coach has ever said.
Basically it’s a shot across the bow to the owners:
“Please don’t handicap me with a stingy payroll””
————————————–
I’m 110% confident that Lovie Smith had a guarantee from the owners before he ever agreed to take the job.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:21 pm
There really is no one out there to sign. Maybe a back up for depth. Also, maybe a few veteran cuts in preseason.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Ah, we do agree on something. The Bucs are not done. Lovie will not accept a marginal player at any position if money is still on the table. O-Line, D-Line, Line Backer, or Nickel Back have all be addressed to a point. If mini camps and training camp show we came up short, the hole will be plugged. There were many holes when they started. The progress they have made across the board is amazing. Now there is still more to come. Time will tell.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Seems pretty obvious from the O-linemen they have brought in that they are going zone-blocking. Joseph is not a fit for that. Don’t know if Incognito is either but there are/will be others just as good available during summer without all the circus. Would like to see OL and DT depth signed.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
And god forbid he blocks ” emperor of BSPN” Michael Sams.
________
LOL! As much coverage as this guy got, from now on, guys who are on the bubble of being drafted will come out of the closet – even if they’re straight – just to drum up some publicity.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
We’ve got a couple of power forwards…point guard…..we need a center…..
May 12th, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Gt40bear:
Solid takes there. And helluva point about Joseph. He was never as good as what he was under Bill Muir, who did not use zone blocking.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Now we need another power forward for depth………Dirk Nowitzki will be a free agent this offseason.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:47 pm
The post June 1st cuts don’t mean much anymore….so I’d don’t see a lot of impact players becoming available. Signing GMC to his 2nd contract makes a lot of sense to me.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Yes please big dog quit your whining already. “Cry we didn’t get manziel” boo hoo shut up already. I swear his show is getting harder and harder to listen too every single day. Talks like he hates his job always belly aching. Just be happy about something. Just one thing. Same kind of people that if we did draft manziel they would be crying “well who’s eh gonna throw too” some people just need to find another line of work. I. E. Steve cry baby dumig that’s who.
May 12th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
See? This is critique without getting personal.
May 12th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
I’m sorry joe but this team and franchise has been a dump for ten years and we finally have some direction with a real coach and all I’m hearing is belly aching over one player who is 50/50 on whether he will succeed or not. On “paper” this offense has more talent than I can ever remember having. Yes they haven’t played a game yet but either has manziel. We have 3 ginormous targets to choose from a new and improved running back that can do multiple things and a new speedster to blow the top off of defenses and leave the middle open for our new giant of a tight end. People should be excited as hell and all I hear is “we shoulda got manziel”. I thought I would hear more excitement and positivity over the “potential” (yes the no no word) this offense will have. But nope people just want to look backwards at freeman which we shouldn’t even be talking about anymore and manziel who isn’t on our team. How about let’s be excited about what we do have on this team and move forward to a brighter future than where we’ve been. People are tired of hearing oh “woe is me” crap. Come on joe I know you here me man. It’s a new day in tampa bay let’s be excited about this new team.
May 12th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
I am sure that some veteran O-lineman will be had after the June 1st cuts to help our team. Not saying they are gonna light the world on fire, but they could shore up the line with depth and experience.
May 12th, 2014 at 5:37 pm
Yup. Think it was Lovie who said Saturday there are all sorts of linemen who start who were not picked in the first round.
May 12th, 2014 at 5:47 pm
Potential Buc cuts and additions to cap space:
K Michael Koenen………..3,250,000
TE Luke Stocker………………..763,172
RB Michael Smith………………586,287
WR Chris Owusu………………570,000
DE Scott Solomon…………….570,000
LB Danny Lansanah…………570,000
QB Mike Kafka………………..…570,000
DT Matthew Masifilo…………495,000
FS Bradley McDougald…..…495,000
K Patrick Murray………….….420,000
DE Marvin Booker……………,.420,000 (cut 4/7)
P Jacob Schum………………420,000
CB Bobby Felder……………….420,000 (cut 5/12)
LS Patrick Scales…………….420,000 (cut 4/9)
FB Josh Baker……………………570,000 (cut 5/12)
TE Steve Maneri……………….570,000 (cut 5/12)
TOTAL…………………………$11,109,459
May 12th, 2014 at 5:47 pm
@Phattitudes
Our nickle situation covered.
Alterun Verner at RCB( same side as McCoy and Jonhson)
#2 CB will be fought over by Mike Jenkins and Johnathan Banks
Nickle will be Mike Jenkins or Banks- whoever loses the starting job
Then, we have 3 pretty decent backup nickles with experience- DJ Moore, Danny Gorrer, Leonard Johnson, and Gaitor
I agree, we need more corner, but I guess Lovie saw something in his available guys, maybe Rashan Melvin is in great shape.
I think we will be ok at corner, IF we have no injuries in our top 3. After our tope 3, we get kinda weak with Johnson, DJ Moore and Gaitor. I mean these guys are ok as backups, but I dont want them starting.
We will see I suppose.
May 12th, 2014 at 5:51 pm
Teach:
Not saying he is Lester Hayes, but had Melvin not gotten hurt last year, not sure Gaitor makes the squad.
Gaitor was always a bubble player and that bubble only grew this offseason. Joe’s not banking on him making the 53-man roster.
