Giving Props Where Due
March 21st, 2019
Nailed it.
[So often we love to pound on people who get stuff wrong. Joe deals with this crowd daily. But how about we give credit to someone who gets something dead-on right? That would be former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms. A year ago he barked about something with the Bucs that proved so accurate it is spooky. Joe is going to re-publish this article because it is still relevant a year later. Hat tip commenter “LUVMYBUCS.”]
Originally published March 20, 2018.
Joe once had a tax accountant who, when going through Joe’s finances this time of year and paying close attention to anything that remotely could be a write-off, would look at Joe when all the paperwork was gone through and say sternly if not loudly, “We need more!”
He was Joe’s kind of an accountant.
And Joe could hear the accountant’s words after former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms discussed the recent transactions of the Bucs after the first five days of free agency.
Simms is down on the Bucs’ defense. And in his eyes, despite signing Vinny Curry, Beau Allen and Mitch Unrein in recent days, the Bucs need more.
“This is a team that is deficient on the defensive side of the football and the defensive line especially,” Simms said Monday morning on “PFT Live,” co-hosting with the creator, curator and overall guru of Pro Football Talk, the great Mike Florio.
Later, when the topic of conversation came to the Ndamukong Suh Traveling Circus, which just made a stop in Los Angeles, where the Rams are trying to add Suh alongside Aaron Donald for a truly frightening defensive tackle tandem, Simms wondered why the Bucs aren’t in talks for Suh.
Simms rattled off four teams with salary cap space and said each team, including the Bucs, could use Suh. Given what Simms said of the Bucs just a few minutes prior — and he is absolutely right — it got Joe thinking: If the Rams with defensive wizard Wade Phillips can find a way to use Suh alongside Donald, why couldn’t the Bucs find a way to use Suh alongside Gerald McCoy?
The Rams are not the lone playoff team in the Suh sweepstakes. So too are the Titans. Playoff teams!
Joe does not expect the Bucs to pursue Suh, especially after signing three defensive linemen. But Simms has a point.
Look, the team can afford Suh and it’s not like the team couldn’t use Suh. You know: worst defense in the NFL, can’t rush the passer and is coming off a five-win season (if not for a lightning bolt pass from America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, it would have been a four-win season).
Hello?
Yes, Joe understands the Bucs need cap space to pay for their young core of talent around the corner. Joe gets it. And no matter how logical that position is, it still rings hollow to fans who haven’t seen the Bucs in a playoff game in over a decade and have only seen two winning seasons in a decade. And their beloved team is mired in Buccaneers Cove (last place in the NFC South) yet again.
It would be nice if the Bucs could, you know, make the playoffs before the powers that be publicly wring their hands in despair over how to pay younger players.
To some fans, citing future payments to players on a team that struggles to win games, well, Joe can see how some fans take that the wrong way.
Here we are a year later, and — voila! — the Bucs are letting young players go because they cannot afford them and the defensive line still needs an upgrade, so much so that they should spend a No. 5 overall pick on an edge rusher.
Way to go Chris Simms. He called it.
March 21st, 2019 at 12:31 am
weirdly, none of the DL the bucs signed in FA are the reason for the cap crunch. it’s JPP’s money combined with big (necessary) raises for this rookie core have stacked up tens of millions that weren’t in play last march. in hindsight it might’ve been more fun to spend the money on Suh than Vinny Curry + Unrein + Allen, but that’s hindsight for you
March 21st, 2019 at 12:32 am
Really? Praising Simms?
We traded for JPP 2 days after this article, so by your argument the front office was right? Obviously they didn’t just stick with Unrein, Allen, and Curry.
When you trade draft picks (cheap contracts) for expensive players, you are going to get into cap trouble. Couple that with a QB that got a major pay raise this year and voila!! Cap hell.
March 21st, 2019 at 1:28 am
Joe
Respect
March 21st, 2019 at 1:41 am
Some quotes from the original article, these are always fun…
———-
Tbbucs3 Says:
March 20th, 2018 at 12:35 am
1 year deal only.
But Licht won’t do this because he’s to focused on his Fanasty that one of his budget free agency players will magically breakout into an elite superstar.
———-
Rod Munch Says:
March 20th, 2018 at 2:56 am
Lets see… Suh or three 3rd rate defensive lineman + millions of dollars… Humm… tough decision.
