Time To Pay Kwon
January 12th, 2018
Pay time?
Many general managers across the NFL will tell you they like to maintain a bit of salary harmony in the their locker rooms.
There are many fragile egos on NFL teams, from the top of the roster to the bottom, as well as in the executive offices.
That means players are prone to internal tantrums — and sometimes external — if they feel their paycheck isn’t fair when compared to the guys playing next to them. GMs can be overly sensitive to that and act accordingly.
And that brings Joe to middle linebacker Kwon Alexander, the heart and soul of the Tampa Bay defense.
Kwon just finished his third NFL season earning the NFL salary equivalent peanut shells as a fourth-round pick. Just 23 years old, Kwon now enters his contract year.
After three seasons from Lavonte David, general manager Jason Licht opened the Team Glazer vault and paid David early by extending his rookie contract prior to David’s fourth season. David didn’t have to prove himself in his contract season and got a five-year extension, five years, $50 million (2016-2020).
So will Kwon get similar love before this season kicks off. And what if he doesn’t?
Joe suspects Kwon is the kind of guy who would be further motivated by a fresh pile of cash, rather than bank the lottery ticket and half-ass it like Chris Baker did in 2017.
Before last season kicked off, the Bucs opted to tear down Doug Martin’s giant image from the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway. They replaced it Kwon, who was humbled and touched.
Now it’s time to pay the man. Set a tone. Let the team know commitment matters.
And yes, as of now, Kwon is the only drafted Buccaneer that Joe would give a contract extension to before it’s necessary.
January 12th, 2018 at 9:17 am
Heart and soul? I’ll disagree there. And while Kwan’s splash plays are impressive, they’re also becoming fewer and further between. Add in the missed tackles and regular out-of-position gaffes, and I see reason for concern.
But he should still be extended. I don’t question that.
January 12th, 2018 at 9:32 am
What the hell for? Why does anyone deserve to get an early big time contact in this roster with this record and on a team with a coaching staff and GM on The hot seat? Because it was done for someone else is not good enough. If Evans had to wait no reason Kwon can’t. It’s not like he set the league on fire this year. Because you can doesn’t mean you should, there’s absolutely no reason guys should be thinking they need to be rewarded for this garbage season
Talk about sending a bad message Joe.
Lavonte David was extended after the Bucs went 2-14. –Joe
January 12th, 2018 at 9:35 am
GoBucYourself Says:
January 12th, 2018 at 9:17 am
Add in the missed tackles and regular out-of-position gaffes, and I see reason for concern.
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^
Bingo!
Kwon does deserve to get paid (which is all this article really states) but he shouldn’t be anything that breaks the bank. Yes he makes a lot of tackles, but your middle linebacker SHOULD be the one making the most tackles. He should not be the one with the most missed tackles though.
I do agree with Joe though we cannot let this guy go elsewhere. He is definitely a leader on the D side of the ball and letting him walk would send a horrible message to the locker room.
January 12th, 2018 at 9:35 am
That’s because Mike Evans’ 5th year option is $13MM. He already is getting paid for performance in his final year.
January 12th, 2018 at 9:36 am
N T Y
Here here! Dilly Dilly
January 12th, 2018 at 9:36 am
save some cash, and wait till next year. Salaries will have decreased double digits. It will be yuuuuge.
January 12th, 2018 at 9:37 am
i agree with joe. just because he had a down year doesnt mean he doesnt deserve an extension. look at lavonte david, had probably the worst year of his career last year, then comes back with 5 forced fumbles and a beast of a year. i want kwon well paid and thumping runners up the middle in tampa for the rest of his career
January 12th, 2018 at 9:47 am
LB’s are the least of our woodies….need help in front of them and behind them
Trade down in the first and get 2 for one in the first and something in the 2nd or 3rd rounds
January 12th, 2018 at 9:52 am
pay him for what he’s not what evryone thinks he is to me …miss to many tackles liability against good tight ends and stills miss assignments move beckwith at MLB and kwon to strong like he was at LSU
January 12th, 2018 at 9:52 am
Kwon has to remove the grease or Vasoline off his jersey. Then he will be ok
January 12th, 2018 at 10:00 am
It would be refreshing to hear about the team and what they are doing to grow as a team as opposed to each player, why they are the greatest person in the universe and why they deserve to be paid like an all pro when their average if taken into context/remove the pewter glasses.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:01 am
And to all y’all fools saying he’s not what he seems to be…who exactly will fill in his shoes if we let him walk?!maybe if he had pass rushers helping him out he would show what he really is instead of doing both jobs(pass rushing and LB!)