May 12th, 2014 at 6:01 pm
What a shocker: lightningbuc thinks Back, from Davie Jones Locker is funny.
You two idiots epitomize what’s wrong with the Bucs fan base. Do the world a favor and go for a one-way swim into Tampa Bay.
May 12th, 2014 at 6:57 pm
St Louis is bringing in Incognito to mentor Sam….
May 12th, 2014 at 7:13 pm
Macabee i am going to start calling you Mathcabee… Love the numbers you post and lists. thank you seriously.
When the rosters are at the highest point this time of year do All 90 players or so count against the cap or do they calculate it with a weighted average of top 50 or so. Just curious how the number is calculated this time of year. I never really paid to much attention to how that works.
It would be nice to find a guard or tackle who is a quality player that just does not fit a teams scheme or new regimes plans. I’d have a lot more confidence in that than the guys off the street they signed.
Joe,
Any chance Crabtree has any value (7th rd) to head back to green bay??? If they were supposedly disappointed when he left which I believe you posted that green bay was disappointed when the bucs signed him. maybe it was that you said rodgers was disappointed not the team can’t remember. why wouldn’t they want him back just curious on your thoughts crabtree clearly will not make the team and stocker needs to head to publix or food lion for their outstanding healthcare coverage.
Joe actually wrote about Crabtree becoming a draft-day trade on Saturday, but it didn’t happen. –Joe
May 12th, 2014 at 7:54 pm
Tampa is a no zone blocking city. Not against it, but it never works out.
May 12th, 2014 at 7:57 pm
I love how you target Michael Koenen just because he makes money. He’s among the best, you know.
As to Lovies comments in January, I disagree with them. You do not want to spend all the money. Doing that leads to cap issues in following years.
May 12th, 2014 at 8:13 pm
Sadly we still have enough money where L & L could have kept Revis if they really wanted to…You bastards!!
May 12th, 2014 at 9:11 pm
Koenen may be one of the best, but he sucked last season that’s for sure. Considering how much he sucked last year, he needs to be cut loose. His play by far did not match his FAT contract last season.
May 12th, 2014 at 9:13 pm
tmaxcon lol I heard it was Richard Simmons.
May 12th, 2014 at 9:51 pm
Buc1987- lol
They’ll be practing to Showtunes for Sure!
Disgusting how they were trying to Ram Sam down our throats! ( ugh!)
First Soccer, now Sam
Soon ESPN will just make the change official
” Logo 2″ thru whatever
I watched the draft on The NFL network, where there were interested in Football, not Guys kissing each other.
Hey Idiotic/ Piratic- go choke on a +^+¥
May 12th, 2014 at 10:11 pm
Re-sign McCoy !
May 12th, 2014 at 10:59 pm
@Back, from Davie Jones
I agree except that NFL Network wasn’t much better. Rich Eisen spent the entire 6th and 7th rounds practically begging teams to draft him and forcing his panel to talk about how all these other defensive ends and linebackers were going before Sam yet they weren’t better than him.
Even when Mayock tried to avoid the questions and spin it back to the players getting selected, Eisen still was pushing the issue. Not like him to normally do that so I got a feeling the ratings were taking a hit during the late stages and the producers told him to force the issue to raise them some.
May 12th, 2014 at 11:00 pm
1987 is Richard Simmons still alive?
Piratic – Back, from Davie Jones Locker is very funny and accurate.
No way shape or form the NFL was going to let Sam go undrafted it would have been a pr nightmare with all the liberals and left over 60’s losers protesting. I am tired of people labeling those with different views and principals haters and bigots just because they don’t agree with someones choice. Tolerance is a two way street not a forced one-way that leads to a dead-end.
Does Disney still own ABC / ESPN
May 13th, 2014 at 2:14 am
@tmaxcon: Nope, he’s not funny. He’s pathetic. So are you. Your entries speak volumes about you, and it’s not flattering.
Since you likely won’t off yourself, do the next best thing and shed your ignorance. Start a trend. Be a leader. Show the world how you were able to overcome your small-mindedness. Try it. I dare ya.
May 13th, 2014 at 3:02 am
OL deep draft = many OL vets cut
Clever
May 13th, 2014 at 5:52 am
Hey I see, the, big dog bashing. So maybe you guys can tell me. What ever happened to J.P Peterson? I used to love his show. You could even text in to him. I would much prefer to hear that guy on instead of the big dog. Seems if you don’t agree with Steve and have a decent point. You don’t get on air. But if he can tear you to shreds he’s all about letting you on air then. I hate that.
May 13th, 2014 at 7:44 am
Hey Piratic
Go choke on another +*^£
May 13th, 2014 at 9:53 am
“Sadly we still have enough money where L & L could have kept Revis if they really wanted to…You bastards!!”
Yes, but then they would have to wait until the 4th round for Sims. I see your point.
May 13th, 2014 at 1:11 pm
no amount of money will find you a worthy interior lineman between May and opening day. we would’ve done well to keep part of that cap room earmarked for davin joseph. that move makes less and less sense to me as the offseason unfolds
May 13th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
Finally someone tells it like it is about Sam. If you want to get a ton of media attention, just come out of the closet and announce I’m queer and I’m here.
May 14th, 2014 at 3:43 pm
Back, from Davie Jones Locker
What are you? Like 12 or something? Hey Power Rangers rule!!!