Baker Gets The Boot
February 20th, 2018
Officially fired!
It’s just under 11 months since JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman reported here that then-new Bucs defensive tackle Chris “Swaggy” Baker didn’t like to practice during his final days with the Redskins.
It was one giant red flag that never went away.
Baker was a waste from Day 1 in Tampa, skipping his share of voluntary spring practices, loafing at times when he was there, complaining on Twitter about contact in practice and then serving as the clown of the Bucs’ appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks last summer.
Two Baker acts stood out most on Hard Knocks. Bucs rookies made fun of him for loafing, and Swaggy was seen lovingly humping/dirty dancing with a palm tree to entertain his teammates.
On the field, well, Swaggy was bad against the run, bad against the pass and, per former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, was “stealing” money from Team Glazer.
The only question is why Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith and Jay Hayes tolerated his garbage after they learned what Baker was all about. And what about the alleged great leadership on the roster? They tolerated Baker, too, until Kwon Alexander took action in the locker room — following the Week 16 loss in Carolina.
Lesson learned, we hope, for the Bucs’ front office, the coaching staff and the locker room. When you have something floating in the bowl, flush it quickly.
Now the Bucs have cleared even more cap room, about $5 million, for 2018, as Baker was under contract and was not becoming a free agent before he was cut.
Bye, Baker, don’t let the fridge door hit you in the ass.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:30 pm
About Time!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:31 pm
YAAAAYYYY!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:32 pm
kick bolders…
February 20th, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Swaggy. His highlights from the season are as follows: 1. Harassing kickers during training camp. 2. Taking plays off. 3. Jumping offsides at the end of a game for crucial penalty. 4. Not caring about that and having the players argue in the locker room afterwards. Glad he’s gone.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Can take Klueless Koetter and Licht with him?? Please!!!!!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Joe,
Great news! 🌴 palm trees in the Tampa area are rejoicing.
Thanks for including Ian Beckles in the article. I love hearing his takes on things. He is very intellegent, entertaining, and clearly mindful of the game. I hope Beckles can join forces with JBF.com in the future. Adding him to the podcast menu here would be the cherry on top of 620’s poor decision to end their relationship with you all.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:36 pm
YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:36 pm
Does this mean it is safe for ROBERTO
AGUAYO to return ?
February 20th, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Sad that anyone of any influence at One Buc Palace actually thought he was a good move in the first place…he should have never made it out of training camp last year.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
Licht must be in the mood for some early spring cleaning today.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
This move has BRENSTON BUCKNER written all over it … he likely told Licht, “I’ll take the job, but you’re cutting Swaggy!”
February 20th, 2018 at 3:39 pm
Wow who knew this week would be so positive. New Dline coach, we finally know we WILL have a new starting RB, and ONE of the weakest links on the dline is gone along with this “I got paid now I can chill attitude”.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:41 pm
We just got better today.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:42 pm
Wow, Jason Licht is finally growing a spine and owning up for his grab decisions as GM, keep it up!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:42 pm
I agree with you NFL Nut
February 20th, 2018 at 3:42 pm
He was ONE GIANT TURD IN THE PUNCH BOWL!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:43 pm
If you ask me that leaves a Vita Vea sized hole on the DLine.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:43 pm
What a total waste…..
February 20th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
He should have been toast after week 16 & drug martin was a year to late! Welcome back to reality bucs! Better late than never… Now go make this roster respectable again
February 20th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
This move has BRENSTON BUCKNER written all over it … he likely told Licht, “I’ll take the job, but you’re cutting Swaggy!”
———————–
Yep.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:46 pm
Onebucperson
This ain’t new he did this couple of years go with Johnson and Collins he does not have a good track record for free agents .
February 20th, 2018 at 3:46 pm
“When you have something floating in the bowl, flush it quickly.”
Joe what a poet you are lol
This guy brought a bad attitude on the team and it seems that this year the players will learn the word : accountability !
More than ever I’m in love with our real defense captain , Mister Kown !
I think more and more He will be the real captain of this team !
February 20th, 2018 at 3:47 pm
We are a better team today than we were yesterday.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:49 pm
Later tree f#cker
February 20th, 2018 at 3:50 pm
buddy Says:
February 20th, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Can take Klueless Koetter and Licht with him?? Please!!!!!
^BINGO^^
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
Jolene…..Kwon already is our D captain IMO. Would like to see him take on that role this year and be more outspoken. I will also say the same for Winston.
The team really needs to bring in some attitude guys for the Dline. We can’t win in this league when we get pushed around upfront anytime we get into a big game.