January 12th, 2018 at 10:08 am
get rid of the crying clown and is outstanding first step to nowhere and pay the players with hearts and desire to win. the me first selfish camera hound that only cares about meaning personal awards like the pro bowl as infected this team long enough with his soft approach and love of losing… cancer93 is the biggest issue on entire bucs team. your highest paid team captain can not be the softest player on team with no desire to win or be great. I am so sick of hearing about is outstanding first step to nowhere.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:13 am
Time to blitz Kwon! Well that time would have been weeks 1-16 actually. Kwon is definitely a keeper. Gota keep the good ones and the ones who love competition. Lets all hope mike smith hits his head on something and starts blitzing the lbs so the qbs they face dont all stand back there and patiently pick em apart…again..and again.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:18 am
Sure….extend him with a decent contract….but not LVD money. I believe that Kwon will be highly motivated after he gets the big paychecks.
Give him some of Swaggy’s money…..and some of TJ Ward’s……
January 12th, 2018 at 10:20 am
I wouldn’t extend a damn person on this putrid defense. Not one guy on that d stood up in game after game, either when we had a lead or those games we got chain whipped in. Not one impact player on that side of the ball.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:22 am
32nd rank defense and we’re talking extending guys. That’s whats wrong with this town. Acceptance of mediocrity
January 12th, 2018 at 10:23 am
Don’t pay him until you have to. Sorry, but players often do their best during contract years. While I don’t think Kwon is playing for the money, I certainly want his best this year…a year when everything is on the line.
Not to mention, if we don’t have a good season, a new coach might not want Kwon, so the front office may want to wait.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:25 am
“Lavonte David was extended after the Bucs went 2-14. –Joe”
And he followed it up with mediocre years.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:28 am
People mention above that he has too many missed tackles. So wait on doing a contract for him and he’ll work hard this year to remove that liability.
That’s my 10 cents.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:29 am
I do think doing a new contract for Mike Evans would be smart. Restructure. Whatever. You might be able to reduce the cap hit.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:32 am
Pay him. Hopefully he continues to hone his craft and work on those missed tackles.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:37 am
Lavonte also was not on a team with this much talent and the team was probably doing it as much for positive press than anything else. Who else were they worried about paying when they paid David? No reason to pay him now with all the help this defense needs. I fully expect him to get a big deal. You were screaming pay Mike Evans early last year too
Who else besides David got an early extension that you think it had to be done for anyone outplaying their contract
January 12th, 2018 at 10:39 am
watch the tape… if he play at a pro bowl level, then pay the man!
January 12th, 2018 at 10:49 am
Yah. Not sure about this one.
He had good year last year. Was bad in coverage this year. Missed a lot of plays.
Suspended rookie year.
Did not notice much of a difference with beckwith in there at mike.
He deserves to be buc and leader. Not sure he has earned a big deal or pile of cash
January 12th, 2018 at 11:07 am
I agree Joe – mainly because Kwon is coming off his worst season and locking him up long term now would most likely save the team $ and salary cap space in the future vs trying to sign him with the allure of free agency looming and coming off the statistically much better season he is sure to have in 2018.
I’m thinking a 4 year – $38M extension with $21M guaranteed if signed in the off-season. This would include guaranteed $8Mish salary in 2019 and 2020 along with a $5M “roster bonus” in 2018 on top of his $705k salary. Include $1-$2M per year in performance based incentives on the top if negotiations reveal that the deal needs to be sweetened to be accepted.
This locks Kwon up as a Buccaneer for the next 5 years at a reasonable price and puts a nice $5M chunk in his bank account now as opposed to just the $44k game checks he would be earning next year with no new deal.
We should also probably consider doing something similar with Marpet.
Evans 5th year option should be utilized this year as should Winston’s in 2019.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:11 am
With Norv Truner going to the Stinking Panthers, were gonna need Kwon and a whole lot more to stop pouty Cam
January 12th, 2018 at 11:13 am
Speaking of Baker, dump that dude’s salary and pump it into a defensive back, maybe Malcolm Butler?
January 12th, 2018 at 11:14 am
Extend him and give him Swaggy’s money too.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:14 am
Kwon, evans, and marpet should be signed before the season start.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:34 am
Damn. See what happens when you get into OBP at 4:30 to go study with Mike Smith. You start missing tackles.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:38 am
Heart and Soul of the 32 ranked defense.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:38 am
Don’t see why we’re even having this conversation. Extending Donovan Smith or Ali Marpet early? For sure … we don’t exactly have an over-abundance of young, durable OLinemen. Extending Kwon? Why? In 3 years he’s missed 8 games (not that great for the presumed ‘leader of our defense’).
