Last Season?
May 24th, 2021
Enforcer.
It’s possible the Bucs could look a whole lot different in 2022 than they will this year.
Joe understands there are published reports that include Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians all but promising he’ll return next season. Joe also remembers Arians saying just after the Super Bowl win, “We’ll see,” when asked about coaching after 2021.
Who knows if park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, Bucs-Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady will be back?
Yes, he’s under contract for two more years but that won’t prevent him from retiring if he’s had enough.
Then there are two studs on offense that will be high-priced free agents. One is wide receiver Chris Godwin. The other is center Ryan Jensen.
When Jensen signed in 2018, he was the league’s highest-paid center. And keeping Brady’s jersey clean will certainly get Jensen another handsome payday next year, maybe more than the Bucs can afford.
The following is not a knock on Jensen whatsoever and those that come after Joe are just looking for someone to rag on. But Jensen impresses Joe as a guy who is salary-focused. Good team dude, but in the immortal words of Rod Tidwell, it seems Jensen firmly believes in “Show me the money!”
Hey, you only play so long in the NFL and Jensen already has a ring. Who could blame him for going for a paycheck?
Brandon Thorn, an offensive line specialist, took to Twitter over the weekend to say if the Bucs lose Jensen, they will lose perhaps the finest center in the NFL.
Thorn just loves how Jensen plays angry.
This is how Jensen’s entire season went…truly unbelievable stuff.
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) May 23, 2021
Jensen’s season in a photo pic.twitter.com/lNch2BgxZi
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) May 23, 2021
Joe understands some folks do not like small-school players. If Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht selects a guy from a school no one heard of, they holler because he didn’t pick an SEC guy (or some local college football heretics will yell how he didn’t select a Big Ten lineman).
We all know Brady’s kryptonite is inside pressure. So let’s look at the interior Bucs offensive line:
Center: Ryan Jensen, Colorado State-Pueblo.
Left guard: Ali Marpet, Hobart College.
Right guard: Alex Cappa, Humboldt State.
Backup guard: Aaron Stinnie, James Madison.
Licht knows what the hell he is doing with small school offensive linemen. He also knows what the hell he is doing with Big Ten linemen.
In short, Licht knows what the hell he is doing with the offensive line.
And if the Bucs are going to allow Jensen to sign a big check elsewhere, Joe is confident Licht not only has a plan, but will do just fine finding a replacement.
The Bucs may have the best offensive line in the league. Built by a former Nebraska backup lineman himself.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:43 am
i believe they will sign jensen in the off season to a one year deal like they are getting in the habit of doing with other players…
but as with brady, 2022 will prolly be his last year here…
they aren’t going to throw the 3rd rounder in there to be brady’s protector in what might be tom’s final season…
he will speak up and say “bring back big red for another year, pay the man jason”…
if you’re a lineman fan, which i am, you simply gotta love big #66
May 24th, 2021 at 12:47 am
Those cutups of Jensen are priceless. What a beast. Or beast. At least through 2021.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:52 am
Robert Hainsey was drafted as a potential replacement. He’s already been told to start learning the position. Losing Jensen is how we resign Godwin or Vea.
May 24th, 2021 at 12:55 am
He’s staying!
I hate articles like this.
May 24th, 2021 at 2:02 am
Love this team
May 24th, 2021 at 2:50 am
yup…he’s fuggin’ stayin’…LFG
#TheCookIsHereToStay #GiveTheManAye14CaratGoldSpatchula
May 24th, 2021 at 2:51 am
14Karat*
May 24th, 2021 at 5:06 am
Much too premature to be talking about 2022. Bucs went all-in for 2021, and a number of contracts were ‘restructured’ to gain CAP-space so that we could re-sign our top players. It worked very well IMO, and we’re currently sitting with $3.1 mil in CAP space with 87 players under contract. That’s probably enough to sign our rookie class (when the salaries of the players they replace are considered). IOW we’re in acceptable shape for 2021.
