Free Agency Frenzy Coming
December 5th, 2015
The Bucs will be flush with a pile of cash they have to spend
A fun March is coming to Tampa.
Per ProFootballTalk.com, part of the NBC Sports family, NFL owners were informed the salary cap will rise up to $10 million in 2016, and the Bucs, by virtue of rolled over money and expiring contracts, will have $52 million in cap space when the spending season begins.
That will be the third most available cash in the league, per PFT.
Sure, the Bucs have key members of their own roster to consider re-signing, such as Sterling Moore, Danny Lansanah, Doug Martin, Bobby Rainey, Bradley McDougald and Chris Conte. But that’s not exactly a ton of money there.
So the Bucs appear poised to make at least one giant splash in the free agency pool.
And this is another reason why Joe wanted the Bucs to keep Darrelle Revis. They had the money.
December 5th, 2015 at 10:24 am
Revis has not looked great in NY though
December 5th, 2015 at 10:29 am
Since we run a lot of man coverage this year, and with the state of our corners, it would be nice to have revis right now.
December 5th, 2015 at 10:31 am
And as someone who watches the jets a lot, I can say he is still a elite player at his position
December 5th, 2015 at 10:33 am
Honestly, I can see them letting a couple of the players listed go. Lansanah and McDouglad could easily be upgraded on the cheap or drafted out.
Gosh, what a surprise Sterling Moore has been. I hope he can maintain and maybe Banks can re-establish himself.
Either way I can’t think of where a big free agent fits in other than on the D Line or O Line?
December 5th, 2015 at 10:34 am
Jameis would be a Tennessee Titan if Darrelle stuck around …Hmmm?…. I think will be sending EJ Biggers a Chriistmas gift this year ..GO Bucs ..beat the birds
December 5th, 2015 at 10:36 am
Bingo!!!
December 5th, 2015 at 10:45 am
Where would we spend the money though? No real good 4-3 DEs available other than Hardy, and I doubt we wanna go down that road.
Great group of defensive backs on the market though. But I’m not sure personell is the problem there. McDougald and Conte have been good at safety, while Banks, Moore, and Verner are a good trio of corners. The problem has been the scheme as well as the reliance on Jenkins, Jennings, and now Jude who is in over his head.
We are obviously set at LB.
On offence, I’d say we are set as well.
December 5th, 2015 at 11:03 am
Joe – you need to stop with this whole Revis thing. Chances are if Revis were still on the Bucs we wouldn’t have Jameis!!
December 5th, 2015 at 11:09 am
Because spending a ton in free agency has worked out sooooo well for us..
December 5th, 2015 at 11:18 am
The Revis trade was moronic. On a building team, giving away draft picks for one player, when you’re FAR from one player away from contending..
Presently, we need to be building up team that’s gonna ride with this most recent class with Jameis for a while
December 5th, 2015 at 11:34 am
Like to see a great cornerback or wide receiver added. Reggie Cobb would have been a good addition last year. Big money but with low risk. Josh Norman would be nice at cornerback. Not only looks like one of the best in the game right now but we’d be taking him away from Carolina. Think he may be a unresticted FA. Not sure what good receivers are going to be on the market but VJAX not getting any younger. Some great receivers are going to want to play with Jamies.
December 5th, 2015 at 11:39 am
A fast receiver that can play in the slot for now would be great. Pick up a cornerback in free agency also. Get the defensive ends and a true dominant left tackle in the draft.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:02 pm
Revis didn’t want to stay.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Be smart, & draft well. Select FA carefully…
December 5th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
FanOfBucs Says:
December 5th, 2015 at 11:18 am
“The Revis trade was moronic. On a building team, giving away draft picks for one player, when you’re FAR from one player away from contending..”
Actually it made sense at the time. The team was 7-9 the season before with an atrocious secondary. I consider 7-9 contending, seeing how some years 7-9 can win you the division. 7-9 can also get you in the playoffs some years. Picking up Revis at the time to me, made sense. I thought they would win 3 more games the next season with Revis to finish 10-6.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:20 pm
Just a few thoughts to commenters who keep saying the Bucs are “set” at a certain position: In the NFL, you are never set at any position. Ever. Never. Ever. You’re always one play/injury away from being undermanned. The Bucs will have the great ability to add great competition and talent to the team across the board and make the bottom 10-15 guys on the roster MUCH better next year while improving a handful of starting positions via free agency and the draft. The Bucs need another key offensive lineman as Mankins is getting older and definitely needs help across the DL and secondary. The Bucs also need to find their slot receiver of the future to truly open up the offense a la the elite teams in the league.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Bucs desperately need a speedy slot receiver who can stretch the field, another offensive lineman or two, some more competition in the secondary, and are in desperate need of speed pass rushers off the edge.