Joe pimps him big-time, but reality is that he’s no Luke Kuechly to say the least. Small for a MLB (6’2″ & 227 lbs) and he gets pushed around much too easily. He’s got 6 INTs in 3 years (1 taken in for a TD), 6 sacks in 3 years (I know, blame Scapegoat Smitty), and 4 forced fumbles in 3 years (not that many for a MLB BTW). Total of 237 primary tackles in 3 years for a MLB? (less than 80 per year average). And many of those down the field. Really? Early contract for around $10 mil a year? Ya right.
Our run defense stunk it up last season. Baker in the middle didn’t help much for sure, but Kwon (and yes, GMC) need a big part of the blame. Good teams ran up-the-gut more times than not … and kept doing it because they were successful with it. If we don’t fix that then 2018 will be a LOOOONG season. Move Kwon outside, bring Beckwith in to MLB, transition to more of a 3-4 (so David, Beckwith & Kwon PLUS Spence can be on the field more) and we’ll be better off. Presuming of course that Licht finds us a couple of studly DEs & 1 beastly DT to shore up the line & pressure the QBs. Not sure I want to hold my breath on that one.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:39 am
When you’re ranked 32nd in defense. Instead of talking extensions, you should be talking replacements.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:48 am
If the coaches are to held accountable, then so do the players.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:49 am
Yea sir D. R.
Move Kwon outside, bring Beckwith in to MLB, transition to more of a 3-4 (so David, Beckwith & Kwon PLUS Spence can be on the field more) and we’ll be better off. Presuming of course that Licht finds us a couple of studly DEs & 1 beastly DT to shore up the line & pressure the QBs
January 12th, 2018 at 11:51 am
#TRENCHWARFARE
#bringhomeDPoe
January 12th, 2018 at 11:55 am
The only real reason to extend him early is to manipulate the salary cap. If we are likely to have a large supplies this year you could extend him and front load the salary cap guy to help with extending others in the next couple years. Otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Remember Kwon has been popped once for PED, a second one would have a longer suspension and bring a doubt about resigning him out at least lower his asking price.
January 12th, 2018 at 11:58 am
Pay the man
January 12th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Sorry.. I’m not Super sold on KA58. Where are the splash plays? Really did not have a good year.
January 12th, 2018 at 12:19 pm
agree with DR ,move Beckwith inside ,with the possible exception when he might line up as DE.
January 12th, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Use Swaggy & TJ Wards money pay Kwon and get rid of Baker and Ward. You will have mo money and a better Team!!
January 12th, 2018 at 12:30 pm
I like Kwon… David as well… Beckwith… not that we don’t have the cash but we have a conundrum at LB. Three really good LBs… maybe none are All-Pros…maybe all three could be All-Pro with better DL talent in front… but it seems Beckwith might be in line to make some money down the line… is that when we let David go? Shift Beckwith to Mike and Kwon to Will?
January 12th, 2018 at 1:50 pm
Kwon will get paid and it’s certainly not too early to start talks.
Kwon, Marpet, D Smith, Evans, Winston, Brate – there’s going to be a number of guys that need new deals in the near future.
January 12th, 2018 at 5:33 pm
And that brings Joe to middle linebacker Kwon Alexander, the heart and soul of the Tampa Bay defense.
The worst in the league defense.
Take the fan goggles off ya’ll he’s not that good.
January 12th, 2018 at 5:33 pm
LakeLand Says:
January 12th, 2018 at 11:39 am
When you’re ranked 32nd in defense. Instead of talking extensions, you should be talking replacements.
^^^Exactly!
January 12th, 2018 at 6:00 pm
@TrumpMaxCon: Stop hating on the money, it makes you look lost without love! GMC93 got his check the old fashion way …HE EARNED IT!!! Every year he goes to the PRO-BOWL, it proves your comments are FAKE…FALSE…NO COLLUSION!!! TrumpMaxCon there are other players on this team…this is a team sport they all lose together!! TAKE A KNEE …KEEP ANERICA FREE …BURN MAR-A-LARGO BURN!!!
January 12th, 2018 at 8:13 pm
Pay him and then move him outside Beckwith is more suited for the middle.
January 12th, 2018 at 10:49 pm
Kwon has taken a step back since the PED suspension. He was blowing stuff up!!! Now he is a good player. Not sold on Kwon being a great MLB in the NFL.