The NFC South $20 Million Club
June 3rd, 2015
There’s a reason Joe screamed from rooftops for the Buccaneers to draft Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater last year.
There’s a reason Joe demanded the Bucs draft Jameis Winston, beginning with Joe’s daily Jameis Watch that started in early November.
The logic was simple: Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton are three durable star quarterbacks who have all been to an NFC title game. And (all together now) you can’t compete for anything meaningful with the fourth-best QB in the division.
Yesterday, the Panthers locked up Newton for years with a stunning new contract. Brees, Ryan and Newton all earn more than $20 million per year.
Thankfully, the Bucs have America’s Quarterback, Jameis, who at least has the talent and instincts to compete with his division counterparts, assuming he can develop.
Salary cap nuts among Bucs fans will be quick to rejoice Newton’s monster contract. Jameis comes very cheap compared to his NFC South counterparts for at least four seasons. That means the Bucs would have the cash to keep around the young talent from last year’s draft, assuming they actually panned out.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:12 am
What is even crazier to me is that Newton average QB rating is only 85 and he is going to average over $20M per year!
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:15 am
Hindsight is 20/20, and things are not looking too good for Johnny Manziel in Cleveland.
I thought he was going to be good too, but word out of Cleveland is he can’t even beat Josh McCown out.
Bridgewater is doing well, up in Minnesota.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:18 am
The only complaint of Joe’s reasoning is that he makes it sound like any QB that is drafted in the 1st round is good.
by the way Cam Newton, Mr 20 million
rookie year TD 21 Int 17
2014 TD 18 Int 12
Mike Glennon TD 19 Int 9
Glennon must be worth 22 Million!!!!
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:20 am
Luckily Bree’s career is coming to a close and Matty Ice’s career is at least half over.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:22 am
I expected Newton to be a bust, he just didn’t seem like he had what it takes upstairs to be successful. I was wrong. He is at least average to above average.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:29 am
20 million for a QB that went 5-9 last year who has trouble reading defenses when he is contained in the pocket.
I hope this contract comes back to haunt the Panthers like Cutler’s did to the Bears.
I just hope the Bucs send “Superman” sulking to the bench which he is apt to do when things go bad for him.
Also Joe, you should leave out all future references of your love for Manzell although I’m not about ready to let you forget you wanted to continue being in touch with your Rock Star inner self by wasting our No. 1 pick on him.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:31 am
It dosent matter who the qb was for the other team when you lose to a guy like Dereck Anderson who hasn’t played in nearly two years you know we had the worst qb in our division probably the nfl for that fact.So now we have Jamie’s who is a naturally born leader and winner on the field be happy to watch the bucs win on Sunday this year for a change
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:35 am
Speaking for Pablo
Pablo predicts that within 3 seasons, we will have hands down the “Best QB” in the NFC South and one of the best in the NFL. Mark it down. WIN-ston will also be the 1st QB in franchise history to get a contract renewal in Tampa. He will also open a new chain of fast food restaurants called “The Taco Tavern”.
Adios Amigos
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:40 am
i’m glad we have the QB we have, but until this year i would’ve taken newton over any QB we’ve had during cam’s career – that includes freeman’s good season. cam brings leadership and toughness and has been standing in front of a team that has almost as little talent as the bucs (less on offense). he’s not the best QB but he probably is worth it for carolina to lock up at that price when you look at what is out there. they are basically free to make any move they want by year 3 if it doesn’t look like a financially smart move then.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:41 am
oh and you can’t discount cam’s rushing effectiveness, especially short yardage and goal line. he brings that threat without the injury risk of most other QBs who use their legs alot
June 3rd, 2015 at 11:13 am
every NFC South team has a high priced quarterback now, I prefer it if this was one of the toughest divisions it just makes for better football and more exposure to this division like after the bucs won the superbowl then couldn’t win a playoff games, those were still exciting times only this time we will have the offensive firepower
June 3rd, 2015 at 11:50 am
Ah Joe I see what u did there, u sly cat.. U admitted to Manziel but tried to sweeten the pot w Bridgewater. You, me and them know who you were yelling from the rooftops for.. Gonna tell Johnny your cheating on him.
Now Newton does the Superman when he scores, Johnny does show me the money, I’ve been practicing some for Winston it’s either gonna be the “crowd point” or the “num num num” (gotta eat)
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Pretty amazing that Newton was able to get that kind of cash for statistically mediocrity (Panthers are usually in the lower half of offensive stats and Newton is pretty much middle of the pack for non-rushing stuff). Amazing how being the #1 pick changes general perception, Cam is paid all that money and he isn’t even the Panthers all time leading passer or most successful QB (undrafted Jake Delhome still has most of their records as well as lone SB appearance IIRC)
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:19 pm
20 million to Cam, must be monopoly money. No wonder the price of everything is up in outer space. I’d still like to see him get creamed when he takes off running, the Bucs laying him out would be priceless.
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Jameis is the 4th best QB in the division.
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:26 pm
the answer is that joe does not understand football
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:51 pm
Jamie’s should be.as good as cam and Matty ice hopefully better in a few years
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Newton’s contract was based heavily on his performance against the Bucs.
June 3rd, 2015 at 1:05 pm
They definitely beat the Johnny Football drum incessantly but I do remember them mentioning they would be happy with Bridgewater or Manziel as the Bucs needed a QB above all else (turned out to be even more of a need than the most pessimistic fan could have imagined). Sure they campaigned for JW just as hard, but definitely stated many times the overall priority would be a QB be it Mariota or JW.
June 3rd, 2015 at 1:25 pm
Newton is now officially the most overpaid player in the NFL.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:01 pm
Say wha’, Joe? You wanted Manziel? I had thoughts of Manziel myself, until I saw him in Vegas with his entourage. There is a reason Manziel slipped in the draft; a lot of teams saw trouble coming. The Browns didn’t, to their detriment.
And Joe, wasn’t Manziel a Mariotta lookalike? As in scramble around (or as Mike Evans said “scrumble”), run with the ball, out of the pocket.
June 4th, 2015 at 12:00 am
Cam has never played in an NFC title game, Joe.
June 4th, 2015 at 1:18 am
No.