Bring in Bennett or Peppers or whoever it takes…..If Chubb is that guy freaking trade up for him. It will be worth it.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:53 pm
People need to stop asking for Vea as a top 10 draft pick if you look at the best defenses they rotate there nose Guard out on 3rd down situations and bring there biggest end inside to have both pass rushers out side and still be able to generate a pass rush why would you want a nose tackle that will be a part time player as a top 10 pick expecually when we run a nickle package most of the time take notes from the best defenses
February 20th, 2018 at 3:54 pm
Let’s play pretend here:
What happens if Baker pulls a Ghost Johnson, goes back to WASH and kills it?
February 20th, 2018 at 3:54 pm
@ One Buc Person
Licht has definitely had his fair share of mistakes during his tenure as GM, but I don’t think anyone could accuse him of being “spineless” and not owning up to them.
Michael Johnson and Anthony Collins were both shown the door after massively under-producing. Aguayo was sent packing, despite the risky move to acquire him. And plenty of late round selections were cut, when they could have been kept around just to save face (Hereon, McNichols, etc).
He may make some really questionable acquisitions, but he has always shown he has the balls to cut bait when necessary.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:56 pm
The TB pen and mic club wins again. This must mean another 4 wins season. Congrats! You played yourselves yet again.
February 20th, 2018 at 3:57 pm
See-ya Swaggy!
February 20th, 2018 at 3:58 pm
@ Big Marlon
Ya but theres a fine line between having the balls and being reckless.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:03 pm
He was the real “cancer”
February 20th, 2018 at 4:03 pm
Good point Marlon B.
The biggest problem is having to rely on free agents year after year. It’s a bad way to build a team for any city.
We have built well through the draft but Licht took over a floundering organization.
You can take it a step further and realize he was second in command in 14’ and 15’. We are still here needing free agents to compete this year but if we churn out another nice draft class this team may finally start to turn a corner.
I was very angry during basically the entire 2017 season but with the young core we have I think there’s a lot of overreacting and kneejerk sentiment in the fanbase.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:06 pm
If we’re getting rid of players, why not can Chris Conte?
February 20th, 2018 at 4:06 pm
My biggest question is if this coach knows what’s he is doing.
Staying with Doug Martin. Keeping Baker as a starter til the players had outrage. Allowing the Panthers Dline to tee off on us then allowing it again in the rematch…….Lots of red flags. Way to many for a 9-7 season with a choke job to finish makes up for.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:08 pm
Conte is a good serviceable player. They should look to replace him as a starter. But Conte knows what’s he’s doing and won’t miss assignments when he come in like many others did. Nice depth player IMO
February 20th, 2018 at 4:11 pm
The biggest mistake regarding Baker (other than not signing Campbell) was bringing in an ok 3 technique and thinking he would be a good nose tackle. Nose tackles have to be grinders. There is nothing about Baker that says grinder. Kind of like believing a prototype 3-4 DE would make a good 4-3 DE (like the Bucs do with Gholston) or a 3-4 OLB would make a good 4-3 DE (as the Bucs do with Spence)
February 20th, 2018 at 4:13 pm
Good… good… now cut Sweezey, Gholston… move Marpet back to guard… draft nothing but linemen on both sides of the ball…
February 20th, 2018 at 4:13 pm
Conte is good on passing downs. There is a place for him on this team as long as he isn’t asked to play too much against the run. He likes to follow the Mike linebacker into the hole. Very consistent about this.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:16 pm
time for licht to get sent packing this guy has ZERO clue on building a franchise, Day 1 move: release donald penn, dont sign calais campbell, dont draft edge rusher dont draft legit RB, do draft a kicker and sign and release this blowfish
February 20th, 2018 at 4:24 pm
I remember getting called out on the the forums for voicing what I was just hearing from skins fans.
They all said he was lazy and awful in the locker room….
jason how do u keep your job?
February 20th, 2018 at 4:24 pm
Agree Licht has pulled the wool over the G’Boyz eyes….he has dug himself a huge hole with his big misses….watch Barkley will be sitting there at 7….LOL…
February 20th, 2018 at 4:31 pm
Oh well – there’s goes my theory of keeping him around to see if they could get value since it didn’t matter when they cut him. No big deal in either case either then it probably eliminates any thoughts of switching to a 3-4. Then again Mike Smith is too old to change so that kind of out of the box thinking is nonsense to him. The defense works great, it’s not the scheme.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:32 pm
He was not a good player for Tampa. He got pushed around on running plays and offered no pass rush.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
Wausa Says:
February 20th, 2018 at 4:32 pm
He was not a good player for Tampa. He got pushed around on running plays and offered no pass rush.
