The Trade That Didn’t Happen
April 12th, 2018
Patience a virtue.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht is proving himself to be a helluva poker player when it comes to wheeling and dealing for players.
We all know how Licht waited and waited and waited with the trade of a third round pick for defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul to simmer until it was the right time to serve. Bingo, he got his man.
But it seems Licht also got his man with another defensive lineman.
Joe was going through his recordings of interviews from the NFL owners meetings in Orlando last month and Licht had a little nugget Joe thought was interesting.
Back before the free agency dinner bell rang in March, apparently the Eagles were shopping Vinny Curry. And not just to the Bucs, but to other NFL teams. Licht confessed he was talking turkey with the Eagles on potentially trading for Curry but at the last moment, decided pull back and see how things shook out.
“We knew there was a potential,” Licht said of a trade for Curry. “In Vinny’s case there was some discussion with trades from other teams including us. We decided to wait it out.”
And Licht rolled the dice and collected his winnings (Curry). Licht gambled no other team would trade for Curry. That’s exactly what happened. The Eagles couldn’t find a dance partner and Curry was let go, in part because the Super Bowl champs traded for Michael Bennett.
And Licht swooped in and immediately signed Curry.
April 12th, 2018 at 5:07 pm
I think Licht is doing a great job. we are drafting well and making some good moves. of course there’s been bad moves/drafts but overall, I think he’s doing great.
April 12th, 2018 at 5:12 pm
Let’s go and get the “speak softly” Marcus Davenport.
April 12th, 2018 at 5:21 pm
faith restored…..In Licht we trust.
April 12th, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Could the lack of interest be because Vinny Curry hasn’t had more than 3.5 sacks in any of the past 3 years despite having an 11 million dollar cap number for 2018?
The way this article was written, you’d think Vinny Curry was some type of established pass rusher, when in fact, he very much isn’t.
April 12th, 2018 at 5:45 pm
Hopefully we trade down a few spots and can somehow get Derwin James and Will Hernandez in the draft.
That would be a great coup for Mr. Licht
April 12th, 2018 at 5:52 pm
PHI D Co. J. Schwartz on Vinny Curry’s 2017 season.
“When we watched film a lot of times with Vinny, and I think you guys probably saw the same thing, his pressure numbers were high, but his sack numbers were low,” Schwartz said. “He didn’t do as good a job finishing the rush as he did starting the rush. A lot of times he would create pressure, and somebody else would come in … and they’d sort of get the sack or the quarterback would throw the ball away.
“We need to take his sack numbers and make them a little more in line with his pressure numbers, because he was very disruptive last year. He did some good things, but it didn’t show.”
April 12th, 2018 at 5:52 pm
We got a guy nobody would trade for.
Pop the champagne corks.
April 12th, 2018 at 5:54 pm
Licht has done a good job in my opinion overall. Hopefully he is smart enough to save his own butt halfway through the season when his team has the worst secondary in the league and takes out the trash
April 12th, 2018 at 6:00 pm
@ Tom s. [quotes]Could the lack of interest be because Vinny Curry hasn’t had more than 3.5 sacks in any of the past 3 years despite having an 11 million dollar cap number for 2018? [/quote]
What is not mentioned is the Curry had 47 quarterback pressures in 333 pass attempts. That is one hurry out of 7 attempts.
April 12th, 2018 at 6:04 pm
He picks up JPP and a few castoffs and everyone thinks Licht is the second coming of Mike Holmgren or Bill Bellichik. He will ultimately lose his job because he drafted Jameis Winston.
April 12th, 2018 at 6:11 pm
If this team goes 10-6 and makes the playoffs then I’ll give Licht kudos for his moves but I haven’t seen any notable “results” to date; 5 years of “zero” playoff appearances? Why should I praise this guy? I like what he’s doing thus far in 2018 but it took him 5 years to figure out what’s what? Come one how about a reality check for christ sakes?
April 12th, 2018 at 6:13 pm
get real ..who is better M. Bennett or Curry …bucs lost out on Bennett so how can Licht be so great ??
April 12th, 2018 at 6:14 pm
^^^^^
You truly cannot please everyone.
April 12th, 2018 at 6:15 pm
@Eric Not every GM and Defensive Coach view players alike. Also just because no one else traded for him means he isn’t good. If a player doesn’t fit your scheme your not going to sign him point blank! Leave the signings and draft picks to the pros(Jason Licht!)
