A Plea To Keep Vincent Jackson
December 2nd, 2014
Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Forget Vincent Jackson’s massive salary and take a look at some football reality, says one former Buccaneer.
That was the message recently from Shaun King, one of three quarterbacks to the lead the Bucs to the NFC title game.
King was adamant recently on WDAE-AM 620 that Mike Evans is ready to be a No. 1 receiver and Vincent Jackson and Louis Murphy, as Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, represent a “good little threesome.”
King was clear that he finds no reason to break up the band.
Yes, Jackson is due eight figures next season. That’s gigantic money for a No. 2 receiver. But Joe leans toward King’s line of thinking primarily because the Bucs need a deep receiving corps to help a premier rookie quarterback (hopefully). Evans, Jackson and Murphy are a good mix of talent and personalities for a young QB.
Throw in the fact Austin Seferian-Jenkins is injured and only has 21 catches under his belt, and the Bucs really need to be sure of their receiving corps.
If Lovie Smith and Jason Licht dump Jackson’s salary, then they better not swing and miss in free agency. There would be no room for error.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:06 pm
They are in no position to let good players walk away. Especially if they get a QB a in the draft. They are going to need #83, #13, and #18. #87 can just ride the pine and be lazy as FUK like usual. He is the second coming of Ricky Dudley.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:07 pm
If they get rid of Jackson then they better bring in someone that can match his production because Mike Evans can not do it all on his own. At least not yet.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:10 pm
Herron is a Bust
Keep VJax
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:12 pm
Josh McCown is gonna need some weapons to throw to next season. VJax is expensive but doubtful we can do better and he’s a good locker room guy and mentor.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:16 pm
The fact of the matter is that we need more good players not less and VJ is a very good player. In my opinion he is the best free agent signing the Bucs have ever made. Yes he’s expensive but we have Evans on the cheap for the next 4 years so we can afford VJ.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:17 pm
I like the TE from Harvard. Not sure what his name is but he had a nice catch down the seem and a couple of good blocks to seel the edge. Of course he dissappeared shortly thereafter.
Still not sold on Murphy, he’s played well but I think we can do better, then again maybe we can’t.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:21 pm
Winston needs a Kelvin Benjamin to throw to. I agree with King 100%
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:21 pm
No Brainer…he is the the hghest character veteran on the team….ASJ….could learn alot…because at this point ASJ is a wilting dick…
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:23 pm
Phil,
Jackson is probably my favorite player on the team, and I will be pissed beyond belief if we get rid of him. You are 100% correct on your reasoning for keeping him. However, let’s get one thing straight once and for all: Simeon Rice is the best free agent signing we’ve ever had, and it’s not even close.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:28 pm
Soooooo glad to finally start hearing you beat the “keep VJax drum” Joe! Come on in the water’s warm
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:31 pm
You find a way to keep Jackson. Period.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:34 pm
Hawaiian Buc Says:
However, let’s get one thing straight once and for all: Simeon Rice is the best free agent signing we’ve ever had, and it’s not even close.
__________________________________________
Just me, but you can’t have this conversation without Hardy.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:35 pm
Vjax is old, over the hill and can’t catch a cold if he was in Alaska with only boxers on. Vjax is a washed up, never-has-been who is entirely too expensive to keep with his slow stone hands self.
Nah I’m just F* around, lol. Vjax is the man. Spare no expense, there’s some things money can’t by like character and heart. Like Dione sanders likes to say PAY THE MAN!!
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:36 pm
@Rasta
Lmfao. Spoken with 100% accuracy.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:37 pm
@rasta
Team Cialis
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:41 pm
HawaiianBuc….#56 is the best FA signing the Bucs have ever had…
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:43 pm
@db55
Team Lithobid
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:46 pm
Phil Says:
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:16 pm
The fact of the matter is that we need more good players not less and VJ is a very good player. In my opinion he is the best free agent signing the Bucs have ever made. Yes he’s expensive but we have Evans on the cheap for the next 4 years so we can afford VJ.
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Good summation Phil. Vjax will continue to be a productive player for the next 2-3 years at least. He takes good care of his body.
