The Fitz Way
March 1st, 2018
In charge
Beard or no beard, that Ryan Fitzpatrick smile must be visibly huge today.
You don’t need a Harvard education to know the 35-year-old backup quarterback has Bucs officials backed into a corner.
It’s completely obvious now after general manager Jason Licht shared yesterday how he wants free agent Fitzpatrick on the roster this season.
Licht talked about how Fitzpatrick, who was 2-1 in three starts and the engineer of a wild but failed comeback in Arizona, bonded with America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston. And Licht was very clear in his desire for a Fitz return.
The Bucs have to be desperate for a more-than-competent backup QB to stabilize this season in case Jameis is suspended after the NFL investigates his alleged crotch-grabbing of a female Uber driver. The Bucs also need a backup because they don’t have one outside of 28-year-old, undrafted Ryan Griffin, who has yet to take an NFL snap in the regular season.
Dirk Koetter and Jason Licht are smart enough to know there will be riots from downtown Lakeland to Hooters on the Port Richey waterfront if, say, the Bucs open this season 1-3. Fans won’t care who is under center and why.
Fitzpatrick earned less than $4 million last season, inexpensive by NFL veteran backup standards. Now he’s in the driver’s seat, and he’s a guy who isn’t afraid to demand what he’s worth.
Remember, Fitzpatrick demanded a $12 million, one-year deal from the Jets two years ago and stood his ground as a free agent. Not only did Fitzpatrick not sign with another club, he took it all the way to training camp and the Jets caved in and met his price.
Joe suspects Fitzpatrick is prepared to play a little hardball again, though not as much as he did in New York.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:03 am
Matt Moore
March 1st, 2018 at 10:06 am
No Brainer. Keep Fitz. I personally like Glennon. He’s a nice guy. And our Bucs already have to many..nice guys.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:07 am
Sign both Fitzpatrick & Glennon as backups. Griffin stinks.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:10 am
No brainer to bring Fitz back if he wants to be here and isn’t demanding too much $. He DID earn a raise. How much has yet to be determined.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:15 am
Fitz should resign here. He will most likely be playing 6 games.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:21 am
#7 pick….abandon Fumbleitis
March 1st, 2018 at 10:31 am
There are so many free agent Qbs nobody is hardball !!!!! So glad ur not the GM we would have the Senior Team lol
March 1st, 2018 at 10:33 am
Sign Fitz. Dump Griffin. Do NOT bring back Glennon.
Draft a guy in the 7th round with our compensatory pick, and put him on the practice squad. That way we don’t waste a roster spot on a third stringer, and we might strike gold if lucky. If not, well…the pick can’t be much worse than Glennon or Griffin.
OR…don’t sign Fitz and bring in Teddy Bridgewater as backup…since there is a slim chance he could play well during Winston’s possible suspension and become trade bait.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:34 am
I think Bridgewater would do fairly well here. As a backup.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:35 am
If the Bucs do not re-sign Fitz, he will likely retire. So he’ll be available if we need him later.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:40 am
agree with you Bonzai……….Specially if JW could face suspension….You play a guy that in case he plays good football yo have trade value…And if he plays really good football, you can even trade Jameis…….Fitz is getting old, and not so sure Glennon is the guy.
March 1st, 2018 at 10:49 am
Hey Joe…
Unless I missed it somewhere on JBF, let’s get a running Free Agent Tracker going here so that the loyal Bucs faithful here can constantly see who’s added to it (cut) by position, yada yada.
I think all here can agree that would be helpful and make for great conversation/content.
Go Bucs!!
March 1st, 2018 at 10:52 am
Kinda like this….dig Evan Silva.
http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/78124/309/2018-nfl-free-agent-top-100
Go Bucs!
March 1st, 2018 at 11:03 am
Just say no…to the Giraffe. Fitzie played well in 2017…and watching Glennon play is comparable to watching Bill Cartwright shoot a free throw or Charles Barkley swing a golf club.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:10 am
Someones gonna sign bridgewater with a chance to fight for a starting job, remember he was a promising, up and coming QB until his injury.
Hes not coming to tampa to be a backup.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:17 am
We need a longer term contract with a younger backup…..and if Ryan Griffin isn’t good enough after wasting a roster spot on him for a couple of years….then why keep him.
Glennon would be fine….he’s a class act and is capable as a backup.