Oh wait, the Bucs are changing the “culture” remember? You know “culture” – the thing teams say when they’re losers and they don’t address being losers but need to say something to media, they talk about “culture”. It’s like when you blow a draft pick and get some guy that can’t play they always talk about his “heart” and how much “heart” he has.
Anywho it won’t happen because it’s not the safe boring and predictable thing to do. Getting Suh is what you do when you need to win now – and everyone knows Dirk and Licht have plenty of time to build a winner.
———
Bird Says:
March 20th, 2018 at 6:50 am
Dude is a 340 lb child Who performs as a clown on sundays
———-
SCBucsFan Says:
March 20th, 2018 at 7:10 am
Exactly Bird. He won’t make this team better even if he makes the line better. Rams would be crazy putting this head case anywhere near Donald.
———-
March 21st, 2019 at 2:24 am
Suh did nothing for the rams and if they had signed him they probably would have d James and in desperate need of 2 d lineman instead of one because he’d probably be cut along with Curry for being to expensive and not matching production kinda like Geraldine. Had Vea not been injured to start the season Geraldine would already be cut because despite missing the first 6 games and taking time to develop the stats are very close.
March 21st, 2019 at 4:40 am
Suh’s market value is a tad over $15 mil. Had we signed him last year … like Simms & apparently you Joe think we should have … we’d be in even worse salary Cap hell than we are right now. AND we probably wouldn’t have drafted Vea so right now we’d have a REALLY OLD DLine. But surely it would’ve been worth it because Suh would’ve improved Smitty’s defense tremendously. Ya right, we’ll go with that.
March 21st, 2019 at 6:14 am
Slow couple of days for relevant football news, I guess.
March 21st, 2019 at 6:28 am
Butt munch I mean rod munch.
Lol
Hahaha
You are one creepy dude. I really mean that too. Pulling up comments from a year ago to try and prove a point like you were so right …Not surprized though.
Suh stats – 59 tackles and 4.5 sacks last year. And He was paid 14 mil for that. Tackles are fine but are you kidding me.
That defense was good in spite of Suh
McCoy had 6 sacks and was ripped here.
Suh would have been crucified for those stats.
Don’t you find it weird that Suh still is a free agent. Nobody wants This guy in their locker room
You think you are right so often yet It’s just the opposite.
Thanks for sharing though.
Anywho….todaloo…
Signed
The Rod …the Dos Equis guy – the most interesting man the world.
March 21st, 2019 at 6:29 am
Ladies and gentleman …I give you rodd munch
March 21st, 2019 at 7:19 am
Suh can’t hit Djax deep, Suh can’t cover WR’s and Suh can’t kick FG ‘s. There were multiple problems on this team last year.
March 21st, 2019 at 7:22 am
And Suh played next to Aaron Donald the most dominant force in the NFL. And their edge rushers were decent. So Suh got single coverage. Donald gets doubled almost every single play.
And he had those stats. For 14 mil.
😂
March 21st, 2019 at 8:05 am
“Yes, Joe understands the Bucs need cap space to pay for their young core of talent around the corner.”….The talent that just walked out the door?
Thank god Licht was so strategic with the cap during last years 5-11 season so we could lose two of most productive players but resign probably the most questionable.
March 21st, 2019 at 8:45 am
Simms has been groomed the last few years to follow Phil into the booth. He is superb at X and O of the game and always delivers a nugget. The Simms Lefkoe podcast was one of the best on NFL and I listened daily.
March 21st, 2019 at 9:22 am
Bird, “anywho” – funny! Don’t worry, he’s crafting his oh so witty response as we speak.
March 21st, 2019 at 9:29 am
smitty wouldnt have known what to do with suh…just like he wouldnt have known what to do with derwin james…..
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
March 21st, 2019 at 9:47 am
Bird, Suh was a NT on the Rams d line. He’s not gonna get many sacks there. McCoy was a 3-tech
March 21st, 2019 at 10:13 am
59 tackles is not bad for Suh, GMC only had 17. Suh more valuable than GMC.
March 21st, 2019 at 10:41 am
Suh? Uh one player is not going to turn the pirate ship around. It’s still a 53 man outfit. The only way this team is going to get better is to draft better. This team has a history of bad drafts.
March 21st, 2019 at 5:33 pm
Bird, at least you’re consistent with doubling down on being stupid. LOL!