The Value Of Jackson
February 9th, 2016
Vincent Jackson is still very valuable, even with a hefty contract.
Joe understands there are folks out there convinced Vincent Jackson will be a cap casualty of the Bucs. Joe is of the opposite mind.
The people who think Jackson is a goner, unless he agrees to rework his contract, cite Jackson being in his final year of a five-year pact. Per Rotoworld.com, which is pretty reliable for salary information, Jackson is due $9,777,778 this season.
However, drawing this conclusion is nothing more than looking at games played and salary owed. Those who watch games, specifically Bucs games, know the importance of Jackson to the offense, and more importantly, to America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
There is no question the Bucs’ passing attack suffered when Jackson suffered a knee injury. Without him, Jameis struggled. It was too obvious.
Jackson’s value is indirectly magnified in a cool feature on Buccaneers.com highlighting the progression of Jameis. Of the three passing highlights broken down by NFL analyst and former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht, two were targeted to Jackson; the third was to another receiver who was lost at midseason, Louis Murphy.
It’s no coincidence Becht chose two highlights featuring Jackson. Joe is not saying Becht had an ulterior motive, but it demonstrates how valuable Jackson is to the squad, and more importantly, to Jameis.
In one play, Becht mentioned what a strong route Jackson ran.
If the Bucs were in salary cap hell, Joe could understand connecting dots and concluding Jackson might be a salary cap casualty. But the Bucs are not in such a pinch.
Given how Dirk Koetter likes and wants Jackson — he openly hoped Jackson would return from his knee injury in a December press conference — and how important Jackson is to Jameis, Joe would be stunned if Jackson is not in a Bucs uniform come offseason workouts this spring.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:09 am
V-Jack has earned every penny of his contract, Pay the man what he’s due!
February 9th, 2016 at 10:20 am
I think he’s a prime candidate for re-structuring. (If needed)
February 9th, 2016 at 10:21 am
Keep him! Let him play slot he does well underneath and hopefully Kenny Bell will be the guy to take the top off the D
February 9th, 2016 at 10:25 am
Lack of WR depth killed Carolina.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:29 am
There is a Salary Floor as well as a Cap. Who else are they going to pay to get to the floor? Most likely why they are willing to pay Jackson as well as Mankins.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:29 am
Blind Melon i’d have to disagree.. We have 50+ mil in cap space and we all saw what happened to the offense when VJax was out.. why restructure when 1) we have the money 2) we know his worth to the bucs 3) Lack of top Tier WR in Free Agency and Draft means some team desperate for a WR will throw him alot of money. Just not worth it to try and restructure.. he means too much to us on the field and off the field
February 9th, 2016 at 10:31 am
Jahri Evens was cut my N.O. He wouldn’t hurt to bring in for an interview
February 9th, 2016 at 10:33 am
By re-structuring, VJ get’s his money now in the form of bonus and opens up the cap even more. He get’s no less money.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:33 am
*by*
February 9th, 2016 at 10:40 am
Agrees Joe, we need Vjax and it would be nice to get Mankins back too.
Those two guys are literally coaches on the field.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:45 am
Kenny Bell is a major unknown right now and that’s part of the reason VJax will be retained.
BPA at WR, DE, CB or SS. I’m still trusting Licht even though his right hand man left for Tennessee.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:48 am
With an immature, inconsistent, whiny diva like Mike Clayton Evans on the roster it is tough to have confidence in our receiving core without a guy like Vincent Jackson.
The rule should always be not to part ways with quality, productive football players.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:52 am
Air Force Jackson shouldn’t go anywhere. If they got the money to pay other scrubs they better find a way to pay him.
February 9th, 2016 at 10:56 am
Dallas, Evans is young.
He’s got some maturity and concentration issues to get past, but he’s still putting up decent numbers.
February 9th, 2016 at 11:13 am
@ Dallas
FYI….it’s receiving corps….
I think Evans will be fine….but I agree with keeping Vjax…..what reason would we try to save money…..
I think we should try to restructure him with a win-win contract……like
2 years 13 mil guaranteed…..or some sort of 2nd year stacked with bonus incentives….
