Dreaming Of The Dinner Bell
December 5th, 2019
“Fit.”
Joe has been bellyaching for a pass rush for years, maybe a decade, to save this football team. Now that the Bucs have a decent pass rush, the team is playing meaningful games in December.
See?
For example, what has transformed the 49ers into one of the best teams in the NFL virtually overnight? A ferocious pass rush.
To quote the late George Allen, “You can cover with 25 guys but if you don’t rush the quarterback, you are in trouble.”
You see where Joe is coming from?
Now the Bucs currently have 33 sacks, good enough to be tied for 13th in the NFL, or middle of the pack. And of those 33 sacks, 26.5 and a half very well could walk out the front door of One Buc Palace in a few weeks, never to return again after the free agency dinner bell rings in March.
The players who make up those 26.5 sacks are all scheduled to be free agents this offseason (NFL sacks leader Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Carl Nassib, Ndamukong Suh, Sam Acho and Beau Allen).
Joe has no idea at this moment if any of those will return, but it is a safe bet some won’t. So being proactive to blunt the drop in pass-rushing talent or even upgrade is important.
And that’s why Field Yates of BSPN sees Tampa as the best fit for a certain defensive end who is expected to be a free agent: Jacksonville’s Yannick Ngakoue.
Yannick Ngakoue, DE
Best fit: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jason Pierre-Paul restructured his contract and is now a free agent this offseason, as is Shaquil Barrett. So what the Bucs need is what Ngakoue presents: pure, relentless and consistent pass rush. The price tag will not be cheap — a franchise tag could be the most likely option in Jacksonville — but the Buccaneers need to capitalize on a roster that in some spots is ready to win.
Would Joe loves to see this? Absolutely! And Joe knows there were folks who work within the walls of One Buc Palace who were very high on Ngakoue when he came out of Maryland. For reasons unknown, the Bucs didn’t follow through on these guys’ evaluations.
Will Ngakoue cost a significant chunk of Team Glazer loot to buy? He sure will.
This is one reason Joe gets on his knees on draft night and begs and pleads with a higher authority for the Bucs to see the light and draft a pass rusher.
Drafting and developing a pass rusher is WAY cheaper than having to buy a top-shelf pass rusher.
Joe can think of worse ways to burn Team Glazer’s loot.
December 5th, 2019 at 3:14 pm
If we can get him and Barrett then sure, but if it’s one or the other I’d keep Barrett. Barrett surely isn’t walking out the door. You can remove him from that list. The bucs still have the tag so if Barrett wants a long term deal he will have to negotiate with the bucs.
December 5th, 2019 at 3:15 pm
Joe, letting Shaq Barrett walk out the door would be a tragedy, this is his first year getting number one reps and has youth on his side. I think their is a really chance that JPP comes back because i think he loves playing with longtime friend Lavonte David and sees that he could be part of a significant turnaround. I would imagine with Sue’s age and salary requirements that he would be out the door and could also see Carl Nassib getting paid but my hope is that we would retain him as well for his motor and work ethic.
December 5th, 2019 at 3:18 pm
Barrett>Yannick
December 5th, 2019 at 3:21 pm
so… would we rather have him and a rookie 3rd-4th rounder or Nassib and JPP…
I’m kinda leaning the rookie and Ngakoue.. Barrett is a must, even if you have to franchise him.
December 5th, 2019 at 3:24 pm
Weird take. We’re more likely to re-sign some combo or all of our pending 3 DE FA’s than go after another teams DE I’d think but wtfdik
Especially knowing he has already angled for more $$ than any of our 3 DE’s have publicly
December 5th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
Let William Gholston walk and let Suh go try to keep Nassib, JPP, Shaq, Franchise Jamies and try to trade Howard for a third or fourth round pick.
December 5th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
The team is not playing meaningful football in December. Yannick would be great!
December 5th, 2019 at 3:33 pm
I must have missed something….. when did we start playing meaningful games in December? When you say meaningful do you mean draft position?
Also I remember some Joe wanting to trade both JPP and Barrett. We had the pass rush you wanted for the last decade and then you said trade em away for pics….
December 5th, 2019 at 3:45 pm
Meaningful games?
December 5th, 2019 at 3:48 pm
First will he be a free agent. The franchise tag is 17.128 million for defensive lineman. I think that Jacksonville is likely to tag him.
@LordCornelius
I agree with you. 1st priority is go try to get both Barrett and JPP back. We know those guys work well on this team. If you decide to invest at those positions, which I do; Why not go with guys that you already know work for this defensive coordinator instead of guys you hope will work within your defensive scheme. Barrett 64 million over 4 years. JPP 40 million over 3 years.
