Priority: Wave Goodbye To DJax
January 23rd, 2019
Bucs WR DeSean Jackson.
The Bucs should have a list of priorities in place in order to get this team out of Buccaneers Cove (last place in the NFC South) and to become respectable once again.
And one of those ways is to get rid of malcontent wide receiver DeSean Jackson.
That’s the word from Jenna Laine of ESPN. In a list of offseason priorities the for Bucs, among them she lists a goal of the team to wash its hands of Jackson, who made a much bigger impact on the team away from the playing field than he ever did on it.
While it might be tempting for Arians to try to keep a speed weapon like Jackson, the wide receiver’s relationship with Tampa Bay is likely beyond repair. Jackson and quarterback Jameis Winston just haven’t been able to get on the same page the past two seasons, and Jackson has made no secret about his frustrations. The Bucs are just $16.5 million under the salary cap heading into 2019, and with Jackson being owed $10 million — none of which is guaranteed — a clean break makes the most sense for everyone.
Laine is 100 percent right. To quote Warren Sapp on Keyshawn Johnson, “Not saying that he couldn’t play the game because he was a good player. But was he one of these rare air special guys? No.”
And Joe would even debate Jackson’s value. The best word to describe him is “dangerous.” When he wants to, he can be a lethal return man. A gamewrecker. But he apparently isn’t interested in that.
Is he fast? You know it! But as has been proven time and again in the NFL throughout the years, playing receiver is much more than just being fast or Usain Bolt would be playing for the Cowboys or the Belicheats.
And Joe would argue Jackson was, at best, the Bucs’ No. 3 receiver this past year and maybe you could argue No. 4. Mike Evans and Adam Humphries had much bigger impacts with the offense than Jackson, and when is the last time Jackson had a (positive) impact on the offense? Joe can remember Chris Godwin having a couple of positive games more recently.
For all the hollering and crying and bellyaching about America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, not being able to connect with Jackson, this Jackson may be the most overrated player Joe has seen in some time.
Some people act as if this cat is Jerry Rice, Lynn Swann and Randy Moss rolled into one.
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:05 am
He and GMC gone and gone, $24 mill freed up!
BTW…the great Evan Silva at Rotoworld (founding member of PFT with Florio) has posted his 2019 Free Agency Tracker as of yesterday. While franchise tags will be applied to a lot of the top tire talent, it still is a very useful tool to strategize. Check it out.
This site needs to add one, for conversation’s sake, etc. Last year I believe it took a while before one was “up” on this site.
Go Bucs!
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:06 am
*top tier talent
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:07 am
This situation is a shame, really. DJax is so electric at times ( walk off punt return vs Giants when he was an Eagle comes to mind ) and can loosen up the back end of a defense just being on the field. The damage is likely too much at this point. As Bucco Bruce said…( paraphrase )…” there’s usually an a-hole in the receiver room.”
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:11 am
This is another indictment of jason licht. How does this fool still have a job? Trade deadline comes and licht knows he has a malcontent who sleeps in meetings and doesnt like jameis then whey not ship him out for a pick. Again what has licht brought to the bucs but losing seasons on losing seasons. Fire jason licht and his bumbling staff
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:12 am
He be the boogie man.
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:19 am
This is on Licht….he should have traded DJax before the deadline…I am sure DJax agent had some deals on the table….sumpthin is better than nut’n…could someone wipe the egg off Jason’s face…
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:22 am
Joe, I bet Fitz thinks Djax was special but go ahead and make excuses for your qb!(again)
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:25 am
I actually looked up the game book stats on every game for DJax. Let the numbers speak for themselves:
Game 1: Fitz 5-5, 146 yds, 2 TD
Game 2: Fitz 4-4, 129 yds, 1 TD
Game 3: Fitz 5-3, 27 yds, 0 TD
Game 4: Fitz/JW 8-5, 112 yds, 0 TD (Fitz 107 yds, JW 5yds)
Game 5: bye
Game 6: JW 9-4, 77 yds, 0 TD
Game 7: JW 4-2, 25 yds, 0 TD
Game 8: JW/Fitz 8-3, 68 yds, 1 TD (JW 60yd TD, Fitz 8 yds)
Game 9: Fitz 4-2, 32 yds, 0 TD
Game 10: Fitz 8-5, 67 yds, 0 TD
Game 11: Fitz/JW 7-4, 38 yds, 0 TD (Fitz 26 yds, JW 12 yds)
Game 12: JW 8-3, 19 yds, 0 TD
Games 13-15: Did not play
Game 16: JW 4-1, 24 yds, 0 TD
Game 17: Did not play
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:39 am
We need that 10 million to put toward some badass linemen.Ba will see it that way,but he has to appear interested to possible get a trading partnerBottom line—Jackson thinks he is too good for the Tampa Bay area.
