Worst Offseason Decision
December 4th, 2018
Fateful move?
There is stupid and there is uninformed. And then there is asinine. And Joe is thinking the following might qualify as all three.
Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report decided to take a look at the worst offseason move each NFL team made last winter/spring/summer. With the Bucs, it was picking up the fifth-year option of America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston. That’s downright dumb. Like many uninformed, if not misguided, Sobleski is hung up on Jameis’ $21 million salary next year — provided he’s on the roster at the start of the league year.
The Bucs can cut Jameis any time before the new league year begins in early March (so long as he is not injured) and not owe him a dime.
But in Sobleski’s mind, the Bucs would be better off, say, paying Mike Glennon $18 million or Tyrod Taylor $19 million?
Once again, Jameis’ 2019 salary is projected to be the 19th-most expensive among quarterbacks per Spotrac, and that’s not even factoring quarterbacks likely to have their contracts re-worked, which could push Jameis’ salary down to the bottom third of the league.
This is a completely nonsensical argument.
And talk about not seeing the forest for the trees, the biggest mistake the Bucs made last offseason was bringing back then-defensive coordinator Mike Smith. The Bucs had the worst defense in the NFL last year.
Coordinators for some of the best teams in the NFL lost their jobs due to failing to meet expectations (Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley springs to mind) yet Smith was brought back.
That totally blew up in the Bucs’ faces and that decision wasn’t just dumb, it may cost people their jobs.
Since Bucs Bit-O-Honey-snacking, Ozark-watching, yams-eating coach Dirk Koetter (?) fired Smith, the defense has gradually improved. The Bucs have 26 sacks since Smith was ousted. That’s the second-best mark in the NFL for the same time period.
The Bucs, with Smith as defensive coordinator, lost two one-score games this season. The Bucs are currently 5-7.
It’s reasonable to believe with a halfway decent defense, unlike the matador defense Smith built, the Bucs would currently be 7-5 and in the thick of a wild card race — and the only people who would be b!tching about Jameis would be the avowed haters so blind with rage they toss and turn in bed all night dreaming of the moment someone runs the best quarterback not named “Steve Young” the Bucs have ever had out of town.
Bringing Smith back easily was the worst move the Bucs made in the offseason.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:02 am
Agreed.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:07 am
People that write that Jameis was out biggest mistake are just taking the easy path. It’s what is in the media and what common fans know about this franchise. True Tampa fans know Jameis is not the reason we are losing here. It is incompetent coaching and a piss poor defense that until this offseason has not been addressed.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:08 am
The unforgivable sin.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:14 am
if he continues to develop jameis and the defense under duffer continues improve, AND we have a kicker, minus desean jackson , more godwin and hump and bobo
i can see coach deserving of staying
December 4th, 2018 at 11:23 am
I agree with Jim.
Keeping m.smith is damning, however, if the issues are fixed now why blow things up.
The offense is really humming. Jameis is playing great. We finally have a kicker. Defense is finally playing decent. Add a few draft pics for the OL and Secondary next year and this could be a really good team. Even if Koetter is to blame for keeping Smith too long, if this team is ready to compete with Koetters offense and Duffners D, than why blow things up and restart just to punish Koetter?
December 4th, 2018 at 11:25 am
Agree with you on Mike Smith Joe.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:28 am
The media is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO lazy it is really disgusting that they get paid to do what they do.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:30 am
A city so indoctrinated with losing they forget all troubles after two no pressure meaningless wins. One of the reasons why they settle for last place each year. There is no weaker media in the country than the Tampa media.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:31 am
Ironically while Smith was screwing up the defense, Duffner his replacement and undeniably an upgrade, was standing right next to him. While I agree Smith was the biggest mistake Duffner is the biggest improvement, (with Buckner a close second.)
December 4th, 2018 at 11:32 am
I think think there are two big mistakes that the bucs made in the off season. Bringing back Brent Grimes and paying him like a shut down corner at 35 years old. The other was not addressing the Offensive line. I don’t think Jameis is the issue. How Winston was coached up is why he had some bad games at time and there is no creativity in the offensive play calling.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Joe…I think you are overselling Jameis……I’m a supporter but I think you are trying to find a way to support him in most every article and this one is a good example……the decision to retain Smith should stand alone…..Jameis has nothing to do with it.
I know “Joe writes what interests Joe”…..and that’s perfectly OK…..but I don’t think you are doing a service to Jameis by unnecessarily propping him up.
A suggestion….How about a Jameis Poll?…….It is my suspicion that the anti-Jameis crowd albeit very vocal is very small in comparison to the retain Jameis group.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:34 am
I really hope they keep Koetter if he finishes 8-8. I know what the coaching merrygoround will do, but I’m not sure what one more year with Jameis, a decent running back, and a real defense will look like.
