What’s The Real Mentor Value?
November 17th, 2014
Before the Bucs’ beating of the Redskins yesterday, Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht took to the WDAE-AM 620 airwaves and raved about the hidden, off-field value of Vincent Jackson.
But what is that really worth?
Jackson is the Bucs’ No. 2 receiver behind Mike Evans. That’s no slight. Clearly, the Bucs drafted Evans No. 7 overall to be a superstar, game-changer.
But there’s that matter of Jackson, 31, coming up on a 2015, non-guaranteed payday of about $10 million. Nobody pays a No. 2 receiver that kind of cash.
Licht, however, really sold Jackson’s value hard when Buccaneers Radio Network voice Gene Deckerhoff asked about Jackson’s impact on Evans yesterday.
“Oh, there’s no question. It’s been phenomenal,” Licht said. “Vincent’s a quiet type of mentor, too. He doesn’t want to tell us what he’s doing. He just does it. We have to hear about it from other people how what a great leader Vincent is. That’s the type of guy Vincent is.”
So now what? Do the Bucs ask Jackson to renegotiate his contract? Jackson has stated publicly in the past month that he and his family view Tampa as a lifelong home. He’s been very active with local charity efforts.
Do they push to trade Jackson, as credible reports have suggested all season, including yesterday?
Joe’s not suggesting trading Jackson or any quality player; Joe would be ecstatic to see Jackson return at a reduced salary. But the NFL is a cold, cold business. Just ask Derrick Brooks who was cut a month after a Pro Bowl season, from a super young team that could have used his leadership.
Jackson’s got six games left to show what a dynamic duo he and Evans can be. Joe’s eager to see what a motivated and healthy Jackson delivers.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:11 pm
It is worth another year on the team….
November 17th, 2014 at 1:18 pm
ThiS team needs all the continuity that it can get. If Jackson will come back at a reduced rate, then we should do it
November 17th, 2014 at 1:22 pm
$10 million a year is a pretty high salary for a receivers coach.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:22 pm
Would be great to see him at a reduced rate. I would imagine that even coming back at a restructured deal, he’ll get more than he would anywhere else. Given his age, he won’t command the same types of numbers and since he wouldn’t have to uproot his family and the tax situation in FL I’d say that taking a restructured contract would still make Tampa the best place for him
November 17th, 2014 at 1:25 pm
Before throwing out the guy, let’s see if we have salary cap issues..Rework its contract if necessary. Right now we don’t have a clearly established #3 WR. Murphy was disappointing yesterday and Herron still needs to prove he can be a NFL caliber SB. We need incremental changes to the offense and it will have to start with the OL and draft a real QBOTF
Plus we need new blood on that D and it needs to comes from the draft. Not overpaid underachiever FA.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:28 pm
I say we should keep VJ no matter what. We have the cap space. We have Mike Evans on the cheap for another two years before he can ask for a new contract. Works out just right. By the time Mike gets a new contract VJ contract will be over.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
Let’s not be foolish; VJax’s skills have lessened, but he still takes coverage away from Godzilla. In fact, VJax was leading the team in receiving in the first quarter, which very well might have helped take coverage away from Evans (that, and the insane decision to put a linebacker on him… LOVE IT)
I don’t know if he’s worth $10M, I too would be ecstatic to see him return at a reduced rate, but I’d also be loathe to trade or cut him.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
You gotta keep him. We don’t have any other receiver that can step up and play a WR2 spot. Also, if Evans were to miss a game or two Jackson can easily fill that spot. We don’t need to make holes were their aren’t any. Look what happened to Carolina when they shipped Smith out.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:31 pm
@ phil
Great points!
November 17th, 2014 at 1:37 pm
a dnut and a pack of smokes is about what it’s worth.
they can talk the talk all they want. but when a guy is in his last year or two how much extra mile do you think he is going to go on a new team.
i.e. mankins. you think he’s calling his team mates for late night x’s and o’s meetings.
just GM speak here. nothing to see. vjax may get a 4th at best.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
@Phil – I actually agree with you. I would ask him to restructure but if he doesn’t, I’m ok with keeping him at his current salary. i would much rather have him producing there rather than using the money saved with him to roll the dice on another FA. I’m way off the FA train. Really done with that whole thing.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
I think restructure is best for the team & VJ…..he won’t just accept a lower salary to stay….but if you gave him an additional year….say 2yr $15 mil deal….he would probably accept.
