Rams Open Door For Bucs
February 27th, 2018
Domino effect.
Lost in the hysteria of Kansas City allegedly giving away a Pro Bowl cornerback in Marcus Peters is that it has set up Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht to make a serious move.
Peters was dealt to the Rams over the weekend for what seems like a bag of used footballs and a couple of jock straps. It tells Joe that Peters is such bad news the Chiefs couldn’t get anything for him — and that a team like the Chiefs, two wins from a Super Bowl, didn’t want him any longer.
At any rate, now that the Rams have Peters, it stands to reason that free agent corner Trumaine Johnson won’t return to the Rams.
Johnson, a strong young corner, has been tagged twice in the past two seasons. With the Rams on the hook for many big salaries, including a massive payout for Aaron Donald, they’ll save cash by acquiring Peters and letting Johnson walk. Last year, Johnson made nearly $17 million. Peters banked $15 million less.
You’ve read it before and you will read it often leading up to the draft; Joe apologizes for being repetitive, though it is true. Until the current defensive staff can prove it can develop a rookie corner, Joe is of the mind that drafting one in April is akin to throwing away a valuable pick.
This is why Joe is campaigning heavily for Licht to not just sign a free agent corner, but to also trade for Aqib Talib.
And the corner Licht should target in free agency? Johnson.
In an interesting side note to the Peters trade, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Chiefs wanted Rams defensive end Robert Quinn, who had 8.5 sacks in 2017. The Rams balked.
So, if the Rams were thinking of cutting Quinn for salary cap purposes, then they would have likely had no issue trading Quinn to the Chiefs. The fact the Rams did not agree to trade Quinn tells Joe that Quinn isn’t going anywhere soon.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:13 am
Chill…build a roster…chasing names has not worked out well….I love ME 13…but lets see what we can get in return ….
February 27th, 2018 at 8:14 am
Joe, please get off this narrative that this staff can’t coach young guys. You have been around long enough to know that sometimes it is just the young guys themselves. The more accurate narrative is that we haven’t drafted the right young DB’s but even that is kind of silly after one or two seasons in our case. Trufant and Alford seem to be doing fine in ATL. Mike Smith was there then, too, and he developed Grimes, too. Hargreaves was not too fast or too long coming out, maybe slot is his position. The results were poor last year, but pass rush and injuries seemed to be a lot more relevant than DB development.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:15 am
Joe that’s hilarious cause two days ago I told Tampa Bay Bucs on their twitter handle that they should go and get Trumain Johnson by any means necessary and to trade for aquib talib and Michael Bennett. Sign free agent Andrew Norwell and Carlos Hyde. Trade their number 7 pick to Buffalo for their two first round picks and use those picks for the defensive line. Round two go and get best running back available. Rest of the draft beef up your o-line. I believe that will save our Gm and head coaches jobs cause that team would no doubt in my mind go to the playoffs.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:19 am
Altered are you completely crazy? So say we trade Mike Evans and then D-jax leaves after next year. Who are our receivers then? Dude you make very little sense, EVER!
February 27th, 2018 at 8:21 am
This current gm is to cowardly to make free agent trades like that. No wonder expectations make him cringe. Can’t blame glazers they’ve tried it before with revis. Don’t understand why late round draft picks are so important when you have a many vets as we do, go get someone to help you compete.
Some teams just want to use rookies as an excuse to why they can’t get into the playoffs
February 27th, 2018 at 8:24 am
The rams drafted TJ, never gave Him a long term deal and traded a 4th and 2nd for his replacement to let him walk.
That tells me all I need to know about TJ.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:30 am
“I endorse alteredego completely. Trade MeMe Evans for a high 2nd round pick. Evans is the most overrated player in the NFL”
Kobe Faker
February 27th, 2018 at 8:46 am
How is Evans overrated? I think everyone agrees he’s in the range of 5th to 10th best receiver in the league- a giant possession-ish receiver that makes contested catches. You’re not thinking if you trade him for a 2nd round pick. We need DEs not 2nd round picks.
Open the vault for Trumaine
February 27th, 2018 at 8:53 am
Trading Evans is stupid. Extremely stupid.
Not there yet Says
“This current gm is to cowardly to make free agent trades like that.”
Free agents don’t get traded.
February 27th, 2018 at 8:57 am
ChanEpic Says:
February 22nd, 2018 at 12:46 pm
Tmax, I’ve heard worse analysis that’s for sure. I would LOVE for them to throw a mint truck at this guy. Johnson/Grimes as 1a/1b and a rejuvenated DL… We might be talking something here.