That’s cancer93 you are talking about correct… bullied in run game and great first step to nowhere
February 20th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
@ Mike10
Oh without a doubt, I can’t disagree with that. My point was just about One Buc Person saying Licht doesn’t have the spine to admit mistakes. He definitely makes reckless, sometimes downright boneheaded decisions….but he is willing to walk away from them after they blow up in his face. A lot of guys would hold on longer just to try and save face.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:48 pm
Another mistake last year that will cost this team next year ! Management has dug a deep hole for themselves . I hope they are clearing cap room for a few FA surprises ! That is the only way they can win next year !
February 20th, 2018 at 4:49 pm
Sausage King Of Chicago Says:
February 20th, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Swaggy. His highlights from the season are as follows: 1. Harassing kickers during training camp. 2. Taking plays off. 3. Jumping offsides at the end of a game for crucial penalty. 4. Not caring about that and having the players argue in the locker room afterwards. Glad he’s gone.
===============================
You forgot tree humping, and grilling.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
well, at least we have made the two most obvious, glaringly evident, use whatever blind person reference you would like, moves – Martin and FatBaker
now the real fun can begin…who’s next? Ayers? Gholston? Sweezy?
Why not get the cap to about $85 mil under and start restocking the shelves with some younger, non injury riddled, not out of shape, non cough medicine drinking players!!!!
February 20th, 2018 at 4:51 pm
I’ve got mixed feelings about Ayers at $6m….so I guess a renegotiated contract may be in order. If I’m not mistaken we take a hit in 18 if we cut Gholston. is that correct. Conte is OK as the # 4 Safety.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:52 pm
Correction for Trollmax re: GMC’s “…great first step to nowhere”. Hmm. Somehow that great first step to nowhere actually led, well somewhere, as he has 48.5 sacks, among the leader in DT’s in the time he’s played (who knew?) along with 6 FFs and 20 PDs. Your comments? A great deep dive to Trollville.
February 20th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Quenton Nelson at #7 then trade back into the first if only the right position for Vea/ Davenport. Can someone say FIX THE TRENCHES? Trade Gholdston for picks. We’ve already got a lot cap money back just today by letting go of Doug and fat ass. There will be others so we can afford to trade back into the first.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:01 pm
Someone is awake over at OBP.
Keep it up.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:01 pm
today is a good day, no doubt about it!!!!!! I don’t understand why we question Koetter on this? He has to use the players he has………what would you expect? benching him all the season? Everybody knew this guy was a pain in the neck…….Go against the player or the GM, not at the coach….he has to use the weapons he has……..and with all the injuries what options did coaches had? Remember the tweets he and mr bob marley TJ ward send complaining for not being on the first team? I understand the coaches mistakes last year, but please don’t lalme him for everything……..
February 20th, 2018 at 5:09 pm
Not positive on details but I’m pretty sure Gholston wouldn’t cost any dead cap money
February 20th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES… COME ON! WHOOOOO!$5MIL + $7MIL=$12MIL!ONE MORE CUT AND WE CAN OFFICIALLY CALL LEVEON BELLS AGENT AND BOOK A ONE WAY FLIGHT TO ONE BUC PALACE JOE!!!
February 20th, 2018 at 5:12 pm
With the cuts of Martin and Baker, we became a better football team today.
Bravo !
February 20th, 2018 at 5:12 pm
There are Two problems with Jason Licht:
1) he works in Tampa
2) he had an empty cupboard aside from Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy.
There were 20 starting positions and a kicker and a punter to be filled.
This team now has less holes to fill. And it has several pieces in place. This is THE YEAR to make that GIANT leap forward.
I think he was behind the new Dline coach. He has done a great job of not blowing the Salary cap (not all of his Free Agents are winners, but at least we aren’t paying $$$ for people no longer on roster).
The table is set to have the Bucs be a force in this free agency period. There are pieces to the puzzle to be had.
The question is:will the best pieces want to come?
I think Koetter is here because his offense isn’t the worst and he will gladly let Licht run the show. I expect a good draft and some quality free agents. They all know if they don’t get to 9-7, this whole thing blows up.
I expect some of Koetter’s unemployed friends (Jack Del Rio and Mike Mukarkey and maybe even John Fox) to join the Bucs in a senior staff role if they don’t get jobs elsewhere).
February 20th, 2018 at 5:26 pm
And so the off-season championship begins!