If he won’t restucture his deal – then yes he will be overpaid at this point in his career. But in a sense – he has earned the right to be overpaid for a year or 2 because he has been so productive and such a consummate professional football player. He is a team captain and an obvious leader in the locker room. Jackson has also done a great job of helping teach Evans what its going to take for a player with his size and skill set to be as good as he can be at the NFL level. Another year or two of that mentoring, team leadership and Jacksons abilities keeping the opposing defenses from cheating to Evans side every play will make it worth it to “overpay” him in 2015 if need be. Jackson could very well play a big role in the turnaround of this team that I expect to see happen sooner than later. If we can find a way to fix the OLine, I think many would be surprised how good this team would start to look in a hurry.
We need to pick a QB 1st if one of the 2 top talents are available – and then spend the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks on the OLINE and we would be in decent shape heading into next year along with some FA additions (MLB, DE, Safety, CB).
Goldson has some of those same qualities as Jackson – but his production has not come anywhere close to his pay grade – so he will likely be cut and probably rightfully so. If Goldson would restructure – I could see them keeping him for say $4-5M per year…
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:48 pm
Can’t forget Brad Johnson. He had a big hand in helping our offense put up points to help the savage D out. Especially that big play to Jurevicius in Philly.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:55 pm
I disagree 100 percent, Joe. Here’s why…
…say we draft a quarterback. It will take 2-3 years for the QB to “get” things. By that time, Jackson will be useless to us…and the Bucs will have paid him and not gotten any use out of him.
Better to trade him or flat out cut him (depending on the cap hit).
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:03 pm
Hardy was great, and I totally see where you guys are coming from, as he was very important in changing the culture of the team. However, Rice was an absolute beast for us, and there is no way in hell we win a Super Bowl without him. For the same reason, I also consider Gruden the best coach we’ve ever had, not Dungy. Certainly Hardy would be #2, and I would probably put Jackson #3.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Joe, I know it wasn’t the main point of your post, but I’m stunned that you passed on the eye-opening headline quote of “good little threesome”!!
Man, Joe is kicking himself. Fatigue is setting in. –Joe
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:06 pm
We got rid of Revis for the likes of Michael Johnson and Anthony Collins. If V-Jax is cut, you just know that cash will be wasted anyway.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:08 pm
@BuccaneerBonzai,
Why do you believe it’s going to take 2-3 years? Russell won a Super Bowl in his second year. So did Big Ben. Seattle was 7-9 before Wilson took over, then went 11-5. The way the game is set up today for the QB, they can absolutely come in and be successful. However, the development of Jackson’s WR could very well take longer, and there is no guarantee he will be anywhere near as good. Jackson takes up all the double teams, and Arroyo limits him to only the possession type routes (which isn’t really his strength). I’m telling you right now, if we get rid of Jackson, he’s going to tear it up for another team for at least 3 more years. Is it really worth a 3rd round pick (at best) to “hope” to find someone to replace him for years to come?
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:08 pm
“We got rid of Revis for the likes of Michael Johnson and Anthony Collins. If V-Jax is cut, you just know that cash will be wasted anyway.”
———-
BOOM, end of discussion!
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:12 pm
Agreed guys.
-S. Rice
-B. Johnson
-H. Nickerson
-V. Jackson
are the Bucs top 4 Free agent pickups of all time.
Which was the best of all time is debatable.
I would give the nod to Simeon personally. If we could fine a player with his pass rushing skills now – the Bucs Defense would be instanly 30% better.
You could also make a case for Hardy as well though because he was so unbelievably productive like Sim – but he also played a really big role in helping instill a winning attitude during the early Dungy years after 12 years of being one of the worst teams in the league year in and year out. (’84-’95).
Those of you who were not around or following the Bucs during the Leeman Bennett, Richard Williamson, Ray Perkins, Sam Wyche dozen years of futility don’t have the same perspective on our last 6 sucky years and the current regime’s situation as those that suffered through that darkest period of Buccaneers history.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:19 pm
Maybe Joey Galloway rounds out the top 5? It’s hard to think of very many good Bucs Free Agents. We haven’t had very many.
Would be a lot easier to make a top 10 list of Bucs FA busts – that’s for sure. We’ve got a couple candidates on the team now unfortunately.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:44 pm
I agree with this. Jackson’s been working through a screwed up wrist this season and still has a few more solid years left.
Evan’s success is in part because he’s not the only guy on the field who can draw defenders.
It’s worth it to keep Jackson – problem is we need an upgrade on who’s throwing them the ball.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:52 pm
Couple of items.
Herron is the 12th man.
We need Vjax for nothing less than coaching the receivers plus he takes covering and he is an example off the field.
Gruden never won an other playoff game after the Super Bowl, that is not good.