Keep Koetter if the defense keeps that sack total up.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:36 am
derwin james comes to mind.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:38 am
For a fact..Had Dirk just been tough enough to Fire Smitty after last season’s Pityful Defensive performance, One could argue These Bucs would have probably won at least 3 more games by now. And Dirk would not be on the hot seat. Well Mr Koetter, Beat the Saints and the Glazers might just..Bat an eye. Of course you gotta get to 8-8 to..at least.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:40 am
10-4 on that joe!
December 4th, 2018 at 11:40 am
yeah… I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I’m inclined to try it as is for another year instead of blowing it up for the umpteenth time.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:40 am
Absolutely true Joe you definitely nailed that. I keep asking why Dirk Koetter would risk his own job to keep his incompetent friend employed. It might be noble but its one of the least intelligent football moves I have seen in recent past. To make it worse the defense performance since he left shows how poor of a motivator and coach Mike Smith was. I keep thinking of the rumor that players were told to run a defense they never practiced!!!!!
December 4th, 2018 at 11:40 am
Does Joe care about accuracy on throwing the deep ball or hitting receivers in stride which is the qb’s job….. Winston bold face LIED to the team and fans so what is so great ?? Can he shop at Publix or get a ride with uber?
December 4th, 2018 at 11:41 am
Its such lazy reporting!!!! When the defense was bad looking, it was because they were still running the scheme that Coach Smitty did not want to run in the first place!!!!!! and when they look good, its because of the replacement guy!!!! But that is the Buc way!!!! The guy leaving was the sole problem, and the new guy coming in is the savior and answer!!!!!!!!!! I am sure it had nothing to do with health on the D-line learning, ( play guys like wil gholdston as a starter! LOL!!!!!!!!!!
whatever angle to promote someone’s opinion!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!
December 4th, 2018 at 11:41 am
Jameis should be paid in the bottom 3rd of the league. He isn’t accurate. He’ll never be accurate. Mix in some flashes of talent and some terrible decisions. Am I a “hater” for noticing that? He’s the second coming of Dilfer, if you strictly look at his play.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:41 am
???
Bucs signed a center and drafted a guy in the third round.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:43 am
TBBF- Agreed that the decision to retain Smitty should stand alone.
Maybe, we’re having a different conversation with Jameis, maybe not. Smitty’s D has nothing to do with suspensions or turnovers.
The best BUSINESS decision is probably to retain Jameis. It’s important that it is identified as such. 2 games does not erase 3+ seasons of poor QB play. If Jameis carries this streak through 4 more games, I will happily concede that he has “turned the corner.”
Until then, I will enjoy the victories and hopefully, the revival of our defense.
EASILY the worst decision to retain Smitty! Easily!
December 4th, 2018 at 11:46 am
I think the combination Jameis suspension and keeping Smitty killed this team. The amount of time it’s taken to get Jameis on track plus the defense. If you negate both of those, we are contending for the division with the Saints. Maybe.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:51 am
He should have been immediately cut like Kareem Hunt.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:52 am
View from 132 Says:
“(Jameis) isn’t accurate. He’ll never be accurate.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately again YOU are not accurate. 68% completion rate which has improved vastly every single season.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:59 am
tbDemon… 249 total yrds last game ,,,o’my …dink and dunk
December 4th, 2018 at 11:59 am
Mike Smith.. er, I mean Realist. Look, I was a huge Mike Smith fan. I bought his book and gave it as gifts (still think he might’ve been the best head coach in the building) but it is undeniable how bad the defense was over the past two seasons. I rooted for the guy. I bought into the job he was doing in the turnaround. He had total control over the defense, he wasn’t forced into doing anything by anyone. Licht went and hand selected players that Smith wanted. Lets just be real
In the fairness of reality, we as fans need to realize that the past couple of weeks, Duffner has really dialled up the creativity of the blitz packages. This wasn’t on film and it caught two teams off guard. There is now film on the Bucs. Lets wait and see what happens for the remainder of this season before anointing Duffner the answer. The other honest reality is the combination of a gambler in the Mike and 3 tech just doesn’t work. One of those two must be disciplined. Kwon, as much as I like his leadership, style and big plays, puts the defense in bad spots more than he is affecting the other team.
As far as picking up Winston’s 5th year… That was just a no-brainer. Ton of upside with a young QB for bottom tier money.
December 4th, 2018 at 11:59 am
We are obviously a year behind schedule as to where we wanted to be and expected to be in general.
With that said I think we have so many of the pieces to the puzzle in place we should give it one more year!
In the big picture this franchise has not got that much to lose at this point. Otherwise … ???
___________
Go Bucs!!!!!