February 20th, 2018 at 5:32 pm
We shouldn’t get rid of Sweezy without looking at Evan Smith. He cost us games and possible scores with false starts. Plus, his production have been lacking as a starter and back up. I would keep Sweezy then sign a center. Then coach will decide who plays LG.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:36 pm
Will be REALLY interesting to see what other house-cleaning Jason does before free agency starts. Looking at the current Bucs roster, they show 74, of which 16 will be Unrestricted Free Agents, leaving 58 (of which 13 I’d never even heard of). And of the remaining 45, guess is that one-third probably shouldn’t make it out of training camp. Bucs have TONS of openings right now, with LOTS of cap room & 8 draft picks. No reason ownership & management can’t upgrade the Offense significantly & make a big dent in fixing this Defense. Make it happen Jason.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:38 pm
Red86, Sweezy’s too expensive to keep as a backup. Since he started out as a DLineman, I have always been curious though to see how his nasty streak would translate on that side of the ball.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:44 pm
@Ed
Good observations. The reality of what this team was when Licht got here was a total rebuild project. Two years in the Glazers fired the lead decision maker which stunted the direction.
You can’t build a team trough free agency. As bad as everybody wants to say our free agency’s have been you can look right at the team and see that we are tied to none of those players. They may not have performed but they also haven’t hurt any future options of this club. In some aspects the approach has been smart to free agency. Finding one more leader-type player along the way would have been nice and that’s unfortunate.
Think the key most are missing is we are still in a position to make a big move or two here and turn this thing around. In fairness, they did that with signing DJax last year and went nowhere.
But at the end of the day we are sitting on a lot of options to upgrade the roster. Believe me we could be in a much worst position right now. Seems like this is the offseason Licht goes all in and I don’t expect it to come via under radar moves.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:45 pm
What are some of you socalled buc fans talking about? Have you paid attention licht? He does not sit on mistakes longer than a year. Ghost johnson, anthony collins, josh mccown, bell, bruce carter, aguayo and the list goes on. Thats a practice he picked up from new england. Belichiek does not sit on a mistake. Lesson learned.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:46 pm
We need one champion to step up & I really hope it is Winston. You see we have been bad for so long we mistake good for greatness. Going back to my own longstanding dislike for Barrett Rudd he was sold to us fans as the best of the best with his picture plastered everywhere on tickets and the stadium. I am thinking this is the best we have? (Sorry no disrespect to Rudd) Same goes for McCoy! Good player very likable guy and no disrespect intended but is this the best we have? There hasn’t been a superstar on this team since Ronde left. Hardy Nickerson started our run to greatness and Barber closed it down! It was a great run now can someone please find the Bucs a new set of superstars.
February 20th, 2018 at 5:57 pm
The real question is…..wheres 87?
February 20th, 2018 at 6:42 pm
Jason proves over and over he isn’t only a scout not a gm
February 20th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
After Ira’s take, I was hoping the swagster just needed a change of scenery. Could of given his roster spot to someone who would at least try.
_________________________________________________________________
‘When you have something floating in the bowl, flush it quickly.’
What if it’s your wallet or something??
February 20th, 2018 at 8:15 pm
Swaggy. Worthless as breasts on a boar hog.
February 20th, 2018 at 8:41 pm
@Defense Rule
E. Smith was at LG late in the season. Plus Pamphile was injured. I’m sure we can agree both Marpet and Sweezy would be an upgrade at LG. With a new center from FA, our guards position would improve. Sweezy just came off from a major injury. Maybe he will get better this year. He wasn’t too bad.
February 20th, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Bye!!!!
February 20th, 2018 at 9:03 pm
After the offside on 4th down, Baker should have been cut on Dec 24 (Panthers) during the postgame news conference by Licht. Missed opportunities to let the team know how serious you are about winning NOW. He could have done it because I am 100% sure that was just a pinnacle moment of many bad moments in a bad year from Baker.
I do not currently see a path with this ownership group toward having a successful NFL organization. Bucs look lost in coach employment practices, player acquisition, cap mgmt, talent eval, and a lack of mgmt that has a clear objective. These are keys to a winning team. I know as I have been a part of a winning team. It starts from the top (Joel-Brian Glazer). They don’t exactly beam confidence on the NFL level.
February 20th, 2018 at 9:18 pm
Totally agree with everything @DoNuts! Baker should have been out of the picture at that moment to send a message! opportunity LOST!
February 20th, 2018 at 10:35 pm
Celebrate the Martin and Baker releases for 5 minutes, then come back to earth. What this means is that 2017, which could have been a year of building a playoff-caliber team, was instead a total bust, a wasted season. We are now less capable of making the playoffs than we were in 2016. The team did not improve, it regressed. So now we’re still 2-3 years from the playoffs, where at the end of 2016 we could legimately say we were one year away. Good job, coaching staff. And we still have the Winston -Uber driver thing hanging out there. I’ve been a season ticket holder since 2001, but it will be really hard to pony up for tickets in 2018.
February 21st, 2018 at 8:20 am
Buckner had nothing to do with this. Swaggy was toast anyway.
When they released Doug, we all knew Swaggy was next.
Bet they hold onto Robert Ayers though.