I’m
February 9th, 2016 at 11:15 am
I’m quite certain that Vjax has 2 years left in him and that he’d love to make the playoffs with the Bucs before he retires…
February 9th, 2016 at 11:23 am
TBF, the heart is there, not sure the knee is. You go one season at a time at his age.
February 9th, 2016 at 11:27 am
Im a big Jackson fan. I even named my son after him. But that stack of cap space we have is going to dwindle down fast. In years past we didnt have a lot of turn over but this year we have a lot of expired contracts. Mostly backs up, but they still get paid too. You gotta figure it is gonna cost you around 10mil for the rookie contracts. Another 10 mil for the rest of the back ups and special teamers. That brings the cap down to 30mil, still a lot of money. But we want to sign a DE, thats 10 mil, down to 20. Resign martin that will probably be a 8 mil cap hit with his signing bonus. Down to 12. We want some new safeties and maybe some new CBs we want to add depth to WRs. It all adds up. If we dont get close to thw cap then we should keep jackson 100%. But if his contract is in the way of signing someone possibly more productive, then we gotta make the tough business decision.
February 9th, 2016 at 11:50 am
Biff- screw stats when he is dropping critical 3rd downs, getting out-worked for competitive balls and crying like a spoiled, petulant child. I’m glad everyone optimistically thinks he is going to fine but the actual evidence portends otherwise.
But hey, stats!
February 9th, 2016 at 11:53 am
Tbbf- why is “receiving corps” an FYI??? Not quite understanding what angle or dig you are driving at there. More like a pass-dropping core with Mike Clayton Evans in the line up. Just an fyi…
February 9th, 2016 at 12:03 pm
I’m not comparing but Jerry Rice once lead the league in drops 2. Evens might be dominate next year
February 9th, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Thanks for the Canadian perspective.
Jerry Rice?..really?
February 9th, 2016 at 12:23 pm
You’re almost correct.
With it being his last year, it wouldn’t be a restructure, it would be an extension.
Either way, they should extend Jackson for another year (or 2). I’d rather have him working as the #3 WR than not have him at all.
February 9th, 2016 at 12:32 pm
@dallasbuc
Read the post I’m not comparing but clearly saying you can come back from a season with a bad case of the drops. And taking a jab a my country is funny
February 9th, 2016 at 12:46 pm
Jackson just turned 33 and who knows how long that knee will hold up? You know Jason Licht is looking at both FA and the draft to get Winston some more weapons. After Jackson went down when Dashon Goldson delivered another cheap shot the offense nosedived. In the next three games without Jackson the Bucs scored a combined total of 51 points (17 PPG). We all know what happened when Jackson returned? 45-17 win over the Eagles but in the next game against the Indianapolis Colts we could only put up 12 points in the loss. Jackson only had 4 receptions while being targeted 10 times? The next game against the Falcons Jackson only had 3 receptions and his final game before his season ended he had one reception for five yards? On the year Jackson made 33 receptions while being targeted 62 times (53.2%). That is around $300,000 a reception. I agree with Trubucfan22 on his assessment on the cap money available. Lets say DE Noah Spence in not there at nine in the draft. If we draft WR Laquon Treadwell then release Jackson we could use that $10,000,000 to pay for Mario Williams or JPP?
February 9th, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Not a hijack. What really pisses me off is that if ASJ can ever suit up and play to his potential, we’d be less inclined to reach on draft day for a WR.
A 2nd rounder should be producing RFN.
February 9th, 2016 at 1:03 pm
There is no need for either side to restructure. We have plenty of cap room with him on the roster. No need to force this. Keep his current deal then ask for a cheaper deal going forward if he wants to play past next year. Just pay him. Unless the glazers say your payroll is gonna be x amount, there is no reason to restructure. If he was younger yes but honestly, this should be his last year with the team. Hopefully, Evans comes through for us, we can find a second and third receiver this year.