December 4th, 2018 at 11:59 am
realist
your exposing your self as a true smitty nut huger!!!!!!!!……lol….
the fact is, duff is producing better results than smitty and he’s doing it with a half deck!!!!!!!!!!…..lol…..
smitty was unable to get players to learn 43 or 34!!!!!!…..he had 9sacks after the glazers spent 81million on the dline…..duff comes in and we’re producing sacks and TO’s!!!!!!!!!!…….
you talking about gholston being a starter…..how about harris and adams as starters in the secondary and producing!!!!!!!!!!
the worst offseason move was keeping smitty…a close second is keeping dirk!!!!!!!
now pull your skirt down and get back to work!!!!!!!….U-HAUL has trucks that need to be cleaned!!!!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
December 4th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Its a tie between bringing Smith back and not letting Licht go.
December 4th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Joe…you are 100% accurate here. No argument at all. If and when Koetter loses his job, it will be his loyalty to Smith that will be the main reason he lost it, although I would have whacked their special teams coach last off season and maybe George Warhop too. He hired his buddy Smith when a guy like Schwartz and others were available to coach defense. Smith was worse than Lovies garbage defense!!!! Bad!
December 4th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report is absolutely, undeniable correct!
anyone outside of Tampa would agree.
crabman is not respected, not trusted, not even given a second thought by other coaches.
the see TB on the schedule, they see interceptions
December 4th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
I concur.
Bringing Smith back sank us.
December 4th, 2018 at 12:54 pm
ben Says:
“tbDemon… 249 total yrds last game ,,,o’my …dink and dunk”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You know better than that, ben. The 68% is his SEASON completion percentage, which was most definitely not dink & dunk. A recent stat showed that the Bucs throw the ball downfield more consistently than any other team in the league.
December 4th, 2018 at 12:54 pm
AGREE 100%
December 4th, 2018 at 12:59 pm
FAKE NEWS on Brent Sobleski’s part.
Keeping Mike Smith was easily the worst offseason move by ANY team in the NFL last offseason!
December 4th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
@Tamba Bay Demon- Ben and Robert post for attention. Pay no mind. They’re harmless little fella’s.
December 4th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
“Tampa Bay Demon”… sorry. What the hell is Tamba?
December 4th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
passing on derwin james and then drafting rojo and basically this entire draft is a horrible off season move up there with re-signing your DL coach and then firing him as well as the FA kicker
December 4th, 2018 at 1:36 pm
A few of us were calling for Mike Smiths head for a while. Great article
December 4th, 2018 at 1:37 pm
True Dat….
By a country mile.
December 4th, 2018 at 1:37 pm
Before everyone jumps on the Keep Koetter bandwagon, lets see how the Bucs do against NO this weekend. I’d love to see an 8-8 record, but that may be a bit optimistic. It’s a toss up – give Koetter another year and chance another losing season, or start the rebuild now, and hope we get a young, innovative coach that can get the most out of his players.
December 4th, 2018 at 1:47 pm
And if the Glazers (not Koetter) didn’t kick his ass to the curb it would of been an even worse decision.
December 4th, 2018 at 2:25 pm
One thing that has been shown on tv a few times is the fact that Duffner and the rest of Def Coaching staff talked during the game. They were in constant communication with each other. You didnt see that with Smith.
December 4th, 2018 at 2:49 pm
@PSLBob: I, for one, am tired fo flushing coaches.
It’s one thing to flush a Morris, Schiano or Lovie Smith who obviously lost their teams.
That is not the situation here. This team is not a disaster.
There is nothing a few more D stops, a consistent decent kicker and fewer QB turnovers will not fix.
The real problem is gone: Smith and the old kicker. Winston seems to have seen The Light and is protecting the football better for two games, Santos has been perfect and the D is getting more stops.
December 4th, 2018 at 2:58 pm
@gilhealy
LOL haha, thank you brother, I appreciate it!
GO BUCS!
December 4th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Agree
December 4th, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Cobraboy, I’m not advocating for Koetter’s firing, just pointing out that 3 weeks ago, there was almost universal expressions on this site that he must go. Now that we’ve won two in a row, the pendulum is shifting back the other way. I’m just saying we should probably see how the next few weeks play put. I’m all for continuity and hope things have finally turned around. This week will be a good guage. If we can at least hang with NO and when the other games we should, then I would argue for Koetter’s retention.
December 4th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
PSLBob…….IMO if Koetter want to stay there are areas his needs to show improvement in. There has to be hope that many of our issues have hope under his watch.
But it is very noteworthy that three main areas are showing improvement.
1)QB play
2)Overall defense.
3)Place Kicking
Dirk will need to show they can maintain these areas and stay productive. Dirk even showed better clock&game management.
Dirk’s problem is he has a long list of problem areas that he has little time to address. There’s a lot to name he’s a few……Running game, O-line play, RG play, Redzone defense, Short yardage plays/end game offense.