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:39 am
Ben yep he did think he was special until week 3 when Tomlin game planned for him. Then Fitz didn’t think he was so special for th rest of the year. You know, because he wasn’t.
Don’t be dumb, week 1 and 2 were flukes. Djax is overrated. Consider all of the facts before you post looking like an idiot. Like tmax.
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:43 am
Get that little chump outa here. Trade him.to a crap team that he doesnt want to play for for a 7th rounder and force his sorry ass into retirements
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:50 am
Jackson turns 33 this year.
No way will he get anywhere near $10M on the open market.
Bucs will wind up having to cut DJax because no team is dumb enough to trade anything for a 1 year, $10M rental of a 32 year old Diva receiver who gives full effort only when he feels like it….
BTW – I lost a lot of respect for Dirk Koetter this year considering the way he sucked up to DJax at every opportunity while said Diva was doing nothing but dividing the locker room, refusing to field punts, giving minimal effort on certain plays, etc….
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:13 am
Our daily Djax is gone! article……..the over and under on Djax articles is 227.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:20 am
Why the hurry to jettison talent?
Is he a malcontent because he recognized and lost respect for garbage coaching staff ?
Maybe he was frustrated because his talent was wasted and team sucked because coaches sucked.
Give Ariens chance to make it work- if it doesn’t work, there’s plenty of time to release him or trade him.
All these stories about sleeping in meetings, confronting coaches- who cares if they win. Coaching staff was weak from Koetter to assistants.
Tampa Media loves to sacrifice somebody every year- last year was Doug Martin, this year DJax,
In the meantime, the team still stinks despite the agendas.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:26 am
There’s a reason he can’t find a team to keep him. Once he leaves us he’ll be heading to his 4th team. That alone says something.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:28 am
Not exactly in a “hurry” but when a guy is an expensive cancer trying to wreck the head of your franchise quarterback, he’s pretty much greasing his gears to get out of town.
There is also this little thing called a salary cap to be concerned with.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:33 am
He’s a goner
Hopefully we can put this DJax smear campaign to bed
Let’s get back on the I worship Jameis campaign
I mean wow. Obsession doesn’t even describe the level of crazy here
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:36 am
Lead MeJax on until the very last minute.
Then cut his narcissistic ass.
Ever watch his Instagram feed?
Dude just thinks he’s the alpha and the omega…and everything in between.
Additionally, his grammar is that if a third grader.
Fast isn’t forever, stupid is.
Shoo. Be gone.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:42 am
It’s hilarious that we suck so bad and are up against the cap.
Licht sucks. Arians is going to be another retread bust.
Another 3 years down the tubes. Please, hire a President of Football Ops not named Glazer.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:48 am
Joe, does $16.5 million include the loss of Grimes?
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:49 am
We are discussing this today because of Licht !….he stepped in a sheet hole and is still stuck….he had more than enough clues DJax was quitting and still did not cut his loses…now he has this bad story and nothing in return….I am sure DJax’s agent had a few play off teams ready to deal with the Bucs….which is why DJax completely melted down and turned his back after the trade deadline …Licht got ghetto mugged in front of the other 31 GM’s and owners….his history and street cred in those circles is that of an easy mark….deadman walking
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:57 am
AlabamaBucsFan Says:
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:48 am
Joe, does $16.5 million include the loss of Grimes?
