Bucs Didn’t Try To Keep Jordan Whitehead
March 16th, 2022
Bucs didn’t want him.
So Jordan Whitehead is off to the NFL’s landfill known as the Jets. And in a surprising (non-) move to Joe, the Bucs made no move to stop him.
Whitehead, the former Bucs hard-hitting safety who at times played like a young Ed Reed being all over the field, wasn’t even offered a contract by the Bucs, so typed Jenna Laine of ESPN.
The Bucs did not try to match what the Jets offered Jordan Whitehead, nor did they extend an offer, I’m told, although they conveyed that they were happy with him at the NFL combine. Multiple assistants also told me how valuable they felt he was to their defense.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) March 16, 2022
So even Bucs assistants wanted Whitehead back and the team never tried? Very odd.
This seems such a stunner to Joe. The Bucs didn’t even try to keep Whitehead? Never even offered him a contract? Acted like he was Ross Cockrell?
Look, Joe is not criticizing the Bucs’ moves. How could Joe after the past three years? The suits and coaches have hit more home runs than Albert Pujols in his prime the past three years. Those guys have built more street cred in Joe’s eyes than you can imagine.
Yeah, Joe gets it that money is really tight and that the Bucs had Mike Edwards ready to step up. But to just let a guy like Whitehead walk and not even see if there was a way to keep him? That is very surprising to Joe and suggests there is something that bubbled under the surface that no one knows about.
Joe hopes it isn’t just petty jealousy over Whitehead’s cheerleader girlfriend.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:03 pm
They want to see what they have in Edwards, I think he’s the better all-around safety, may not hit as hard but who cares, those types of hits will be phased out by the league in a couple years anyways.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:06 pm
Edwards is a much better playmaker but Whitehead’s physicality will be missed.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
I think they view the safety position as one that they are very confident in scouting for and developing. The recent track record supports that.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
I think you answered your own question. Money is tight and we have his replacement on hand. Sucks to see him go, but looking forward to Edwards stepping up.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
Something went down which upset somebody
He even had the previous cryptic post
Cause the dude can play. And 7.5 is fair compensation for his play
Sucks
But hey , we cant sign everyone after doing that last year
March 16th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
They would have liked to keep him, but once they saw what the market was willing to pay, they were out. Simple as that. Happens all the time.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:12 pm
They just couldn’t afford him, especially after Mason and Gage. And it’s a passing league, and he’s basically not in on passing downs.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Shaq Mason was the reason. You have to protect Tom Brady first, otherwise a young Ed Reed won’t make a dang difference in getting to the playoffs. Without Brady, this team is garbage.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:14 pm
Let other teams overpay. No way we were paying that much for an inbox Safety. No doubt everyone liked him. Everyone like tough hard hitting players. Just cant keep everyone all the time. Bucs let the Market set the price, its was more than they were willing to lay. Cant blame either side.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
And I mean garbage in the nicest of ways to emphasize the importance of a great QB. We’re not here trying to go 7-10 or worse. That’s the reality we would have been in without Brady.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
That is surprising but I guess they can’t offer everyone a contract and out of the guys in the secondary, as great as he is at laying down the big hit he’s averaging coverage.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:17 pm
Maybe Bucs want to make a run at the Honey Badger?
March 16th, 2022 at 2:19 pm
Edwards is a better Safety. Was true coming out of college. He has All Pro potential. He just needs to stay healthy.
The immediate future is bright.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Remember that odd tweet from J. Whitehead a few weeks ago?
Something about – “why you guys lying”…
It seems like there was some bad ju-ju brewing between the Bucs and Whitehead.
We have Mike Edwatds and can draft a solid safety in rounds 3 or 4 or make a run at a solid free agent.
There was no reason to overpay for Whitehead. Let the idiots running the Jets and Jags do that.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Maybe Jenna is getting her info from Ballsack Sports like others at ESPN?
March 16th, 2022 at 2:26 pm
Probably.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:30 pm
The Bucs have a good depth Saftey in Andrew Adams so maybe Whitehead wasnt a priority. Also perhaps the Bucs didnt value his pass coverage highly?
March 16th, 2022 at 2:34 pm
He did say “shady business” in his reply to Mike Edwards about leaving 🤷♂️ Either way, this one doesn’t sting too much (as much as I loved Whitehead) because we can soend $7 mil in more dire needs and still have a great Safety tandem to start. We also probably draft one (Jalen Pitre please…who you can like uo anywhere) anyways. I’m not surprised one bit about this….especially after all the moves and money committed we’ve done in the last few days.