But don’t ever forget the Trump card which is winning. If Koetter pulls off a DirkMagic act of his own nobody’s gonna care which parts of this team are wildly inefficient.
December 4th, 2018 at 4:12 pm
PSLBob Says:
December 4th, 2018 at 4:13 pm
PSLBob Says:
Well I for one am on record for not firing Koetter, but gutting the entire defense side of the ball.
I WAS advocating letting Winston go elsewhere based on his horrendous turnover issues. But the last two games have been striking in his ball protection and overall maturity. If that was a two-game fantasy and he goes back to being America’sTurnover Machine, I still want him gone. But if he has actually turned the corner—I thought Koetter was brilliant to sit him and force some Humble Pie, because that has never happened to the guy his entire career—he will be an asset and not a high-functioning liability.
That said, Duffner’s work and game planning has been impressive, especially considering the defense is missing many important pieces. I would love for the trend line to continue up.
But I’m not a knee-jerk emotional fair-weather fan.
I was disappointed in Mike Smith. I thought keeping him was a brilliant move, as did most fans. What a disaster!
December 4th, 2018 at 4:17 pm
JimmyJack: you think Koetter has problems?
What do you think Ron Rivera, Dan Quinn and Doug Pederson are going through? I’d mention Mike McCarthy, but…well…he no longer has a team with a problem.
Koetter’s issues pale by comparison. My Kittie, Eagle and Falcon friends are apoplectic over their situations. All those teams had legitimate SB aspirations. Buc fans just wanted to get better and maybe make a Wild Card.
December 4th, 2018 at 4:27 pm
Funny how Realist will make any and every delusional half thought through excuse for Mike Smith, yet refuse to acknowledge just how much production Duffner is getting out of these guys WHILE HALF OF THE STARTERS ARE OUT OF THE LINEUP!
Don’t know in what world you think that Smith was forced to run the scheme he was running because of GMC, but that’s flat out untrue. PR’s reputable sources that they’ve established with the team over the last 20+ have already outed Smith as the Culprit you moron.
Smith didn’t want the Dline to penetrate, but essentially instead wanted them to hold up blocks and 2 gap, to force the Backers to make every play, while the secondary played soft zone coverage. THIS IS WHAT SMITH WANTED AND ITS EXACTLY WHY HE SUCKED ALL OF 2017 AND EVERY GAME HE COACHED THIS YEAR! Stop being an ignorant Sycophant and just admit that Smith sucks and you were wrong.
December 4th, 2018 at 6:48 pm
if – ifs and buts were candy and nuts we would all have a merry C
December 4th, 2018 at 7:51 pm
View from 132 Says:
December 4th, 2018 at 11:41 am
Jameis should be paid in the bottom 3rd of the league. He isn’t accurate. He’ll never be accurate. Mix in some flashes of talent and some terrible decisions. Am I a “hater” for noticing that? He’s the second coming of Dilfer, if you strictly look at his play.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
View… You need to turn your TV on… When you make a comment that Jameis will NEVER BE ACCURATE…. JW delivered a completion ratio of 72.62 % over the last 3 weeks and 76.5% with 29 of 38 attempts last week against the 49ers…. Also, he hit Humphries for 6 of 6 against San Francisco and 7 of 9 this past weekend…. I am not suggesting I have never seen Jameis inaccurate but with his mind working better and enjoying football, along with producing Wins, you are Wrong by saying he Will Never Be Accurate…
December 4th, 2018 at 7:54 pm
By the way… Jameis has generated a 120.56 QB Rating over the last 3 weeks with one fumble…
December 4th, 2018 at 9:20 pm
THATS WHY I SAID GIVE KOETTER AND DUFF ONE FULL EAR TOGETHER TO SEE WHAT THEM CAN DO!
AND WITH JAMIES PLAYING LIKE HE IS CAPABLE OF PLAYING…
GET RID OF DJAX AND GRIMES AND SIGN SOME O LINE MEN!!!
December 4th, 2018 at 11:23 pm
Bleacher Report is fake news, it’s nothing but clickbait garbage.
December 5th, 2018 at 3:59 pm
@cobraboy
“But the last two games have been striking in his ball protection and overall maturity.”
Ball protection better? check.
Overall maturity? Well he is in his 4th year..
Some balls he throws still keep us on the edge of our collective seats. They aren’t the easiest to catch either.
The last two weeks, he has played good games. But isn’t that the way it should have been all along, from a #1 pick with three seasons under his belt?
Next three games should show a lot. IMHO Licht and Koetter still need to go. This “save my Job ” rally is nice and all, but it’s not a long term answer to building a great organization.
December 6th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Cleary just looking for clicks. Sad they don’t do their homework.
December 6th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Even he doesn’t believe what he wrote