Grimes has no contract for 2019, therefore he isn’t included in the cap figures.
January 23rd, 2019 at 9:58 am
just another talented player this soft, mentally weak franchise was unable to manage. it’s not the players fault the bucs organization is a laughingstock that receives less respect than US Congress.
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:03 am
You can’t replace Djax with anyone better.
You can’t replace Jamies with anyone better.
Keep both, make ’em hug and kiss it out.
No Desean Jackson = No 2020 Super Bowl
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:07 am
TMax
I don’t think you can have less respect than US Congress, unless you’re one of the Lobbyist customers enjoying the Whore Houses of Congress.
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:09 am
Down in the dirt doug you are right we could put 10 mil in a bad ass lineman. So let Jackson, Grimes, Benenoch, Dotson, Ryan Smith, Rodgers, Conte, Fitzpatrick, Gholston, Curry, and Allen go and build a bad ass roster.
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:14 am
AlteredEgo Says:
January 23rd, 2019 at 8:19 am
This is on Licht….he should have traded DJax before the deadline…I am sure DJax agent had some deals on the table….sumpthin is better than nut’n…could someone wipe the egg off Jason’s face…
Very simple, willing to bet the bus talked to Arians early this least season, the only way he would come to Tampa was for us to keep Litch. Nothing else make sense, worth A Litch, Arians knew exactly he would be in full control. BA will have final call on everything.
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:21 am
bye djax
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:31 am
Interesting.
Rotoworld lists Donovan Smith as the #2 tackle to be a free agent, yet Tampa fans want him gone?
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:40 am
Btw, our cap is not nearly as bad as people make out. Several guys come off the books this year.
Grimes 7,000,000
Fitz 3,300,000
Conte 2,500,000
J Rodgers 1,650,000
R Griffin 1,125,000
C Santos 790,000
Sanborn 1,015,000
Taylor 1,040,000
That alone is saving $18,420,000
DJax adds another $10,000,000
So thats an extra $28m plus
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:52 am
“You can’t replace DJax with anyone better”.
These morons caught up in 2008 Madden hype really need to get with the decade.
He has never been consistent. Hasn’t won a playoff game since he was a rookie. Injured frequently, and just flat out OVERRATED.
2008 superstar matched with our 2008 scheme, I wonder why things didn’t work out for the Timid Turd Koetter?? Maybe we should make more adjustments to keep Desean happy though, right???
January 23rd, 2019 at 10:52 am
Jean Lafitte wins best poster award, all-time.
January 23rd, 2019 at 11:00 am
Stick to the topic at hand Bonzai.
Since you insisted on diverting the subject though – its not that Bucs fans want D. Smith “gone” – its more like no way do you invest $11-$12 Million per year on a multi-year deal with guarantees for a player who couldn’t even step up and make a case for paying him anywhere near that amount in a contract year.
Smith is something like the 20th best LT in the league give or take a couple spots. There’s no shame in being the 20th best in the world at something obviously – but a commensurate pay level for what Donovan has put on tape in 4 years is about $6-$7M per year.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus will convince Donovan he is worth much more – but Smith’s tape says differently.
The Bucs may wind up franchising Smith for 1 year to see if he can improve with better coaching and also because they probably feel kind of stuck without an adequate replacement to protect Winston’s blind side.
If you ask me though – Licht should make an offer in the range of what’s reasonable – and if Smith/Rosenhaus won’t negotiate in good faith somewhere around that reasonable level – you let him walk and let some other team grossly overpay an average at best LT.
Odds are that you can get 85-90% of Smith’s capabilities for 10% of Smith’s pending cost out of either Liedtke or Wester….
January 23rd, 2019 at 11:39 am
And Bonzai – regarding your list and the alleged $18.4M in “savings” – that’s not a thing.
None of those players you mentioned are under contract. So there is no “saving” involved.