This is really not a stunner, nor a big deal. I tend to think we wanted to add a safety with more range and speed anyways. To go along with more quickness and speed on the interior D-Line, like BA said. Jordan wasn’t known for his speed. Tbh, neither is Edwards or AWJ either, as much as I like them.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:36 pm
We can tell which “Joe” wrote this one!
March 16th, 2022 at 2:37 pm
@ Tbbucs3
Adams is a free agent but Mike Edwards is a solid safety still on our roster.
I don’t think Adams will be back after getting beat upside his head by BA for “stupid stuff” during the last Carolina game…
lol
March 16th, 2022 at 2:39 pm
Trust me, Bowles was just as much a part of this decision. They have a budget for both sides of the ball and the coaches consult on where that money is spent.
Bowles likes Edwards and wants his budget to fill other gaps.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Jets do have solid young qb . Might not be quite the toilet it has been
March 16th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
Ed reed? It seems someone did not watch ed reed play. Ed reed made plays every game ie most importantly turnovers. Maybe this the same joe who tried to sell that whitehead was somehow on derwin james level? The same derwin james who has been all pro every year when healthy. Look as i said when you tried to compare whitehead and james, whitehead is a good player for the bucs but he is no all pro and thats not a knock but a fact. Further proof is he only signed for 7 mil per year in a league looking for defense. Thats says he is a ok safety. Great safeties get 12-15 mil per if not more. 7 mil for whitehead is not an overpay and its definitely not what i would call brinks truck either. He is paid accordingly. Luckily its only 2 years and he can increase his value and become a free agent again pretty quickly. I wish him luck
March 16th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
He made a fortune with the Jets. This is going to be a ‘no name’ defense.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:43 pm
Tyrann Mattheu?????????? We were initially disappointed at losing Cappa until we traded for an upgrade with Shaq Mason. Now we are disappointed at losing Whitehead until……I know salary seems too high for Mattheu but he might be willing to take a haircut to play one year on a Brady team and hit free agency again next year. Remember he played for BA in Arizona. Crazier things have happened.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:44 pm
I’ll take dime store safeties as long as they have a dominating pass rush in front of them. Bucs need Chandler Jones very badly.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:50 pm
Whitehead is outstanding but Edwards is a total ball hawk. I assume this move is to see if Edwards can create even more turnovers than he has as a part-time player. As much as I love Whitehead if Edwards is creating fumbles and int’s we won’t miss Whitehead.
March 16th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
he was an ultra bulked up thumper who probably was thumping the crap out of his body as well…
they will hopefully add a hitter back there – because you do need a guy with a bit of a john lynch type chip at least rotating in…
kinda shocking on the no offer at all…
i wouldn’t have been that shocked if he pulled a contract close to gage’s…but it didn’t happen…
3 years for 20 mil shoulda happened here…
yeah something must have happened behind the scenes for no offer…
at least quietly insult him at 3 years 15-18 mil right?
March 16th, 2022 at 2:57 pm
coaching and management might not be all that thrilled with the back end of the d, and their development as a whole…
but publicly act like all is okay…
maybe they blame jordan for the ending of the rams playoff game…it’s all jordan’s fault…lol
March 16th, 2022 at 2:59 pm
Gotta save money somewhere and can’t pay him what he’s worth with Edwards sitting on the bench
March 16th, 2022 at 3:00 pm
^^^^^^^
the team in ny on the rise is the jets…don’t sleep on them too much…i could see them going 8-9 this year…
maybe 9-8 (probably not tho)
and the hot mess is the giants…
i think the giants are ripe for the plucking…
maybe will hernandez…
he’s been a bit of a disappointment in ny – and so has the entire team
March 16th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
I see this as a Honey Badger move. Hey likely comes cheaper, and with a shorter term deal, which makes him flexible on the books. We all remember the play that got us last year, which was similiar to the many that gave us fits all season long. I would go with pass rush, but considering the attrition and below average play we got from the secondary, they are going to hit it hard. They didnt bring Davis back with a decent contract just to call it a day. Mathieu, Winfield, and Edwards will be keeping the skies clear in the secondary this fall.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:02 pm
Bucs are obviously going all-in on offense for Tommy & betting that we can have the #1 or #2 offense yet again. Defense will get a few bones thrown its’ way (especially in the draft), but the obvious bet is that we’ll be able to outscore anyone … even with an average defense.