I stand by that statement.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:01 am
I would hope Licht is given a couple blank checks from the Glazers…in terms of monster contracts i.e. Campbell. At all cost Johnson must be signed. Norwell must be signed. The center from the Ravens must be signed.
Let Grimes walk, get younger…another CB signing will do.
Hell no to trading ME13.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:06 am
@Chan… Johnson is a press man corner. Grimes plays off coverage. So there’s a problem there. We need to sign 2 players that can play press man. Hell R.Smith played good when allowed to bump last year.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:15 am
Altered
We usually agree on things. Trying to trade mike Evans is cray talk man. HE IS the bucs best player. (Lavonte -you are there too)
Tha Rams kid Johnson would cost 15/per and so would talib Joe’s – ain’t happening.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:26 am
No one Free Agent currently available deserves a monster contract, outside of a couple quarterbacks.
Anyone suggesting we give a monster contract out is wrong.
If some blockbuster player is released, that’s a different story. I would offer a good contract to Michael Bennett, for example (not a monster one).
And, by all means, BRING BACK GRIMES!!!!
He is a sure thing on the field. You won’t find that with any other CB currently out there. Some might think there is, but none of them have proven it. Grimes has. Give him what he wants with only the first year guaranteed.
That doesn’t mean we can’t get younger. He’d still be a bridge, just like before.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:28 am
Got a great idea: Why don’t the Glazers look for another owner to swap franchises with…….how about Glazers take the Rams and Rams ownership takes the Bucs…..or something else…..swap with someone!!
February 27th, 2018 at 9:31 am
Johnson’s agent isn’t going to let his client go anywhere that does not have a good pass rush or his client will ne made to look like a fool getting burnt because the QB has all day to throw the ball,…so $$$$ MAY not be the deciding factor for Johnson.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:31 am
We sign him and dont sign Grimes…..same results. We need d-linemen that create pressure. That is priority #1….if there are no worthy veterans available in free agency or by trade….then we move up and get Chubb. If defense is the focus. I think the smart move is draft Nelson….snag some RBs in free agency and the draft, now you’ve got one side of the ball solidified. The Bucs should be able to at least score 25+ pts per game and that is something the fans and owners can see as improvement as well as entertaining…..even if we dont necessarily make the playoffs next year its a noticeable step in the right direction.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:39 am
Nobody is going to pay Talib $15 million a year. What are with some of these comments Im reading today lol
February 27th, 2018 at 9:44 am
@Joe I pose a question, would you trade D Jackson for anything clear his cap money and sign Sammy Watkins in Free agency? Evans, Watkins, Godwin. not bad imo
February 27th, 2018 at 9:44 am
What the Bucs need more than anything on defense is LEADERSHIP. Back in the day we had that strong trio of Sapp, Brooks & Lynch … different leadership styles, but we had leadership in every position group. Right now? Not so much.
Brent Grimes is probably as close to a leader in our Secondary as we get, and for that reason if none other I’d love to see us re-sign him (our young Secondary … R Smith, VHIII, Evans … needs that). Would an unhappy Trumaine Johnson provide some of the leadership that we so sorely need? Not sure … but Kyle Fuller probably would (if the Bears don’t franchise tag him). Definite upside IMO.
February 27th, 2018 at 9:51 am
We all know why Kansas City got rid of Marcus Peters
He was a huge troublemaker ( Kneeler) to them
He’s an Oakland Militant, like his cousin Marshawn Lynch
The Bucs would never bring him to Tampa
LA is the perfect fit for him, he’s accepted in LA
February 27th, 2018 at 10:30 am
This should be the Buccaneers top free agent hands down. Just take a look at his recent film, especially while playing injured last year. Guy is a stud and Bucs fans would not know what hit him when he arrived. Pretty sure no one has promoted this guy more than me. Pray for this.
February 27th, 2018 at 10:34 am
Blows my mind how many fans want to bring back and aging declining Grimes. Way better Corners available on the market
February 27th, 2018 at 10:40 am
Don’t kid yourself they’re plenty of racist in LA too.
February 27th, 2018 at 10:40 am
Make a run at Johnson – but cap the offer at $12-$13M per year on a 3-4 year deal. That may not be enough, but any more than that and he’s not worth it.
I would much rather have Grimes for another year or 2 at $8M and spend the difference on other defensive needs – than pay Johnson $15-$16M per on a multi-year deal.
Xavier Rhodes makes $13.4M next year on a fresh contract – Richard Sherman makes $13.2M next year – no way should Trumaine Johnson be paid more than either of those CBs.
