“I Think You Have To Be Not Afraid To Let Him Test The Market”
March 14th, 2022
Bucs CB Carlton Davis.
The pinch the Bucs find themselves in with Carlton Davis is unsettling.
Davis is a good corner. Damn good. A champion. He’s sort of a tweener. Is he a top-five corner? Tough to say.
However, Davis will want elite-level corner pay. The Bucs currently are pinching pennies. Where would the Team Glazer loot come from? Joe shared yesterday that Davis is just hours from leaving for a new team, but with Tom Brady returning, perhaps the game can change?
Pat Kirwan feels the pain of Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht. The former pro personnel director of the Jets co-hosts pound-for-pound the best damn NFL radio show known to the free world on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Former Bucs quarterback Jim Miller is his co-host.
So at the combine, Joe chatted with Kirwan and asked him about Davis and the Bucs’ attempts to try to keep him. Kirwan explained his battleplan if he were Licht.
Kirwan is very, very well-plugged in with league folks. He often works alongside folks who work at the NFL offices in Manhattan, as one of his side gigs is as a gameday NFL researcher for “NFL Today” on CBS. And one of Kirwan’s best friends is Pete Carroll who he speaks with regularly, as is Bill Cowher.
So when Kirwan talks NFL, he has his pulse on NFL thinking behind the scenes.
“Some people have [Davis] ranked pretty high,” Kirwan said. “I think you have to be not afraid to let him test the market. I think, if you tell him what you think he is worth, because [some think he’s good but not quite elite] which I agree with, you are going to end up insulting him.
“Then he is going to feel like — I have seen guys take shorter deals and lesser deals at other places because they felt like the home club deserted them.”
So what would Kirwan do? Rather than having Licht tell Davis he is good but not elite, let other NFL general managers do it so Licht looks like the good guy.
“My tactic with him would be this,” Kirwan began. “‘We love ya.’ Not sure we can figure it out. Go out in the marketplace and see what you are worth and we are probably going to match it.’ So that way, the market is telling him what his value is, not the Bucs.”
Kirwan got a good laugh when Joe asked Kirwan when was the last time a Super Bowl champion one year removed lost its best corner in free agency who was just 25 years old.
“You know the answer to that? If you do, call us,” Kirwan replied.
Joe would be ill for years if Davis left the Bucs and went on to be an elite corner. Dude is just 25 and reaching his peak athletically.
Remember, legal tampering opens at noon today!
March 14th, 2022 at 4:35 am
Not sure how any of our CBs could be ranked high. They had a special knack for making bad/mediocre QBs look elite. Let him walk.
March 14th, 2022 at 5:22 am
A big plus for Carlton is that he isn’t one of the two db’s that got burned by Cooper Kupp on the final drive of the season.
March 14th, 2022 at 6:08 am
I would rather lose one or two high priced players to FA than have four or five leave so we can keep one. Whitehead ($6M) + Cappa ($8M) + Gholston ($4M) > CDIII ($18M). Fournette + Gronk > CDIII also.
March 14th, 2022 at 7:37 am
He may be a guy left out unfortunately cause he will get 15 mil plus. Shoot caldwell may bring him to jags
If so. Get patrick peterson and draft a db (by moving back from 1st round into second getting 2 second round picks and extra third day pick
Bucs go db and third receiver in second round. Third receiver is a huge team need now that godwin may miss early part of year.
March 14th, 2022 at 7:44 am
Can’t keep everyone. If he wants to chase dollars, replace him.
March 14th, 2022 at 8:37 am
I like the kid even his personality but he can be replaced. Hadn’t done enough to act like we can’t possibly upgrade his position for less.
March 14th, 2022 at 8:40 am
I don’t want to lose him, he is the best DB they have. The defense is better when he’s on the field but if he wants more than 15 million per year, I just can’t see how they could possibly make that happen
March 14th, 2022 at 8:42 am
Injury prone blows 2 to 3 assignments a game slow as hell good for a PI every game. Total bum
March 14th, 2022 at 9:06 am
Some of y’all could learn a lot about player evaluation from Lovie. That’s how bad you are at it.
March 14th, 2022 at 9:24 am
I would hate to lose Davis, but we have too many needs to fill and not enough cap space. I would rather see the Bucs invest in their pass rush and find a less expensive DB. A good pass rush can hide a weak secondary. I think with the DBs we have on the roster, we’ll have the core of a strong secondary in place. We’ll need to get a capable replacement for Davis either through the draft or free agency. I think we can do it. In the meantime, let’s sign someone who can rush the passer with consistency. The Rams picked up Von Miller last year during the season and he had a real impact (just ask Donovan Smith). I remember reading Joe writing about Chandler Jones. Let’s get him!
March 14th, 2022 at 9:43 am
If we lose Davis to FA, I think a great fit would be JC Jackson from the Pats.
Brady is back! GO BUCS!!
March 14th, 2022 at 11:54 am
Wouldn’t this have been a better strategy with Chris Godwin?
He does have a blown knee.