Of course that assumes our defense makes it to average (some of us remember ‘the lean 2009-2019 years’).
March 16th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Joe… Jordan has the heart of a lion. But he puts his body out there too many times. I have no basis to say this medically, but I’d bet they know he won’t last too much longer unless he changes the ferocity with which he hits. And that may just not be his game. So you spend the money on the guys you hope can be on the field all season long. God bless Jordan…hope I’m wrong. You were a great Buc player.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Whitehead was a great safety…..but I highly doubt any team was altering game plans because of him. Should be a very good starter for the Jets….but our defense isn’t falling apart because we lost him. You pay impact guys….like JPP. He hurts his shoulder, the entire dynamic of our pass rush was crippled. LVD goes out for a few games….White looks lost, we cant cover the same. Whitehead went out, Edwards came in….not much was missed. That’s the NFL….its a business and I’m sure Whitehead wanted to be considered a valued member of the defense but that wasn’t the case.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:07 pm
Jeff…I think adding a guy like Jones would make the entire secondary look better.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:12 pm
Whitehead was good run stuffing safety better around the line of scrimmage not surprised they passed on him in a passing league and decided they would be good with Edwards and Winfield not to mention probably looking to the future with the contracts for wirfs and Devin coming up soon
March 16th, 2022 at 3:16 pm
Would it be more of insult to offer league minimum to a guy, or just let him walk because you have no way of paying him what he deserves?
March 16th, 2022 at 3:23 pm
Joe
its not Burger king can’t have it your way to much$$$$
March 16th, 2022 at 3:26 pm
It’s quite simple….any offer the Bucs would make would be an insult because it would be woefully short of the 7.5 mil……so, in that case, you don’t make an offer.
I’m suspecting they would only pay $3 mil or so.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:29 pm
They must have some plan in the draft. They have to draft a safety if they’re not willing to pay for one in free agency. My guess is they have some targets they really like and will move to get one on day 2.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:35 pm
If Edwards is our starting safety, we are in deep do doo. He’s not fast enough to cover the deep half and he likes to gamble a lot which is boom or bust. I like him in the nickel where you don’t have to worry about him getting beat over the top. I could see Whitehead going on to be a star in New York or at least an impact player like Bradly Mcdougald free he left.
March 16th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
We still have Antonio Winfield, but can’t wait to see the Honey Badger come to town and it will add leadership to a very young group
March 16th, 2022 at 4:22 pm
About the only redundancy we have (had) is at safety
March 16th, 2022 at 4:25 pm
Whitehead brings the wood on that secondary letting him walk was a mistake
March 16th, 2022 at 4:28 pm
Losing whitehead will be heavily missed. Just look at his Twitter and the highlights he post. His ability to manhandle WRs/TEs in the run game is something that will be missed. He had 0 hesitation to his game, if he saw a tiny hole he was filling it and filling it hard. Edwards may be slightly better all around in pass coverage. But what whitehead brought To our #1 run defense can’t be forgotten. He was like an extra Lb next to white and Lavonte.
March 16th, 2022 at 4:28 pm
Maybe, out of respect and love…Bucs brass knew money was tight, and didn’t want to lowball Whitehead.
For many reasons, I’d love to see Jordan Whitehead play for the Philadelphia Eagles. I’m not an Eagles fan, but a Whitehead Eagles jersey with number ’76 or ’77 would be pretty epic.
March 16th, 2022 at 4:32 pm
Yet they kept Davis and SMB ????
March 16th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
^SMB isn’t a free agent, nor is he a safety.
March 16th, 2022 at 5:52 pm
yeah but maybe justin evans wants to come back 🙂
March 16th, 2022 at 9:34 pm
Whitehead was not John Lynch. (Beside it is not “legal” to be a hard hitter anymore.) Obviously, the Bucs coaches did not see him the way some of our fans did/do. Keep babbling you fools.
Don’t get me wrong I liked him but we are OK without him.
March 17th, 2022 at 1:37 am
I’ll say it. I ain’t skeered. The Bucs ate one to many stupid pills with whitehead and let him go for peanuts.
I mean they gave the golden grill double what whitehead got from the jets? Come on man.
March 17th, 2022 at 1:40 am
You see whitehead is a prime time play maker.
They don’t grow them on trees, and they are few and far between.
End of story.