If not…Trade him for a 4th……
November 17th, 2014 at 1:46 pm
A solid year of “mentorship” is plenty, as Sunday showed us….Time for somone else to overpay V-Jax
November 17th, 2014 at 1:48 pm
Look at the bottom line… $13.3mil will be the total cap numbers next year for the #1 and #2 WR’s. Bottom line from a numbers perspective is $6.65mil average for your starting 2.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Bundle up all the game film of Vjax’s drops, put it on one film. Bring him into the office and show him the tape. Then talk about a pay reduction.
November 17th, 2014 at 1:57 pm
keep vjax for another year, no matter the cost!
November 17th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
You have to keep him to build. We have too many other weaknesses to make WR another position we need to upgrade in offseason. He’s a good character guy and leader and productive even if to just give Evans one on one looks. We need to draft or sign a true slot receiver and hopefully after next year that guy can grow into a number 2 receiver and we can move on from Jackson. Right now we have no other guys who can step into a number 2 or 3 role.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
KEEP him.
We need talent. Can’t let talent out the building!!!!
November 17th, 2014 at 2:03 pm
I say keep him. Even if its $10 million. Who are you going to get to replace him? And will the reduced salary of someone else be worth it?
Especially with Evans only counting $3.325M towards the cap in 2015?
Two solid WRs that are only counting $15.5M towards the cap? Is that really excessive?
November 17th, 2014 at 2:08 pm
People need to chill out about Jackson; he can still perform. Should he take a pay cut? OF COURSE. I think he will.
Why not have two very good receivers on our team; our receivers are probably the biggest strength on the roster so let’s keep it that way.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:10 pm
No question that VJax is the kind of mentor that Evans needs. Maybe by the end of the season Evans will have soaked it all up. Would love to see VJax renegotiate his contract. I really don’t want to see Evans get double teamed all 2015. VJax has a few good years left. IMO.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:17 pm
My question is, who is going to be ASJ’s mentor? He’s a big kid and he says the right things but he doesn’t seem to be making the strides that I would have expected from someone who put the kind of expectations on himself that he did. I mean, he’s ok but not remarkable.
He is a truly unbelievably big dude though. He was standing about 10 feet from me when he was in the back of the end zone waiting for McCown to find him and I was genuinely impressed by how big the guy is. You just can’t get a feel for how big these football players are until you get a chance to get that close. Unreal
November 17th, 2014 at 2:17 pm
Bundle up all the game film of Vjax’s drops, put it on one film. Bring him into the office and show him the tape. Then talk about a pay reduction.
NICE 87. LOL
November 17th, 2014 at 2:22 pm
Absolutely worth at least one more year. If you double team one of them, the other is single covered aka wide open. GO BUCS
November 17th, 2014 at 2:26 pm
From what I have read, Jackson is almost in the Jerry Rice class when it comes to working out & conditioning. That example alone might make him worth keeping around–at some salary.
And how many games has Vincent missed since coming to Tampa??
November 17th, 2014 at 2:46 pm
i would hate to see him leave, the man is still worth 5m a year and compliments mike evans well. if they did cut him, he should retire and come back as a wr coach.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:47 pm
keep him! he is a good player and a good person. ALSO! the guy is about the only player except for gmc and mcown that wants to be on this team.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:50 pm
Patrick,
I said the same thing about Dotson when I was behind the Bucs bench. The dude was seriously a head taller than everybody else.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
@PatrickinVA
Totally agree with you! Back in 1991 I was stationed in Aurora, CO for 6 months of technical school training, and we got free tickets to the Denver/Miami preseason game, only a few rows behind the Miami bench. Dude, I thought Marino was a lineman until I saw his name!