How they get these – a combination of draft and free agency – is up to them. But I think this next offseason will be one of the most important in team history. Bucs will either build off this last solid draft and season – and make the moves that turn us into contenders – or we will just continue to be a .500 team.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:32 pm
So how about a follow-up article of the top 10 Free Agents with all the usual Joe’s Analsyis, Joe’s Speculation, Joe’s Opinions, fan-blog voting, etc. etc. This article’s title stirred the waters of interest using the word “Frenzy”, but it only “Fizzed” instead.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:46 pm
Reggie Cobb retired in like 1993.. he was one of my favorite Bucs of that time along with Lawrence Dawsey. He may need the money to come back, but probably isn’t in football shape. Did you mean Randall Cobb?
December 5th, 2015 at 12:52 pm
@tampaRob
Haaaaaa! Might as well mention Mazio Royster since we are talking about the past.
December 5th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
Hope Alshon Jeffrey doesn’t get tagged… Would be cool to see him as a buc
December 5th, 2015 at 12:57 pm
WISHLIST
Josh Norman
Tashaun Gibson
JPP
Travis Benjamin
December 5th, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Winnipeg I’m liking that list but no way in hell Josh Norman hits the open market. JPP very unlikely as well. We need a slot receiver, DE, and true #1 corner. We can prob only hope on getting a good slot receiver in FA. The draft will hopefully bring us the latter 2
December 5th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
I think we should go after a CB….S…..DE….& perhaps the right WR……we have some depth at RB,TE,DT,LB…..
Even if we draft a CB we will still need another….building a combination of veterans and young players is the key….I like what I’m seeing with our Oline, for example.
December 5th, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Because spending a ton in free agency has worked out sooooo well for us..
——————————-
This was my first thought to but hopefully we can get another like V-jax. Just dont trust Lovie enough to get that kind of guy though.
December 5th, 2015 at 1:33 pm
So we know the QB draft is thin. I’m not in love with any of the DEs. So lets play make a deal and ship the Cannon and a 3rd to Houston for Clowney. I think 3-4 olb is a terrible waste of Clowneys talents, and MG is better than any QB in this draft. I only include the 3rd because MG has an expiring contract and Clowneys draft position.
December 5th, 2015 at 1:43 pm
I’m loving any Clowney talk
December 5th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
Commot to defense this draft. In FA there are few “headliners” this year. I would look for a receiver and a guard. Last spring there was alot better options. We had a chance to bring in Orlando Franklin, Mike Iupati, Torey Smith among others. This dpring coming up, not so much. If Norman does hit the market DO NOT LET HIM LEAVE W/O A DEAL! Then we could pay almost exclusive attention to tbe line of scrimmage in April, although the chance to get Hargraves 3 outa Gainsville id impossible to pass up.
For our own, bring nack Martin, Moore, Hawley and Conte.
December 5th, 2015 at 1:48 pm
They should also target Bozo from the Ohio State University.
Imagine Bozo and Clowney on the same DL?
Payasito Heaven!!!
December 5th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Clowney is untouchable. He has too many years left on his contract. Trading him would not be smart from a salary cap standpoint. Besides, we don’t have enough value to trade for him anyway.
December 5th, 2015 at 2:44 pm
This team is missing quite a few pieces.
Two edge rushers that can actually get off a block.
A receiver worth a damn beyond Evans and Jackson.
A starting TE. Brate and ASJ are backups at best.
Better depth/competition along the oline.
A starting caliber CB and a playmaking Safety or two.
December 5th, 2015 at 3:04 pm
Would love to see us pick up a WR/PR/KR with blazing speed…..
We are missing speed on offense….
That plus a DE, CB & S….