@Joe.
I don’t watch Jacksonville. Do you know if Ngakoue plays on both sides of the line like Barrett and JPP?
December 5th, 2019 at 3:52 pm
If we could somehow manage to retain Barrett and Nassib and swap JPP for Ngakoue, by all means. That would be a slam dunk signing.
Is that financially feasible? Highly unlikely.
Could you imagine how fearsome our pass rush would be if we managed to get those 3 guys alongside Vea and then were somehow also able to draft Derrick Brown out of Auburn? Holy shnikeys.
December 5th, 2019 at 3:55 pm
The guy has 6 sacks…Why is this an upgrade?
December 5th, 2019 at 3:55 pm
Idk Joe yea on paper it looks beautiful , however I’m very much ok with keeping what we have now in Barrett and JPP and drafting to replace either suh or Nassib but yes we do have money however idk if we should blow it all on that dline and not attack the secondary for at least 1-2 solid corners in FA we’ll see what Me.Licht does
December 5th, 2019 at 3:56 pm
Need to do both.
Pay to bring back Barrett, JPP and Nassib – draft a replacement for Suh in either 1st or 2nd rd (RT with the other high pick) and then draft another promising DE in the 3rd or 4th rd to develop along with Nelson. The trenches have been neglected for too long in the draft and its time to rectify that.
It will cost a pretty penny to sign Winston, Barrett, JPP and Nassib – probably around $60M if they Franchise tag Barrett ($16M), pay Winston around $25M, pay JPP around $11 or 12M and pay Nassib about $7M.
But you HAVE to bring back all 4 of those FA players next year. HAVE TO!!
The Bucs are going to have close to $100M to work with in 2020 – so its doable. Just have to be pretty careful with spreading that other $40M out among about 15 other needed players….
December 5th, 2019 at 3:58 pm
WhatTheBuc Says:
December 5th, 2019 at 3:14 pm
If we can get him and Barrett then sure, but if it’s one or the other I’d keep Barrett.
BINGO!!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
December 5th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
Imo JPP is just as important as Barrett
Make it happen
I have spoken
December 5th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
If JPP can still play…bring him back ,his leadership can not be bought…see recent history swinging and missing on DL…Barrett long term deal…JPP a 2 year Gloden NFL parachute…Nassib too…don’t need FA’s or high draft guys at DE…VV could use a 1 round playmate…the OL needs some SERIOUS early draft attention , more than 1 pick..
December 5th, 2019 at 4:37 pm
The only thing I worry about is if we over pay on like Nassib, yea I like him but he’s replaceable I feel, I really wanna keep jpp and Barrett for sure whatever everyone is thinking about the Bucs “not sure” about bringing Winston back is blind bc we all know he’s tied to this front office and coach sooooo
December 5th, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Can we Franchise Barrett AND Transition tag Jameis in same year yall? Or vice versa (seriously asking if we can use both tags in same year for WORST case scenario)
Go Bucs!!!
December 5th, 2019 at 5:02 pm
Well yes our passrush is slightly above average but it’s worth noting that JPP missed many games at the start. How has our passrush stacked up since JPP gotten back? Don’t know the stats but the eyeball test looks great……Especially here in the last few games. You couldake a case that it took JPP a few games to get his body back in NFL shape.
A big showing from the passrush in these last four games is a big deal. If these guys look like a top NFL(like they have lately) unit it’s a bad idea to make changes with a guy like Ngakoue…….If we have a top passrush unit you gotta do all you can to keep it together. That way you know what you have returning. Resign Barrett, JPP & Suh. If you can make it happen resign Nassib. Worst case you replace Nassib in the draft which probably should be done either way with JPP being up there in age(though I won’t bet against JPP defying father time)
December 5th, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Bucs will have 93 million in cap. I know we have a ton of free agents so we will likely lose someone but I think Barrett has to be signed at all costs… He will likely break Sapps all time season sack record. If it was me
1. Barrett
2. JPP
3. Nassib
In that order…
December 5th, 2019 at 5:07 pm
Oh and you sign Winston long-term also. Now you don’t have much money afterwards but you got your core that is talented enough to o contend.
Probably got just enough left to bring in a journeyman CB & an upside RB & fill out the rest of the roster with good depth pieces.
December 5th, 2019 at 5:10 pm
Joe, do you have a take on Shaqs recent comments on FA and staying in Tampa?
December 5th, 2019 at 5:15 pm
What did this guy do last Sunday against our “weak” o line?? I’ll pass I can only imagine how well he plays for us with a big fat contract
December 5th, 2019 at 5:37 pm
Yeah on 2nd thought, and after watch Shaq Barrett’s most recent interview, we cant let JPP go.