We need a good head coach from anywhere.
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:03 pm
let’s hope this offseason goes better than the last one or we will dump VJax to New England for a 6th rounder and he will have an all pro year catching balls from Tom Brady opposite Gronk. in the meantime, we can use the cap savings to overpay gutless free agents and our QB will be throwing half his passes to some dude off a practice squad by November. and the writers can write about how proud we should be that the GM found some street free agent who can play at a marginal NFL level instead of lamenting the fact that it should never come to that.
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Keeping Jackson is just a no brainer. Even if you go draft Mariota/Winston A savy veteran like him can continue to mentor Evans and even help a rookie QB understand what he’s looking at from a WR’s point of view. Experience is often an over-looked asset this young team can’t afford to lose any of. At worst just re work the contract ask him to take a small pay cut and stick with the team.
Look at ATL for instance. They didn’t kick Rodney White out the moment they realized that Jones was gonna be a stud. Instead they just kept both and became one of the most deadly duo WR team for a stretch of a couple years. We can have that here, would just allow life to be a bit easier with him in the fold.
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:26 pm
It’s hard to think of any good Buc free agents? Are you kidding me? Just off the top of my head, Keyshawn (love or hate him, he made the tuff catches), Mccardell, Hardy (My #1 free agent), Jeff Christy, Jervicious, Roman Oben, Kerry Jenkins. They don’t all have to shine like a beacon to be a good free agent pickup. Just do the job they are payed to do. There were a lot more that I can’t think of right now, but you get the idea.
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:30 pm
Bottom line we have enough problems and holes to fill on this team. Without making another gaping hole to deal with this off season. Keep whats working replace what’s not and let’s roll. We are not that far off from being a winning team. Most of our losses are coming down to 1 score or less. Just need to turn that corner and starting QB is step #1 to doing that.
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:35 pm
Tired of hearing bucs say they need to dump salary when they are always millions under cap!!!
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:51 pm
My philosophy on it is this: every single year we aren’t even close to the salary cap, so why should anyone give 2 sh!ts about overpaying one of our few really good players? Now if we had a bunch of stud draft picks in line for their second contract, that would be a different story. However, we all know that’s not the case. Lavonte is the only young guy deserving of a big contract. There is space to keep paying Jackson, so to not do it is just being cheap. Is he worth $11 Million? Maybe he is or maybe he isn’t. You could debate that all day long. However, I don’t give a crap, and neither should anyone else aside from the Glazers. Pay him his money, because there is little to no chance we will a) get fair value for him b) find anyone even close to his ability to replace him with.
December 2nd, 2014 at 3:57 pm
If we do end up drafting Winston Id consider drafting Rashad Jennings, he’s familiar with him and he’d be a strong WR3 who can learn from VJ and when he’s ready step in into the #2 role. Problem is we need so much help on the lines!
December 2nd, 2014 at 4:06 pm
I think V-Jax has obviously had his worst season as a Buc but I am with everyone else. This offense is bad enough to take away a pro bowl type player the calibler of Vincent Jackson. I say bring one or two more good receivers in here and we have a decent stable of receivers. I like Murphy too so QB is the big problem and O-Line.
December 2nd, 2014 at 4:24 pm
@Nick2,
Jackson has had his worst season because of the QB play and the lack of an offensive coordinator. We can’t pass protect, nor can we run the ball. I truly do not believe Jackson has slowed down very much at all, but if you watch the games, he’s not running the same routes he’s ran throughout his career. Why you would make a 4 time pro bowl, 30+ year old WR change his game is beyond me, but then again I’m still trying to figure out why Arroyo calls a play where his #1 WR runs a 10 yard route on 4th and 20.
December 2nd, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Maybe we can add Jackson to the All-Pro
Buccaneer waiver-wire playing for other teams team:
Zuttah, Barth, Talib, Tim Wright, Revis, Mike Williams
Blount, Barron, Penn
I know I’m missing a few names.
Lets flesh out this list and sticky it.
December 2nd, 2014 at 5:31 pm
If you are talking ‘game-changing’ FAs/trades, then you can add Wally Chambers He did for Lee Roy Selmon, what Rice did for Sapp.
S. Rice
B. Johnson
H. Nickerson
V. Jackson
J. Gruden
These are my top five (order will depend on argument parameters. Chambers might beat out Jackson, because the Bucs haven’t won anything with Jackson. Hardy makes it (hands down) because he changed the image of the team.