We have all our draft picks plus the Glennon pick….and plenty of money….we are also a much more attractive team to play for with our young players & Winston……
We are in very good shape going forward…
December 5th, 2015 at 3:38 pm
Safety – Eric Berry
Cornerback – Josh Norman
Defensive End – Greg Hardy
Wide Receiver – Desean Jackson
DC – Rod Marinelli
December 5th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
I’d much rather have a guy like Travis Benjamin before Alshon Jeffery. Also, I think the Bucs will go balls to wall in pursuit of Pierre-Paul if he hits the market.
December 5th, 2015 at 3:57 pm
@TBBF … “We are in very good shape going forward.”
Certainly in much better shape than we were before this year’s draft, but still not in good shape to compete for a playoff berth. Would love to see us draft at least 1 DE, preferably 2, plus a CB and S with our top 3-4 picks. I love Bobby Rainey as a PR/KR because he’s also a great 3rd RB, but he’s a FA also. Someplace in there we need to pick up another OLineman … can never have enough of those big guys, plus Mankins is getting older (much older).
We’ve still got to pay Doug Martin if we expect to keep him, and his contract won’t be that cheap. Picking up a quality CB or S or DE or OLineman in FA also won’t come cheap.
December 5th, 2015 at 4:04 pm
all current Bucs who will be FAs that Joe listed could be signed for less than $20M towards next year’s $ – and most of them probably should be re-signed.
So the Bucs will have at least $30M to play with in FA and the majority of that $ HAS to be spent. That equates to at least 1 or 2 “top tier” FAs and another 2 or 3 “solid role players” like McDonald, Melton and Moore types.
Licht and Robinson and staff seem dialed in on spotting talent over the last year when they all came together – its like the Midas touch – as most of what they have touched in the draft and with young FAs has turned to gold. 4 good rookie and potentially future great starters with the 1st 4 picks in 2015 was about as good a draft as any team could dream of – and its possible that Kenny Bell will be a valuable contributor moving forward as well.
Can the pro staff scouts do as good a job as the college staff at evaluating with Robinson and Licht making the final decisions? Is it possible that this team can have another good draft net 2-3 starters AND find another 2-3 upgraded FA starters with all that $ that has to be spent in 2016?
Time will tell – but I like what I see so far regarding the rebuilding of this team and with a future top 3 or top 5 QB already in place – the Bucs are poised to be VERY “relevant” here soon IMO. Despite Lovies incompetence – right Realist and tmax?
December 5th, 2015 at 4:57 pm
Hi guys I’ve been reading this website everyday for about a year or so now, first time I’ve ever commented. I did a quick Google search for upcoming nfl free agents and came up with a list from spotrac.Com. from this list I found a few players that I would definitely not mind having from the free agency. There is not much out there defensive end wise and I’m not great at evaluating olinemen so there aren’t many of either in my wish list. But here goes
Weddle s
Jpp de
Sean smith cb
Amukamara cb
Nick fairley dt
Harvin wr
Irvin olb if we drop lansanah
Gipson s
Sanu wr
Norman cb
Iloka s
Benjamin wr
Also I know most of these guys probably won’t make it to the FA. But they are all due to be UFAs.
December 5th, 2015 at 5:55 pm
Would love Eric Berry at Safety, Travis Benjamin in the Slot.
December 5th, 2015 at 7:17 pm
Rise up beat those bucs
December 5th, 2015 at 7:24 pm
Gimme Alshon he one of the best WRs in football
December 5th, 2015 at 8:11 pm
When you take in consideration the following – two factors
There’s more the enough cap space to add to couple passrushers
Possible Release candidates
• Alterraun Verner $6,750,000
• Bruce Carter $4,250,000
• Evan Dietrich-Smith $2,500,000
• George Johnson $2,000,000
Contract Restructure/Contract Extension
• Vincent Jackson $12,209,778
• Logan Mankins $7,000,000
• Gosder Cherilus $3,500,000
December 5th, 2015 at 8:55 pm
I don’t think we should release Verner, I think we should restructure his contract though. He’s been solid in the nickel position.
December 5th, 2015 at 8:56 pm
There’s more *then enough cap space to add to couple pass rushers
December 5th, 2015 at 9:05 pm
Might want to re-sign Doug Martin…
December 5th, 2015 at 9:15 pm
LUVMYBUCS
funny those release guys are all ones licht signed. JPP stinks, seriously you all play name games because it sounds good. I would say Eric berry will help, I agree with that one. Other than that, seeing how licht has missed two straight years in free agency, and i mean missed EVERY ONE OF THEM. let’s draft and keep Doug Martin let the rest walk the plank….