As far as the potential for a Winston suspension…….I believe it is absurd that is still in play….there is no way an “investigation” into the incident should take this long……if the NFL is dragging it’s feet, that’s unacceptable….especially with a starting QB……we should know the outcome before FA and the Draft or the Bucs are being severely penalized for (as Joe says) “for no good reason”.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:21 am
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
March 1st, 2018 at 10:34 am
I think Bridgewater would do fairly well here. As a backup.
I AGREE!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 11:22 am
I would like to see a deal worked out with Fitz,he earned it. But if one cant be reached Id second the Matt Moore thing,especially not knowing the uber incident outcome
March 1st, 2018 at 11:25 am
Could care less if he signs or not.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:30 am
So it’s possible for you to care less than you already do? Gotcha.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:32 am
The Bucs don’t care if the fans think they should do this, or that. They will do what they think is right, and that has generally proven to be wrong since the firing of Gruden — the granddaddy of all wrongs.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:37 am
Fitz cost us 2/3 draft slots lower, lol. He may have cost us Chubb with those wins
March 1st, 2018 at 11:54 am
@rrsrq … “He (Fitz) may have cost us Chubb with those wins.” How dare he win! Totally screwed up our 2018 draft. Obviously we shouldn’t re-sign Fitz OR Glennon … much better to go after someone like Terry Bradshaw. Hey, Terry might be getting on in years & he might be a pound or two overweight, but he’d be a great mentor for Jameis. Plus if he had to go in, we’d be guaranteed the #1 pick in the next draft. Win-Win.
March 1st, 2018 at 11:54 am
I think Tampa would be an ideal place for Bridgewater to sign a one year deal. Specifically if Jameis is looking at a suspension. Right now Teddy is to big of a question mark to get a decent offer or a starting job, but start 4 games with an offense capable of putting up big numbers and his value is through the roof next off-season. Think Josh Mcclown in Chicago.
March 1st, 2018 at 12:27 pm
yeah if teddy knows he’ll get 6games to prove he’s healthy and can still lead a team then he’ll come to tampa and sign a big deal next year with a team that needs a qb……
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 12:33 pm
I would not pay Fitz 0r Glennon more than 5mil. Have not seen enough of Griffen to form an opinion one way or the other.
March 1st, 2018 at 12:56 pm
the market will be pretty saturated with guys with starting experience who are better fits as backups. Fitzpatrick is a guy they know and trust, and that does have value, but that doesn’t make him irreplaceable. And even if guys like Teddy Bridgewater and Brian Hoyer and Mike Glennon get quasi-starting opportunities, they will push similarly marginal players off of those rosters.
March 1st, 2018 at 3:01 pm
Bridgewater would be an absolute steal if we could manage to land him. What a fantastic position to be in. Two studs under center so if one is down, you know the next guy up is ready to get to work.
March 1st, 2018 at 4:04 pm
Give him what he want but only if he lets you write a clause to shave his dumb beard off.
March 1st, 2018 at 4:29 pm
fitz is one of the 15 best QBs on the planet. You heard it here first… Fitz starts more games at QB than JW in 2018, injuries dont count.
March 1st, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Case Keenum – since we obviously can’t beat him
March 1st, 2018 at 5:58 pm
We could make the Arizona game a winning case.for a back up QB to bring the team back that close to winning and go 2-1 he deserves every penny he asks for.plus why else would we want another backup (Not Glennon) to relearn the offense and (Not Glennon) playbook all over again.hes shown he’s capable of winning and keeping us in contention.Give the man his money!!!
March 1st, 2018 at 8:01 pm
It is a MUST.
March 2nd, 2018 at 4:45 am
I’d rather role with Ryan Griffin and give Manziel $1mil to play and save the extra $7-8mil Fitz will want to use on a starting quality CB, DE, DT or O-Lineman … seriously.
March 2nd, 2018 at 5:23 am
Bring back both Fitz and Glennon. If Jameis gets six games, no way should we expect Fitz, as agresssive as he is and not afraid to head right up the middle, to last six games.
March 2nd, 2018 at 5:25 am
Sign Fitz for one year at $5M, and Glennon for three at $12M.
March 2nd, 2018 at 3:21 pm
There are going to be a lot of backup QBs to choose from. The Vikings alone will release at least 2 quality backups and then there’s Denver’s crop. I wouldn’t cave to any unreasonable demands if I were Licht.