April 12th, 2018 at 6:20 pm
@Bucko40 The only reason Curry was a “castoff” is because he wouldn’t take a pay cut dumb arse. Also Center Jensen had HIGHER offers from other teams except he’s a man of his word and came to Tampa. And if you would rather have Swaggy “Nature Boy” Baker over the kid from Philly then you obviously need to go to your nearest optometrist asap.
April 12th, 2018 at 6:26 pm
But didn’t Ayers have
April 12th, 2018 at 6:26 pm
More pressures than Curry according to PFF? Where are we getting these stats from?
April 12th, 2018 at 6:42 pm
The only stats that matter are sacks.
April 12th, 2018 at 6:44 pm
No worries with the good press, Joe. But this time last year many were so high on DJax and 9-7…then Swaggy, TJ, et al. What a genius Jason was! Hard Knocks, here we come. Jameis kicks it all off with talk of two roaches mating on his front porch. Then came Irma, Vikings, kneel-down, and Nick Folk and long sldie overall. Culminating in eating some Ws. Thinking back, Joe wrote early about not seeing Koetter on a hot seat at all. Then…all were spooked halfway through the season. So I am pointing to anything with Jason to half luck, half good sense…and not to disaparage him…but you win some, lose some. So I am not buying he maybe played this amazing game of poker and knew all along (not saying you said that, but that’s how it can be taken). So if Vinny went elsewhere, we’d be saying our GM blew yet another one. But hey, it’s pre-camp, pre-draft, all are healthy. 32 teams out there are going to the playoffs! Yippee!! Our Bucs are one of them. I do feel a lot better than I did 6 weeks ago, though. And I’ll feel better when we get word on Jameis and his alleged escapades. I will say we did get some D line guys, and got Grimes back, and it LOOKs good. But even a fool can buy nice things when he’s got enough money. I will wait and see how it is about Week 8. But the beauty of it all is if the season is terrible, a car wreck, we have six month to drive to the scene.
April 12th, 2018 at 6:53 pm
Good point DB55……Ayers has been touted as some sorta pressure savant. Maybe pressure is a bad stat to look at if that’s the case. Maybe a QB hurry is more important then a pressure. QB hits by far make a bigger impact also.
April 12th, 2018 at 7:48 pm
Curry is a very solid player and I’m happy he will be playing for the Bucs. I will never understand why people complain about the good ones…even McCoy.
April 12th, 2018 at 7:50 pm
The only stat that matters are WINS!
April 12th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Joe……you really have attracted the most trolls of Any Bucs Beat writer. Congrats!
April 12th, 2018 at 8:05 pm
Rod, you took the words right out of my mouth. And once OTAs start, everyone looks good in underwear football.
GhostofSchiano … “faith restored…..In Licht we trust.” Not really. Bucs record in his 4 seasons here: 22-42 with ONE winning season (and barely at that). Licht is a gambler (see the TJ Ward pickup, the Baker pickup, the 2014 release of Penn & Zuttah, and a bunch of other ‘questionable moves’). His gamble worked out in Curry’s signing & also in JPP’s signing, but those could’ve just as easily gone in the other direction as he passed on a number of excellent FAs). And if we’re going into this season with this secondary as it exists today, we’d all better batten down the hatches. The money’s gone for the most part, now he needs to work some real magic in the draft. Personally I’m pulling for him to git er done, but faith restored? Sorry, not at this point … this team still has a lot of starting & key rotational NEEDS, and we still lack the depth that champions have. Cautiously optimistic though …
April 12th, 2018 at 8:14 pm
When it comes to Licht….he has swung and missed on many FAs…..Had a relatively good crop of draftees…..but what is usually overlooked is his success with UDFAs……..We have Brate, Humphries, Barber, Elliott & Auclair plus a couple of others that have potential.
I’d like to see him use his 5-7th round picks to move up to get better players…..we simply haven’t found anyone worthy in the later rounds.
April 12th, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Look man as soon as the Bucs do something anything that makes sense I’ll be the first with Pom poms jumping in Licht’s pool. But drafting VH3 at 11 was just dumb same with Aguayo, drafting 2 TEs in 3 years was dumb and most importantly signing players with less production and paying them twice as much is as dumb as it gets.
As much as it pains me I have to give props to Jon Robinson, he’s made some darn good moves and took his team to the playoffs year 1 after a 9 year drought. And he only made the team better this offseason by hiring a coach with a winning pedigree and swimmers in his sack. Ijs
I’m truly sorry that your standards are so fckn low that you guys get so excited in the preseason over any and every move made. Not my fault but I’ll be here to voice my opinion/facts. #Murica
P.S. SB when I get to my sixth screen name like you then feel free to call me a troll until then have a coke and a smile and STFU.
