Bucs (Finally) Sign Ex-AAF Safety
April 10th, 2019
UPDATED 4:42 p.m. – It is unbelievable to Joe that when the AAF folded its tents, Bucs scouts, armed with contracts, didn’t flood the league’s suddenly-out-of-work players with offers.
After all, we are talking about an NFL team that had 22 losses in two years and for much of last season had the worst defense any human being ever laid eyes upon.
So now a week after the AAF — run by former NFL folks — shut down operations, the Bucs finally decided they might be able to find someone that could be a backup in a (formerly?) gutless defense.
Today the Bucs signed ex-San Antonio Commanders safety Orion Stewart, per an official Bucs news release.
Now Joe isn’t saying these AAF players could be the difference between the Bucs making a Super Bowl run and another 11-loss season, but Joe finds it hard to believe a half-dozen or so AAF defenders couldn’t at least give the Bucs depth heading into training camp and maybe a few could make the team.
It got to a point that Joe believed the Bucs were saying to scouts of AAF expatriates, “Yeah, we’ve had an atrocity of a defense the past two years but we’re good. We don’t need any help, but thanks.”
Stewart, 25, was an undrafted out of Baylor and signed with the Broncos in 2017. Time with the Bills, Giants and Redskins, as well as the Broncos, didn’t result in any regular-season snaps.
The interception that started our last drive. 😍
Get another! @OStewBU pic.twitter.com/pNPtm2R6Ho
— San Antonio Commanders (@aafcommanders) February 10, 2019
April 10th, 2019 at 4:27 pm
Lol Why is this news? Man i love my Bucs but we suck so bad that we actually have to take into consideration that every joe blow off the streets can give us a chance at hope again…#Depressing
April 10th, 2019 at 4:35 pm
I like it! A few teams have signed players and why not? Can’t hurt …
April 10th, 2019 at 4:43 pm
Finally found a player that played Football in 2019…..can’t be all bad.
Maybe he’ll give MJ Stewart a run for his money.
April 10th, 2019 at 4:50 pm
Licht loves depth and backups, just doesn’t love signing dominate starters
April 10th, 2019 at 5:21 pm
I agree Dreghost. It’s a sad day when the Bucs BIG signing is an undrafted safety who was with 4 teams since 2017. Oh ya, plus the now-defunct San Antonio Commanders; we mustn’t forget that. The only FA news I care to hear right now is that Licht has FINALLY signed an experienced outside corner or a starting-caliber right guard or a quality RB to complement Peyton Barber.
April 10th, 2019 at 5:51 pm
JBF’s the words I read just blow my mind. You complain about players Carl Nasib but you are complaining the Bucs didn’t sign any players off the AAF. Sheesh… the spin zone.
April 10th, 2019 at 5:52 pm
Dreg and Defense, You may not realize it but there was some talent in the AAF. I’ll go out on a limb and say that at least one guy from that league will be a NFL starter next year. In fact most teams started signing guys from the AAF as soon as they were allowed. This is new not because of who we signed but because they weren’t players for the most sought after talent. Someone from that league will be a star. Hell, arena football produced at least 1 HOFer in warner as well as Greg White and Matt Bryant just to name a few. These guys have a better shot to make the team than undrafted free agents and they are more mature players with more film to evaluate. So basically what I’m getting at is that if you think this isn’t news, that’s a you problem because almost every GM in the league disagrees with you.
April 10th, 2019 at 6:12 pm
The Bucs still don’t have a #1 corner… and no, Davis isn’t a #1 corner, he’s a fringe #2 corner at this point in his career (although he showed promise of being an OK #2 corner if he keeps improving). Also if the idea is VH3 is a #3 corner, then that’s a huge risk based on his health. I personally think VH3 could be a solid corner if he can stay healthy, the issue is he can’t stay healthy and I’m not betting my season on him being healthy.
How the Bucs haven’t addressed not having a #1 corner is beyond me. Unless they plan on trading down to take a top corner in the draft, this is going to tank the defense. Remember in 2003 when Brian Kelly got hurt how it destroyed the Bucs defense. Point being even if you have Sapp and Rice rushing the QB, if you don’t have two solid corners then even with the best pass rush in the world it doesn’t matter.
April 10th, 2019 at 6:21 pm
Boy it sure seems that Licht is putting alot of deferred hope, trickery, or delayed foolish gratification in whatever he thinks will transpire for him and BA during the draft.
Hopefully the media will properly geill him hard and pointed, then re-approach again during the Q & A portion of his pre-draft press conference coming in next 10 days or so. No softball questions, answers allowed. Because if season ticket holders were there, they’d ask some pretty pointed questions.
Go Bucs!