November 17th, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Don’t know why people are so concerned with saving the glazers money as if we have players on our team that deadener GMC type contracts. Well there’s only one and that’s David!!!! A garbage team like the bucs have no business getting rid of talented players like him especially if you’re drafting a rookie quarterback
November 17th, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Good Player and Guy < $10 Million
It is Cold
But Move him
Use some of the $10 Million for Lavonte David
November 17th, 2014 at 3:04 pm
If we have learned anything from getting rid of #55, we won’t even consider getting rid of Jackson. Unless we are in cap hell, I don’t even see why we would even consider it. We are never even close to the cap limit, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Evans is fantastic, but there’s a reason he is almost always single covered, and that reason is Jackson. Jackson is no longer running many vertical routes, because those are designated to Evans (and probably rightly so). However, take Jackson away and who is going to suffer? The answer is Evans. So while maybe Jackson may not be worth the $10M, helping Evans become great is worth more than $10M. It’s not even a debate in my book.
November 17th, 2014 at 3:10 pm
If someone knocks your socks off on a trade do it. If not, keep him. pretty simple
November 17th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
NFL owners are cash strapped as it is. Pity them and cut VJax.
November 17th, 2014 at 3:47 pm
this team needs vets like him sign him to a two or three year extension lower the salary spread it out and keep him. without him evans gets the double team. AGREE HAWIAN BUC!
November 17th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
its not like they will go out and get dez Bryant or someone real good if they get rid of vjax. he is still a top flight WR. in this league
November 17th, 2014 at 4:15 pm
Love the Brooks comparison. I’ve wondered how much different it’d have been now if that transition would have been smoother from past to current. Look at how smoothie is was for the Ravens…
I just don’t get why as soon as we get two quality receivers, one automatically becomes expendable. VJAx might not be worth all that money right now but compared to the foolish $ we’ve thrown around at foolish acquisitions, Jax is probably the only non-bust.
– We need at least 2 top WRs
– Jax has stayed healthy n reliable
– dude is a top notch competitor and prepares like a pro
– he’s great in the community and actually wants to be here
– Do we actually need the $? To blow it on another bust?
So either renegotiate w the man or hang on to him – you can sign him to somethitng less in a year, but i’d like to see him retire here
November 17th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
@ skyline – I thought the same thing about Dotson. The guy was an absolute mammoth human being.
November 17th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
V-Jax has already earned his money next year.
Not paying him would set back the offense, and the development of Evans.
November 17th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Would be foolish to part ways with him. A Mariota, Winston, or whoever need the reliability of an Evans and Jackson. Winston’s scouting report for the year says he’s starring down Green because that’s his most reliable target when compared to his other inexperience receivers he tends to have miscommunications with. Jackson and Evans with ASJ’s development can hel fix that.
November 17th, 2014 at 5:32 pm
I dont want to see Evans turn into another Michael Clayton… after we cut his mentor Tim Brown…
Restructure his contract, 3 yrs $25 mil… Agree with everyone saying we need continuity. For Evans, ASJ, McCown (since he’s going to be our starter next year while Mariota/Winston sits).
If its not broke, dont fix it… Just restructure it.
November 17th, 2014 at 7:02 pm
If we can get a 2nd round pick for a (soon to be) 32 year old overpayed receiver – then we should probably take that offer. Nothing less though because Jackson provides a number of important positives for this team. Hopefully a 3 year $21M restructured deal with $12M guaranteed over the next 2 years or similar would keep him happy and affordable enough to keep comfortably. Jackson has earned another good contract with some guaranteed and up front money involved and hopefully he will retire as a Buccaneer.
November 17th, 2014 at 7:47 pm
Patrick in VA , I read something similar from a Brit upon getting close to Muhammad Ali in person. The quote was something in this vein, ”Fingers like bananas.”
November 17th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
@Pickgrin,
I get what you are saying, but do you really truly believe getting a second rounder for Jackson is a slam dunk? Do you have that much faith in our drafting? Look at our second round picks over the years – it’s pretty ugly aside from Lavonte. In fact, it’s beyond ugly. Jackson is sacrificing his numbers for the team. He is being used as a possession receiver, which is not his strength. However, if you are going to groom Evans to be the next great thing, it’s what has to be done. He shouldn’t be punished for it. He’s probably one of the top free agents we’ve ever had, second only to Simeon Rice.
November 18th, 2014 at 1:05 am
I just want to restructure.his 55.5555mm deal so we can 100% rid oourselves of everything Josh Freeman. That was the lamest thing Dominik ever did IMHO, signing VJ to that contract commemorating JF5. Is that the right word for it?
VJis the epitome of class and eeverything you want out of a player minus his dropsies that he gets. Maybe Evans can teach VJ how to catch and he can earn his salary.