April 12th, 2018 at 8:48 pm
TBBF
Agree with using the last three picks to move up. As you point out given how well Licht as done with UDFA’s he’ll probably find a couple more this year.
If I had to pick I’d say his next UDFA score will be a cornerback or two. Hopefully one of them turns out as well as Brate!!!
Besides how much difference is there in a 7th rounder and a UDFA. In fact some players would just as soon not get draft in 6 or 7th rounds because they have a better chance of making the league as free agents…they get to pick an opportunity that gives them a chance.
If you were a cornerback right now would the Bucs look attractive…if you are a WR you avoid the Bucs like the plague.
April 12th, 2018 at 8:49 pm
Tbbf
The most underrated udfa licht signed is Alan Cross.
April 12th, 2018 at 8:56 pm
So by deciding to “stand pat” because he believed the Eagles would release Curry – Licht saved this franchise a draft pick and over $3M in cap room…
Good Call Jason. Results will show on the field but it seems like maybe you are starting to get a handle on what to do and what not do do regarding this free agency business.
This year’s FA results appear promising.
April 12th, 2018 at 9:23 pm
I’m still a little cold on the Curry signing. This article doesn’t help that either. No one wanted to trade for curry, yet we paid him a ton of money to come here? Productively he isnt better than Ayers. He is younger and seems to be less injury prone. Which are big pluses. I’m just not excited about Curry. Just like Ayers doesn’t excite me either. They are average DEs that need a lot of help and luck to get to the QB. Meh. I hope he does well, obviously, but I’m more excited to see Spence come back.
April 12th, 2018 at 9:27 pm
I agree w DB55
I also agree with a bigger issue….. Mike smith scheme. Licht is keeping the scheme got me like nothing is going to change. It’s obviously a scheme issue when it came to last year. Outside GMC the scheme was terrible.
April 12th, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Licht has concluded his 4th year as GM. His team went 5-11 and his roster is full of holes. Does anybody think this is good GM work?
April 12th, 2018 at 10:47 pm
There are some fans on here that, until we win some games, will never admit this administration makes any correct moves. That is their right. The glass is half empty crowd aren’t trolls they just have an attitude I don’t agree with.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:25 pm
When there was talk that Curry was up for trade, people around here wanted Licht to pull the trigger.
I asked why. Why give up a pick for a player that would be cut? Know what some of you said?
To keep other teams from getting him.
Moves of desperation seldom work out, yet so many here suggest such moves all the time.
Ironically, some of those very same people who wanted Licht to trade for him are complaining right here on this page above.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:49 pm
@SCBucsFan
The glass half empty ARE mostly trolls. They want the team to lose for the sake of change.
What they cannot grasp is that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
What I mean is this: Chaos breeds chaos. This team has not gotten better because of a lack of ongoing continuity in the coaching staff. It took the Glazers more than ten years the figure this out, and most fans still haven’t.
For example, we have the best GM in the history of this team right now. No other Bucs GM has drafted better.
Some fans might shout “But he sucks at free agency!”
So what? Good teams with short lifespans can be built through free agency. These teams compete irregularly. One good year, a couple bad, then a good year again. We even saw this when Gruden was here. Up and down because we could not draft and they relied on free agency.
Great teams take longer to build because you build them through the draft. These teams seem horrible for years, then, as if out of nowhere, they rise to the top and stay there. Why? Because they draft well. They build through the draft and then maintain through the draft.
That’s something the Bucs have not had until Licht. McKay had early success when Sam Wyche was coach, but he did not sustain it. Licht has multiple good years with an occasional so-so year mixed in.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:18 am
I’m ready for the out of nowhere rise to the top.
April 13th, 2018 at 7:06 am
I got in trouble for saying this yesterday but it is no different. Results are what matters. By “results” I mean WINS. Individual stats are meaningless if the team does not win.
I’m hoping that the FA crop this year will produce. I’m tired of all the hot air. Put up or shut up! We’ll see if Licht’s move pans out.
April 13th, 2018 at 8:33 am
Preach Bonzai!!!
April 13th, 2018 at 11:59 am
lost out on bennett LOL
Seahawks are purging the idiots and filtering who they’ll bring in now. i.e CK
as to bennett, he’s old, burns the flag in the locker room, beats old women and is looking for one last check to milk a team.
he has no soul, his talent is dwindling and he has no motivation————puhlease….
as to curry, what eric said. we got someone no one else wanted lol
April 13th, 2018 at 2:00 pm
First Down Tampa Bay Says actually that is incorrect. Pressures actually matter A LOT. They lead to sacks and throw aways. To say sacks is the only stat that matters is silly.