April 10th, 2019 at 6:22 pm
Meant…grill him hard
April 10th, 2019 at 6:46 pm
Apollos O lineman and Cb resener should have been signed an hour after aaf folded.
April 10th, 2019 at 7:02 pm
Not saying anything bad about any of those players from the AAF, but there was a reason why none of them were currently on NFL rosters when they signed with the AAF. I dont see how it is some kind of big surprise that many of them still aren’t and won’t be on NFL rosters when the NFL season starts.
College football is full of guys right now that will be available to be drafted and signed in a few weeks.
April 10th, 2019 at 8:10 pm
Exactly gotbbucs!, Sybil, I mean the Joe’s, aren’t happy unless they are bitchin about something.
April 10th, 2019 at 8:21 pm
cant be any worse than what we got
April 10th, 2019 at 8:22 pm
If you were so surprised Joe, then why didn’t you mention it earlier instead of dwelling on if we should draft a DE or a LB.
You might want to expand your overall thinking about this team and check your tunnel vision at the gate.
Any updates on DJax?
It’s been awhile………..
April 10th, 2019 at 8:46 pm
I’d like to see the Bucs bring in Trent Richardson for a tryout.
April 10th, 2019 at 9:30 pm
Do you think this kid can play goalie for the Bolts. Vasy can’t. What an utter crumble by Vasy.
April 10th, 2019 at 10:04 pm
Joe doesn’t complain about Carl Nassib. Joe does complain about people thinking he’s Lyle Alzado so, therefore, the Bucs shouldn’t draft an edge rusher at No. 5.
April 10th, 2019 at 10:13 pm
“Yes! Family Dollar free agency!
…and the sheep thinks we can win with this Buffon GM?”
Kobe Faker
April 10th, 2019 at 10:38 pm
Fans that say the Bucs suck are not fans at all. We had a great offense, didn’t we?
As far as the AAF, I knew a year before it launched that it would bomb within months…and it didn’t even last 2 months.
First, they billed themselves as having the same rules as the NFL…but when they aired their first game, the rules were substantially different.
Second, they claimed they had enough funds to run for years, yet were in trouble less than two weeks into their first season. That’s just bad business management.
It was not the scheduling. It was the management. Heck, they even had a TV deal!
XFL will not even get off the ground again, so don’t rely on that.
April 10th, 2019 at 10:40 pm
Carl Nassib deserves a shot. He’s earned it.
After Ghoulston though, I can see why anyone would be hesitant.
Personally, I think he’s got strong potential…but that doesn’t mean we should not draft a pass rusher. Nassib can continue to develop and maybe eventually replace JPP.
April 11th, 2019 at 4:32 am
Licht is a derelict. He let Adams, our only bright spot- 3 pics in one game- go. This guy has his head so far up his **** it’s absolutely insane and mind boggling. It like he is in some alternate universe of total imcompetence. It like he’s never watched football. I can’t start listing his blunders, it will make me ill.
April 11th, 2019 at 8:14 am
@Bonzai,
I love you bro, but Nassib can’t carry JPP’s jock, let alone fit into it. And I love Nassib. Great pick up by “trading up for a kicker” Licht.
JPP’s stats first 3 years in NFL: 27.5 sacks, 5 FF
Nassib’s stats his first 3 years: 12 sacks, 2 FF
April 11th, 2019 at 9:00 am
They had a good safety in Andrew Adams & let him walk. Licht worse Gm in Bucs history.
April 11th, 2019 at 3:54 pm
Bonzai – Vince has literally taken out, in total, more than a half-billion in WWE stocks and put the money into his Alpha brand which is what the XFL will run under. If you think Vince is taking a half-billion of his own money and won’t even get the XFL launched then you’re nuts. Now, if they have a second season or not, who knows, but keep in the mind the first time the XFL was cancelled was because NBC wanted out and it was something like a 50/50 partnership.
I don’t really think the XFL will be successful, but it will get off the ground, in particular if they compete for kids in college. That’s where they can make some noise, if they’ll give kids $100k or more to play in the XFL as opposed to going to college. Anywho that’s the rumors, that the XFL is going that route, so if that’s true they will have a flood of college players going there.
April 12th, 2019 at 10:53 am
I made posts that we should be picking up talent from AAF ever since the league folded. All Licht had to do was pick up the phone and call the HCs of the Apollos, Birmingham Iron, and San Antonio and ask who to look for on their film of their games and then see for themselves. The Apollos alone had Offensive and Defensive Linemen that would make great backups for us and a Star CB as well as a Playmaking LB that could start for us. Licht dropped the ball on bringing in talent as great as Nassib was last year for very little cost. He is putting all his eggs in the draft alone and that is not good enough. BA should have told him so!