It’s Not Just Tom Brady And Free Agents
March 14th, 2022
We already saw how Tom Brady can coax teammates to do things they may not have planned to do. Just hours after Brady announced he’s returning, so too did center Ryan Jensen.
Yes, Brady worked his magic on Jensen. And he may already be working on Playoff Lenny. But it is not just free agents for whom Brady is the pied piper.
Albert Breer of SI.com this morning typed that fans should look for Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht to start reworking the contracts of several veterans to clear cap space. And if Brady can influence free agents to stay, he can do the same in coercing teammates to redo their contracts.
They already restructured Vita Vea, and have the option to do similar things with contracts for Shaq Barrett, Mike Evans, Donovan Smith and Lavonte David. So they can generate some wiggle room. But will it be enough to bring back Rob Gronkowski, Jason Pierre-Paul, Alex Cappa, Leonard Fournette, Carlton Davis and, well, you get the idea. There are a lot of mouths to feed here. The good news is the Bucs have done a pretty good job drafting and developing the last couple of years, so the pipeline’s certainly not dry.
Joe thinks it is really, really risky letting Carlton Davis go. Joe thinks the world of Ndamukong Suh but Joe would actually keep Davis over Suh. Davis is easy a top-10 corner and is 25. Suh may be a top-10 defensive tackle but he’s 35. You get the drift.
But if Brady’s magic works on Bucs free agents and teammates, it should also be able to work on other free agents. We saw that the last two years. Why couldn’t that continue this week?
March 14th, 2022 at 11:12 am
I am on the other side Joe…..I would bring Suh rather than CDIII despite the age.
I think Suh is still awesome, and CDIII is average at best, he misses tons of games, misses tons of tackles and has very soft hands…..
March 14th, 2022 at 11:16 am
Gronk and Whitehead are the top two priorities, imo.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:19 am
If CDIII were same price as JC Jackson, I’d pick JC. I think we need to upgrade in several areas, not just keep what we have for the sake of keeping.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:20 am
If Suh wants to play, Bucs will find a way…
March 14th, 2022 at 11:21 am
I’m still convinced JPP is special. He, Whitehead and Suh need to come back.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:21 am
If Carlton wants JC Jackson money, just hire JC Jackson who actually can catch footballs thrown to him.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:22 am
Joe doesn’t know where people get this idea from. Only last year did Carlton Davis miss more than three games. He’s not Jamel Dean. See for yourself. Maybe your definition of “ton” and Joe’s definition of “ton” are two different things.
And Joe knows no one in the NFL that considers Davis “average.”
March 14th, 2022 at 11:23 am
The advantages for Davis, Whitehead and Cappa is that they are young and Bucs can give a long-term flexible contract moving cap to future years…
Suh, Gronk, JPP would likely be one year deals and they would have very little wiggle room.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:25 am
Has to be a major effort to keep Cappa, Davis, and Fournette. Suh, OJ, and JPP are collateral damage.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:33 am
@Joe
Just read the posts on your website, and you will recognize that I am not alone on the CDII average team…..
How many games did he missed just last season? See for yourself
We are talking about CDII right? Why do you bring Dean into the conversation??
March 14th, 2022 at 11:38 am
‘Joe thinks it is really, really risky letting Carlton Davis go. Joe thinks the world of Ndamukong Suh but Joe would actually keep Davis over Suh.’
Not me Joe; that’s comparing apples & oranges (CB, DT). I’d much prefer to use our Rnd 1 pick on the best CB still available who could start for us, then use our Rnd 2 pick for a DT. But I’d still bring back Suh IF (1) that’s what he wants (may prefer to retire); and (2) he’s willing to sign back on as a part-time rotational player for a reduced salary ($5-$6 mil). He’s a great model for these youngsters IMO & he’s still playing at a very high level.
Davis is just too expensive, period. Replace him with a Rnd 1 draft pick; you can buy a lot of groceries for $20 mil (Gronk $9 mil; Fournette $6 mil; OJ $2 mil; Gio $1.5 mil; Auclair $1 mil).
March 14th, 2022 at 11:41 am
The only Davis I wanna see in the team is when they move up some in the 1st round & draft that 340 lb monster Jordan Davis from Georgia.
Put him next to Vea and they will be a WRECKING CREW !!!!! Mark my words!!!
I think we can work with corner in 2nd/3rd round, and maybe snag Patrick Petersen or James Bradberry in free agency.
CD24 will cost 2 much and he has crappy ball skills. How many int’s did he mess up last year??
March 14th, 2022 at 11:43 am
I think Gronk will take less to stay with Brady. Hoping to keep Cappa now that Brady is in the backfield.
March 14th, 2022 at 11:45 am
Suh > CDIII
March 14th, 2022 at 11:46 am
Suh + Vea = Zero rushing yards up the middle
March 14th, 2022 at 12:01 pm
Word is that Davis wants $18 mil a year.
That ain’t happening here.
March 14th, 2022 at 12:06 pm
Hopefully Playoff Lenny, Gronk and Whitehead are next to get signed. I wouldn’t mind getting SUH back also and Cappa. JPP can walk he has been injured and there was not a lot of production out of him last season. CDIII Would be nice to get him back but we can probably draft someone to replace him.
March 14th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
Funny because I was having this conversation with a co-worker this morning. I mentioned that Suh played a much higher % of the snaps than Vea. In reality it’s 717 Suh to 607 Vea. Only 4 players logged more snaps on defense than Suh.
Suh’s contribution goes beyond production too.
The ONLY negative on Suh is his age. Otherwise, he’s far more valuable, IMO, than Davis. If we’re just comparing the two.
March 14th, 2022 at 3:20 pm
Suh played like what, 90%+ of the D snaps last season compared to Vea who barely broke 60% if that. And Suh’s missed how many games since being a Nice due to injury compared to Davis and Vea??? Yeah, No Joe, Suh should be the priority. Proven commodity and beast at his position until proven otherwise.
March 14th, 2022 at 3:20 pm
Being a Buc^^^
March 15th, 2022 at 12:23 pm
zzbucs Says:
March 14th, 2022 at 11:33 am
@Joe
Just read the posts on your website, and you will recognize that I am not alone on the CDII average team…..
How many games did he missed just last season? See for yourself
We are talking about CDII right? Why do you bring Dean into the conversation??
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Being a regular poster on a website doesn’t mean you have a clue what you’re talking about. ZERO… really. Why don’t you find the stats on when Davis has been targeted in coverage? Then get back to me… you might not think highly of him, but people that don’t have less than a bottle cap full of football knowledge do.