December 5th, 2015 at 9:21 pm
2016 Buccaneer FA wish list –
DE Aldon Smith $5,250,000
DT Haloti Ngata $12,131,000
OLB Chad Greenway $4,000,000
WR Jermaine Kearse $2,356,000
CB Leon Hall $9,750,000
December 5th, 2015 at 9:38 pm
Our first pick and top FA should both be DEs. Second round should be an outstanding corner. Let EDS go and sign a proven Guard in FA. In the third round pick up a big RB for short yardage and backup the FB position. I would use the rest of our picks to move up and get players near the front of the first three picks. Kenny Bell and or Murphy can handle the slot WR spot. Use other FA money for another receiver in case VJax goes down again and the rest to resign Dougie and the rest of our top players.
December 5th, 2015 at 10:06 pm
After watching Derrick Henry from Bama all season long, I’d draft him in the first round in a heartbeat if he’s still there when we pick. I know we need DEs desperately, but Henry will put a lot more points on the board during his career.
December 5th, 2015 at 10:40 pm
$%%* Revis. He is a thief.
Actually..I DON’T expect the Bucs to do a lot in free ageny. They have contracts to extend, and a defensive draft coming up (at last). They’ll franchise a player most likely. At most, they’ll need some backups.
December 5th, 2015 at 10:43 pm
Luv, you forgot Martin extension too.
December 5th, 2015 at 11:17 pm
Travis Benjamin sounds like a fit
December 6th, 2015 at 12:02 am
some guys on the opposite end of the cap spectrum will be forced to release some players to the free agent pool. hopefully a few good DEs and DBs currently under contract will be cut due to their salary, which we won’t have a problem accomodating
December 6th, 2015 at 12:55 am
Revis did not want to be in Tampa. He played for New England for much less that 16 millions a year. You are not building a team around Revis; at this point he is to old.
Revis never said he didn’t want to be in Tampa, only some comments after the fact that he was happy to have moved on. Big difference. Why exactly would he have wanted to bail? He was good friends with Jonathan Banks and Hawk Goldson, and Bucs fans loved him. And Revis lives in Florida and he was making a fortune without state tax. And who cares what the Bucs were paying him. –Joe
December 6th, 2015 at 2:27 am
DB plus draft one
DE depth plus draft one
WR
Resign Dougenator
O Line, DT and LB depth
December 6th, 2015 at 6:50 am
he didn’t want to be here, no matter how you spin it lol
December 6th, 2015 at 6:58 am
Even thought Revis is clearly a rent a player wherever he’s been, not just in Tampa, but New England as well, truly just a mercenary, I like him professionally and personally. He at least competes to earn the $$$ he demands and even though he can’t possibly need the money, I get that he views his salary as a sign of respect. Good for him.
Not good for us. We don’t need rent a players at this point. And especially a cover corner who can do what…cover ONE player!!! A disruptive DE OTOH can get into the backfield and do the equivalent of taking away ALL of the receivers because a QB can’t complete a pass from his backside.
I suspect the teams have spreadsheets on what % of cap can go to which positions. Not set in stone but I bet it’s a guideline. I just don’t see the need to pay that much to ANY DB. Maybe if we had every piece in place with plenty of depth.
Revis would not have made a bit of difference to the record of this team and again I say that as someone who respects his talent and likes him personally.
It’s not Revis…it’s the position and how much he can effect a game.
In addition this team is starting to grow as a group. I’d rather have another great draft and let the guys grow together along with #3, Ali, Donovan and Kwon. If we could do 50% as well as last year and score 2 great players Fameis and Kwon and Ali level..our team is going to be much better.
I basically agree with TBBF’s assessment of need.
December 6th, 2015 at 9:26 am
Joe Haden will not resign with cleveland…bring him home
December 6th, 2015 at 9:37 am
@godzilla
Alcon Smith just got hit with a 1 year suspension.
Haloti Ngata is a horrible scheme fit. Lovie doesn’t want a 350 lb DT
Chad Greenway is almost at the end of the road
Any more great ideas?
December 6th, 2015 at 12:52 pm
Get off Revis d!$@ already f/!& him we never needed a one dimensional anything in this league nowadays waste of my bucs oxygen