Veteran Bubble
June 3rd, 2016
In roughly three months, the Bucs will shave their roster down to the final-53. There is always surprise and angst when this occurs.
So as we are in the throes of underwear football, where the likes of Tommy Streeter look like John Stallworth, it’s not unfair to look ahead to see what veteran player may be on thin ice.
That’s what BSPN did with each team. Mike DiRocco, who covers the Bucs and Jags for the four-letter, believes he knows who ought to be renting.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cornerback Alterraun VernerVerner was a Pro Bowler with Tennessee but was benched last season for inconsistent play and was on the field mainly as a slot cornerback. He has three interceptions and 13 pass breakups in two seasons with the Bucs and is due to make $6.75 million in 2016. The Bucs also signed CB Brent Grimes in free agency and drafted Vernon Hargreaves III in the first round.
Selecting Verner for this category is fair. Verner is targeted to earn more than $6 million in 2016, and in 2017, per Rotoworld.com, which is pretty accurate with salaries.
When Joe first saw the headline for this story, he thought surely DiRocco picked Vincent Jackson. Why? Because DiRocco had been on that kick for months, claiming Jackson would be cut due to his hefty salary. Apparently, DiRocco realized how much Dirk Koetter likes Jackson and how much America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, loves Jackson. And we all know what Jameis wants, Jameis gets.
With defensive backs coach Brett Maxie on staff, who groomed Verner into a Pro Bowl player in Tennessee, Joe suspects the Bucs will give Verner every opportunity to stick with the team. If Verner doesn’t make it, then it is because he played himself out of a job.
June 3rd, 2016 at 6:51 am
Is it too early to be scouting for WR in the 2017 draft??? We will hear lots of key words, such as “explosiveness” and “speed” when the Bucs will be looking early and often for WR!!!!
June 3rd, 2016 at 7:29 am
The least we can do is keep Vernor since he is the only remaining remnants of what we received for our lost first round pick and Darrelle Revis.
June 3rd, 2016 at 7:45 am
Well it is all set up for Verner to succeed with this regime with a better scheme and having his old DB coach back, so if he can’t do so then unfortanatlly he’s gonna have to walk the plank. The good thing is odds are one of the two in Banks or verner get back on track and we keep at least one. My reference would be Banks because of his youth and potential, plus with all 5 ’10’ corners we have now it wouldn’t hurt to have one guy over 6 feet.
June 3rd, 2016 at 8:05 am
I believe both Banks and Verner are going to rebound.
June 3rd, 2016 at 8:29 am
Verner is NOT on the bubble for ’16.
And his ’16 will determine his bubble for ’17.
June 3rd, 2016 at 9:18 am
Brandon Meyers could definitely be on the bubble……you never hear him mentioned in the mix with TEs…..it’s always ASJ, Stocker, Brate & now Vitale.
June 3rd, 2016 at 9:40 am
Verners been in the starting rotation so far and I expect at the least he makes it as a slot cb. It is bad practice to cut for the sake of cutting. We don’t need the money yet. Now next year when he’s a 3rd or 4th string (if he doesn’t rebound) and maybe we want to spend that money sure. But needlessly cutting good depth to free up cap that won’t be used is just plain stupid
June 3rd, 2016 at 10:18 am
Verner probably will get a fair shot to win a starting job, but if he can’t hold off Banks and VH3, he’s probably going to get cut because smart teams don’t pay almost $7M for a backup corner unless the salary cap hit negates the savings.
Unused cap space can be rolled over, so it makes perfect sense to cut pricey veterans who aren’t giving the team valuable performances. The Bucs will need all the cap space they can roll forward because the nucleus of this team will all hit UFA around the same time in 2 or 3 years, right around the same time the Bucs should be legitimate contenders.
June 3rd, 2016 at 10:43 am
Verner is running with the 1st team – but he’s going to get cut because his contract is (thus far) overvalued? Not likely.
Man this time of year sucks for football news. Everything is a reach, an approximation or a misinformed guess – especially from national sources who don’t know crap about the inner workings of the Buccaneers.
June 3rd, 2016 at 12:00 pm
I’m not sure we are in a position to be cutting quality players. I love Vjax but unless he will resign at a much lower cap number in 2017 I’m hoping this is his last year. We could afford to get rid of Verner, Conte and Murphy around that time too if we have another solid draft. Not this year though!
June 3rd, 2016 at 2:15 pm
America’s Commenter Says:
Last season in the NFL almost 60% of the snaps were with 5 or more DB’s on the field.
There are no more 4 DB starters. More like 5 or 6.
The NFL is all situational football, not Best 11 vs. Best 11 like in years past.
Unless he completely crashes & burns, Verner is a clear “starter.”
June 3rd, 2016 at 2:21 pm
Yup.