As it stands with the contracts in place – the Bucs are about $7M under the cap for 2019 right now. And that’s without having Kwon signed. Without having Humphries signed. Without paying what it costs to have a decent backup QB under contract. All of which need to and will happen. Also need about $9M for the incoming pool of rookie’s contracts.
The only way to get any substantial amount of cap relieve to make those 3 moves and other FA moves that are needed to improve this team (and also have $ to pay incoming rookie class) – is to cut some players who are currently under contract.
The best candidates for that in order of greatest actual “savings” are:
McCoy – $13M
DJax $10M
LD54 – $9.75M
Curry – $8M
Cam Brate – $7M
Beau Allen – $5M
Dotson – $4.8M
Gholston – $3.75M
Unrein – $3.75M
Anger – $3M
Evan Smith – $2M
So – from that list – IMO it would make sense to cut DJax, Curry, Allen, Gholston, Unrein and Anger
Creating a net “savings” of around $33M + the $7M already available under the cap means you head into this year with about $40M to “spend”.
Sign Kwon for about $7M. Sign Humphries for about $5M. And head into Free Agency with roughly ($28M minus $9M for rookie pool) $19M to sign a reliable vet QB, sign a couple good free agents and fill a few holes created by cuts and need. (CB, Punter, vet DT, etc.)
January 23rd, 2019 at 11:44 am
^^^especially Liedtke. He reminds me so much of Ted Larsen.
January 23rd, 2019 at 11:47 am
I don’t think Santo will be let go. Bring in a couple of PK to compete.
January 23rd, 2019 at 12:03 pm
Liedtke is our bulldog RG and Cappa should be groomed for RT if Smith don’t move over.
January 23rd, 2019 at 1:14 pm
D-Jax is no different than Talib or Blount. Funny how they went other places with all of the “baggage” they had and thrived elsewhere. And won Super Bowls.
The problem isn’t the players necessarily in Tampa. Its the slew of crappy head coaches we’ve had since 2009.
Wake up, people. Jackson needs to be on this team. I’m sorry that Winston can’t hit him deep but every other QB D-Jax has played with didn’t have a problem. Yet we kick out the WR? Laughable.
If this website made as many excuses for Jameis as it did for other players, we could all take off the pewter colored glasses.
January 23rd, 2019 at 2:06 pm
Amen @Snook
January 23rd, 2019 at 4:40 pm
@Bonzai … “our cap is not nearly as bad as people make out. Several guys come off the books this year.” Bonzai, our CAP situation is FAR WORSE than what you make it out to be. Like Pickgrin said … “None of those players you mentioned are under contract. So there is no “saving” involved.”
Spotrac.com has the maximum Bucs salary CAP for 2019 sitting at $191,494,782 and our active contracts at $184,514,807 and dead CAP at $96,744 leaving us with $6,883,231.
Overthecap.com has our total liabilities at $182,381,266 and the (projected) salary CAP at $194,574,626 leaving us with $12,193,360 in CAP room.
Quite a disparity. Sounds like we have someplace between $7 – $12 mil CAP space to play with right now. Players who are no longer under contract have already been factored in Bonzai. But the Bucs do have a number of actions that they can take to increase it quite a bit:
o DJax (release) … $10 mil saved.
o Unrein (release) … $3.75 mil saved
o Spence (release) … $1.9 mil saved
o Dotson (release) … $4.8 mil saved
o GMC (renegotiate, trade or release) … $6.5 – $13 mil saved
o Curry (same) … $4.0 – $8.0 mil saved
That’s an additional $31 – $41 mil minimum CAP savings right there (plus what we started with). Of course with that CAP space (someplace between $38 – $51 mil) we’ve got a BIG mountain to climb to include quality (starting or key rotational) players in the following positions (minimum): Slot WR, 2 RB, 3 OLinemen, 2 DE, 1-2 DT, MLB, SLB, Outside CB, (hopefully) Kicker. 13 quality players with $38 – $51 to play with. Personal assessment Bonzai: We’re screwed … UNLESS we nail the draft this year.
January 24th, 2019 at 11:24 pm
Fire MeJax!