February 27th, 2018 at 11:06 am
Stanglassman
Yeah I know it’s a “worldwide” epidemic.
February 27th, 2018 at 11:37 am
Trading for Talib is a bad idea. Trading for aging names so rarely works, especially for the Bucs. Plus the Bucs already completely blew there chance to get a 25 year old better version of Talib by not going after Peters.
Just wow. He hasn’t done anything as egregious as the things Talib did in Tampa. We saw how great a change of scenery worked for Talib. Peters could have enjoyed the same type of change of scenery in Tampa.
For a future 2nd and a 4th.
Blows my mind how the Bucs miss those opportunities ALL THE TIME.
February 27th, 2018 at 11:51 am
Yeah, this harping on “staff can’t coach up young DBs” is tired. What you have there is not a reasonable sample size. We don’t know if Hargreaves’ regression was coaching or just a personal slump. A coach can’t always help that, depending on what it is or who the player is. As for Ryan Smith, we knew he was a raw product coming out of college. Last year was his first full year as a CB. Javien Elliot was a walk on at FSU, and undrafted. Josh Robinson was let go in Minnesota because he wasn’t a very good CB. So, with the current mix, I don’t think we really can say. It’s hard to say if the DBs were just exposed because of the absence of pass rush. So, your entire narrative is just a talking point based on suspect information. I would definitely draft a CB this year.
February 27th, 2018 at 11:57 am
I wish there was an ignore setting here. I would put everyone on it that said to trade ME13. Then again, nothing surprises me anymore these days. It’s like people are all living in the upside down world.
February 27th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Edgy has a point. Who wouldn’t we trade owners with? Even the the Haslams, Adams-progenies and Pegulas look like better owners than the Glazers. The Glazers are originally from upstate New York. Maybe the Pegulas would like some warm weather.
February 27th, 2018 at 1:16 pm
You guys calling for the bucs to through the bank at this guy will be the same posters blasting licht when this player bust. Here are some tidbits none of you are considering. Johnson has never been to a pro bowl or made all pro. He has never had over 3 ints in a season except for when he had 7 in a contract year. Contract year? Where have we seen production spike in a contract year only to fall back to reality? The last two seasons playing under the tag ie 17 mil, he has produced 1 int and then 2 ints. Looks like he got his money and coasted. Its something that does not smell right with this fish. Buyer beware?
February 27th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
I guess Buc fans have a short memory. My memory recalls that this franchise was NOT in the hunt for C Campbell last year, the best DEF FA in the past 3 years. What makes Buc fan think the Glazers are going to spend $15 M/year on a CB when they would not do it for a more pressing position of the DL?
Nothing changes until the Glazers sell. Sell Mortimer sell! I think we need to put our expectations in check and expect nothing but mediocrity from this franchise. 11 years and counting on the playoff drought, Brian and Joel! How embarrassing…
February 27th, 2018 at 1:43 pm
“Its amazing how obnoxious uneducated newbie posters pop up here and challenge my evaluations…my track record speaks for itself”
Kobe Faker
February 27th, 2018 at 4:03 pm
The stupidity is thick in here today! Trade Mike Evans? Quit hitting that pipe
February 27th, 2018 at 4:16 pm
There is zero point in getting excited about FA corners until we know the defense is going to be coached well. They can sign Grimes, Talib, Johnson….doesnt make a bit of difference to me when they are all covering from the parking lot.
February 27th, 2018 at 5:33 pm
What happens when we trade for a-hole, 30+ year old Aqib Talib pro bowler comes here and pulls a T.J. Ward? And yes Joe, you do need to stop being repetitive about this staff not being able to coach up young CBs. Not that I don’t think this is a crappy coaching system but all we’ve had to deal with is VH3, who’s just a bust, and “rookie CB” Ryan Smith that came from a small school and somewhat improved as the year went on (will be a good backup). And everyone wants to keep Grimes and Mike Smith was his head coach most of Grimes career. Get some proven younger guys, at least one top notch, and build through the draft. Seems like we’ve had more vet CBs kicked to the curb, but we also have a BS team. Need to be trying some how to get a top notch SS somehow. We get Minkah, we have the opportunity to use him as a SS if we can get two good corners.
February 27th, 2018 at 7:37 pm
I believe the narrative that this staff can’t develop young talented is absolutely accurate, at least when it comes to the secondary and DLine is accurate
February 27th, 2018 at 10:15 pm
Stats are for losers. Just ask your hero Grimes