Shaq said hes talked with JPP and that they’re “in this together.”
Clearly JPPs presence and leadership are invaluable.
December 5th, 2019 at 6:20 pm
AwShbucs…..Thanks for sharing. Where did you hear that?
Really cool to hear after hearing a JPP quote Joe had the other day it’s clear he is a motivating factor for this team and pushing the lockerroom….Maybe, hopefully, Shaq can be a guy to take over a leadership role here and the one JPP can pass the torch to.
Gotta think we need to pay both these players to stay here…..That is if they are serious to building a winning culture around here!!!
Suh too.
December 5th, 2019 at 6:25 pm
Um, why throw this great player in the mix when we already have them?
No!
JPP and Barrett!!!! Thats where our money goes on the D.
If we’re gonna spend big, it better be on O line and RB! Maybe a vet CB….
December 5th, 2019 at 6:35 pm
agree 100% on this. a dominant d-line is in any game and wins championships. bucs need to focus on both lines. games are won in the trenches. true 100 years ago and true today. all play from QB to RB start with the line. same goes for defense.
December 5th, 2019 at 6:37 pm
Shaq is gonna make 16M+
JPP tore up his contract for 11.5 next year. Is it because he wants more?
Can we pay both of them?
I say we can’t afford not to.
Our secondary will stay cheap, our Oline gets cheaper with a rookie RT, draft a cheap mid round RB.
If you look at this team, we don’t NEED to spend a whole lot of money on positions other than pass rushers and D lineman.
There’s no excuse not to bring back JPP and Barrett.
December 5th, 2019 at 6:43 pm
We need a vet in the secondary for sure. We need fresh legs at RB, someone who can break a few. We need a RT and maybe a TE after Brate is traded.
Bring back Jameis, Jpp, Barrett. (Nassib, Suh most likely won’t be affordable)
Renew Godwin
Sign vet safety or CB and a DT/DE.
Draft RT, DT, EDGE, G/C, TE, WR
Play some defense, run the ball, cut down the turnovers, make our kicks, and enjoy the playoffs.
Your welcome Jason Licht.
December 5th, 2019 at 6:47 pm
it so shows how flighty Joe is in that he begs for pass rush for years… gets one… then says lets trade them all away for picks who may never amount to anything!!! ….. wasn’t that you saying lets trade jpp (who in my opinion is the soul reason for the turn around) and Barret while we still can so we can get a bunch of maybes and unproven players???? …. dam i am glad you are not the gm!!!……. so take your speech impediment talk somewhere else and let the big boys decide what is best for the team!!!
December 5th, 2019 at 7:00 pm
sign them all dirt cheap…
and have the glazers give each dude a heavy briefcase on the side…
if you know what i mean 🙂
December 5th, 2019 at 7:51 pm
Trade OJ for a 3rd or 4th round pick? Some of our posters produce pure gold on this side of the interweb. Every GM on the planet knows that OJ is 1st round talent. Tight ends in the NFL? Umm, there’s about 3 or 4 elite ones and then there’s OJ and the ones with the potential to be elite. We got a little glimpse on how Byron can utilize OJ. OJ is a serious weapon. The dumbest thing we can do is trade him away for borderline useless picks.
December 5th, 2019 at 7:52 pm
adam from ny. My man is watching “The Irishman” while deciding what to do with these guys. I like the approach.
December 5th, 2019 at 8:09 pm
They drafted Nelson to replace Nassib. Resigning Barrett and JPP is probably a must. Suh can probably test the waters but the Bucs should be willing to match anything up to about $7 million.
December 5th, 2019 at 8:16 pm
Jimmyjack watch his most recent locker room interview on YouTube
December 5th, 2019 at 8:45 pm
@AwShbucs. I like the sound of that as long as we are the team re-signing both of them. JPP and Shaq anchor our pass rush. Would love to keep Suh as well. I don’t care what anyone says. He’s played hard. Nassib – Meh. He alright. Nothing special. Beau Allen is gone. I’d like to bring the cheddar and keep Shaq and JPP. This would allow us to concentrate on the O Line. Need to replace Dotson and IMO Donovan Smith also. That dude is just good enough to stay average. Average at LT is not good enough.
December 5th, 2019 at 11:23 pm
We gotta sign Shaq and resign LVD who’s a free agent next year. He might be 29 but he can still be a great LB for the next five+ years if he wanted to. Amazing player year after year. Both get new contracts plus Devin White. Thats a serious LB corp for at least the next four years.