February 9th, 2016 at 1:14 pm
Trufan, you have to realize, all of those rookie deals are replacing pre existing contracts in one form or another. We would have 53mil if we let the roster in tact, as is. J Smith is gonna get a nice bump, McDonald will be resigned and maybe Moore. None of our safetys will get reupped most likely. Mankins may or may not return and Dotson will most likely get resigned. Factor in a Doug Martin signing and all of those transactions will most likely net out @ 15mil if Mankins stays 10 if he leaves and gets replaced by a veteran. So we will have minimally 35 million to play with. And this is if the cap doesn’t move Most reports have the cap increasing by an additional 10mil.
February 9th, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Using your scenario, you do realize that Free Agency would’ve been completed long before we drafted, right?
HIGHLY unlikely that either Williams or JPP wait until after the draft to sign with a team.
February 9th, 2016 at 2:15 pm
Canadian- eh, I read post and while you say it is not a Rice comparison you still assume Evans can in some way do something like Rice which at this point is preposterous. It’s like they don’t even play the same sport, much less the same position. That’s all assuming your premise that Rice led the league in drops which I seriously doubt.
But eh, Canada jokes, eh?
February 9th, 2016 at 3:21 pm
I don’t think V. Jax is worth anything near $10 million dollars… Maybe half that… But if the Bucs want to pay him that ridiculous fee for being a very average receiver if and when he is healthy it will be just one more head scratching personnel move this joke of a franchise has pulled in the past decade… Another reason we are the laughing stock of the NFL… The “Cleveland Browns of the NFC”…
February 9th, 2016 at 4:53 pm
Probably worth more between 7 to 8, but whatever, this team needs him.
February 9th, 2016 at 4:56 pm
Vjax can be dominant, some of you have very short memories.
February 9th, 2016 at 5:02 pm
I thought Jason L. already said VJax was coming back at full salary next season? Either way I’m pretty sure that’s what will happen.
February 9th, 2016 at 5:28 pm
No matter how valuable Vjax is he’s not worth 9 mil I respect everything about the man but a restructured deal at 7 mil will be a very good deal , we need every dollar to try and get Mario Williams
February 9th, 2016 at 5:30 pm
VJax has earned every penny of his $55.5555555M contract (it was all about 5 – remember – LOL).
His productivity has been consistently stellar since the day he got here – and his experience, example of professionalism and leadership qualities are probably more valuable even than his on field capabilities which have been pretty damn impressive.
Jackson has been durable his whole career and only went down last year because of a cheap shot to the knees followed by another once he got back from the 1st injury.
Probably the 2nd best Free Agent this franchise has ever signed after Simeon Rice.
Pay VJax the full value of his contract and/or extend him for another year – and thank your lucky stars that he takes good care of himself and will continue to be around another year or 2 to help mold young Winston into one of the best leaders of a team that this league has ever witnessed.
February 9th, 2016 at 7:29 pm
Agree 110% with Pickgrin on this one.You keep a player like that as long as he can help[ the team.He has got the attitude that Evans and Jenkins can learn from.
February 9th, 2016 at 8:40 pm
I would love to extend him a couple of years if possible. Let him retire in Tampa. If that helps our cap space this year a little, great…. If not, fine! Very important member of this offensive possibility!
February 9th, 2016 at 11:41 pm
Pickgrin…. You’re forgetting hardy Nickerson
February 10th, 2016 at 9:09 am
Shut up and pay the man!
This cap nonsense is mind-numbing. In case you have been hiding under a rock for the last 3 years, cutting or restructuring players to free up cap space to obtain free agents has NOT worked out. Good teams don’t let VALUABLE players go, and VJAX is valuable to the Bucs. We need to stop paying scrubs high $$$ and pay them scrub $$$.
February 10th, 2016 at 10:17 am
Sorry folks but V-JAX isn’t going anywhere, he’s way to valuable to this offense and JW he may not be the WR he was a few years ago but he is still ten times better than what we have on this roster below ME. He can be a great slot receiver for us. We are way to thin at this position to let him walk because of salary issues wen we have more money to spend than we need! And I also think that K.Bell will have a good year. What we really lack in this offense is SPEED! we get a guy like travis Benjamin and this offense could be scary.