On the notion of keeping Jackson, I’d do it IF he took a pay cut. Not necessarily a large cut, but a cut non-the-less. He’s not the same player he was three/four years ago.
December 2nd, 2014 at 5:57 pm
Shaun King, one of two Bucs QBs to lose the NFC Championship game with defenses that gave up 11 or fewer points…
December 2nd, 2014 at 6:36 pm
V Jax would still be a Pro Bowler this year if we had a decent Oline and a decent QB to get him the ball. My favorite current Bucs player. It’s not V Jax fault we have a below average OC, QB and Oline. We’ll never have a great O with one great WR. We never have and never will. We need V Jax & Evans KEEP V JAX!!!
December 2nd, 2014 at 6:43 pm
Any good team can totally shut down ONE great WR if they really want to. It took A Rogers to throw to a new 3rd & 4th WRs to beat NE in Green Bay last Sunday. You really gotta have a minimum of 2 great WRs (or a great and a really good WR) to get anywhere in todays NFL anyway.
December 2nd, 2014 at 8:52 pm
Zam Says:
“We got rid of Revis for the likes of Michael Johnson and Anthony Collins.”
NO. We replaced him with Verner, who is actually pretty good. Get your facts straight.
December 2nd, 2014 at 8:55 pm
Hawaiian Buc Says
“@BuccaneerBonzai,
Why do you believe it’s going to take 2-3 years? Russell won a Super Bowl in his second year. So did Big Ben. Seattle was 7-9 before Wilson took over, then went 11-5. The way the game is set up today for the QB, they can absolutely come in and be successful.”
That view leads to giving up on a good QB too soon. Wilson and Ben are rarities. You cannot assume such will be the case. You MUST assume it will take time to develop a QB, and if you get lucky and he speeds up the process, great. You just cannot bank on it.
Look how fast people gave up on Glennon. Tampa Fans are not patient. But if they want a good franchise QB, they’ll have to be.
December 2nd, 2014 at 9:04 pm
IMO, one of the best ‘measures’ of a receiver is target/catch. ALL receivers are measured by the same stick. If it hits their hands, it’s catch-able. The quality of the QB is irrelevant since the receiver isn’t penalized for bad throws.
With that in mind, Jackson hit his peak in ’09 (63.6% catch-rate) and has dropped EVERY year since (46.7% 2014)(per Sporting Charts). Of the receivers who have caught a minimum of 50 passes (75), he is 73rd. If you add all receivers who have caught, at least, seven passes (another 79 receivers), he ranks 135 out of 154 (per Football Outsiders).
With the new ‘hands-off’ rules, receivers don’t need to be as good as in the ‘old days’, but they still have to CATCH the ball.
As I said previously, I’d like to keep Jackson, but not under the same contract.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:22 pm
“Premier rookie QB” What nonsense. How have the one’s Joe was clamoring for last year fared? Have Manziel, Bortles, or Carr turned their teams around. The whole concept is utter nonsense. For every Andrew Luck I can name you 10 Ryan Leaf, Josh Freeman, RGIII, Jamarcus Russel and so on
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:27 pm
“Premier rookie QB” What BS. Tell me which of the QBs Joe was clamoring for last year has elevated their team. The whole concept is stupid if you look at history. For every Andrew Luck I can name 10 like Ryan Leaf, Russell, RGIII, and Freeman that have set the team back years.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:37 pm
Joe before you get on your latest QB wet dream, would you rather have Manziel of Evans?
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Also, in about 2.25 years you are going to have to drop a load of cash into Mike Evan’s wallet, if he continues to be amazing. Megatron level money. It isn’t like you could take VJax’s money and then try(ugh, MJ90) to sign a quality defensive end.
So, you can continue to have the massive WR set, until Vjax is nearly retired, and then just move the money to the other guy.
December 3rd, 2014 at 12:45 am
What are the odds that Blankface and his pet GM are paying any more attention to “football reality” than they are how many men are on the field or whether Michael Johnson sucked last year? Slim, I’d say. What are the odds they’ll “swing and miss” in free agency? Very good, I’d say. Screw these guys.
December 3rd, 2014 at 1:28 am
They could have had both.
December 3rd, 2014 at 12:19 pm
if they don’t keep vjax. goodbye to m. evens teams will just double team him. there idiots if they get rid of him. but they have shown multiple times that they are idiots! so who knows.