But there’s a cost associated with that as the Falcons & Saints have found out. Both are currently in negative CAP-space territory (Falcons minus $6.7 mil and Saints minus $2.2 mil). Thus we hear rumors about Julio Jones maybe moving on, etc. Bummer for them; great for us. Of course, next year it’ll most likely be our turn in the barrel. But that’s NEXT year. Right now we’ve got an excellent crack at repeating as SB Champ.
May 24th, 2021 at 7:24 am
They can always franchise him for 2022 Brady’s last year also. If Tom wants him back, he’ll be back.
May 24th, 2021 at 7:48 am
Sorry but 2022 isn’t on my radar as radar at all. I want to enjoy the hell out of this year! 2022 will be what it will be.
May 24th, 2021 at 7:51 am
Joe how did the Bucs go from one of worst O-lines to the best with only one change to the line, a rookie right tackle. I think TB12 quick decisions and getting rid of the ball quickly has made the line look better.
May 24th, 2021 at 7:59 am
Not worried about 2022.
All-In for 2021.
Nothing else matters.
May 24th, 2021 at 8:15 am
Have to agree with the rest of the gang here. Let’s focus on 2021 right now. Nothing dumps cold water on the current euphoria like talking about key players leaving next year. We’ve got plenty of time to worry about that after we bring home another SB trophy.
May 24th, 2021 at 9:55 am
The Buc “pocket” got crushed before Ryan Jensen got here. Besides. He’s my kind of player.
May 24th, 2021 at 10:44 am
Of the entire offensive line, including left tackle…Center is the most difficult to replace without a drop-off in talent and ability. Don’t believe me?
Then you are not familiar with bucs history at the position. We’ve had some decent centers…but inbetween them were a lot of duds.
When you get a good center, you hold onto him as long as you can or until he becomes unreliable.
Jensen will stay a Buc until he drops off.
May 24th, 2021 at 10:46 am
And, to be fair…we went into this off season expecting to lose a bunch of starters…and it did not happen.
May 24th, 2021 at 10:51 am
Defense Rules Says
“Of course, next year it’ll most likely be our turn in the barrel. But that’s NEXT year.”
I agree.
But those teams managed to push things back for quite a while longer. There are some scenarios where it might not happen.
For example, if something were to happen to Brady and our freshly drafted QB came in and excelled, Brady might decide to retire earlier…and some of his money would no longer count against us.
And the one-year-deals will clear a LOT of space next year, potentially.
So we’ll see.
I personally do not like pushing things back like this…except for maybe QB. I guess you do what you must. But you are right…cap issues are coming our way.
Fans will have to give Licht some understanding for a couple years when they hit.
May 24th, 2021 at 11:38 am
JL did the impossible by bringing everyone back….He’ll do it again by keeping the train rolling AFTER 21….
GO BUCS!!!!!
May 24th, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Big Red is a blocking machine! Love that guy!
May 24th, 2021 at 12:30 pm
Depending on what happens with the cap next year, a lot of us may need to bid one of our favorite players goodbye. Good luck Licht!
May 24th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
Please!! Give me 10 more minutes of video of Jensen just manhandling guys! He is doing that grown men! How are they supposed to go home to their families after that??
May 24th, 2021 at 4:14 pm
This is why you always draft offensive and defensive line every year in the draft. You won’t be able to pay every lineman 10 million a season in a hard cap league. This will be Jensen’s last shot at a nice contract and he has to take it. BTW look at Stinnie. If Cappa takes a big deal elsewhere, you have a rock in Stinnie ready to go.
May 24th, 2021 at 8:21 pm
And I’d bet when JL was an Linebacker at Nebraska as a freshman ..and O lineman as a junior….the place where the run games under Tom Osborne were something to behold. So if he wasn’t all that great himself, he certainly knows what a great O lineman looks like. A linebacker as a freshman at Nebraska? Jason must have had some wheels…but must have outgrown them by his Junior year.