Waving Goodbye To Carlton Davis
March 13th, 2022
Carlton Davis
Joe got a text last night from a trusted source and it while it didn’t prompt Joe to dig a grave for the 2022 season, it did have Joe fondly recalling The Gravediggers and what appears to be the end of that era.
The text simply explained that the powers at One Buc Palace are bracing for Carlton Davis to have a new deal with his new team by Monday afternoon.
The free agency siren rings at noon tomorrow when agents can start negotiating with teams on behalf of their soon-to-be free agent players. New deals can be agreed upon in principle immediately and then consummated on Wednesday afternoon when the new NFL year officially begins. Davis is a pending free agent.
The 2018 second-round pick was as hell of a draft choice, a key Super Bowl cog snagged by general manager Jason Licht. Davis has all the coverage skills, heart and will, though he’s lacked top-shelf durability and is known for racking up a lot of flags and dropping interceptions.
Bucs icon and retired cornerback Rondé Barber said it best recently when he explained that Davis has the proven ability to lock down a No. 1 receiver, and that’s why he’ll command massive money in free agency. The Bucs just don’t have the salary cap room to reach all their roster goals.
Davis, 25, will be a tough starter to lose because the Bucs can only replace him effectively in the draft, which is always a gamble.
Joe wishes Davis the best. Maybe somehow leaguewide cuts and trades in the coming hours will change the free agent landscape and open a final window for the Bucs to lure Davis. But expect him to have a new team on tomorrow.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:18 am
He’s injury prone. Ok to let him go. Other solid CB’s available that won’t want to play here.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:18 am
It is always hard to replace a lock down player, so we will have to look at the draft.
I wonder where he is going ?
March 13th, 2022 at 10:26 am
Carlton Davis is overrated anyway- you guys act like he was “elite” just because he was our best cover corner- but our secondary in general is not very good, so where does that put Davis? If he leaves, I think we can sign an upgrade at that position no doubt.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:29 am
He was not that good. It’s a loss. Fine. But let’s not lionize the guy. He was hurt. A lot.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:34 am
The Gravedigger’s Era…….🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, that was a great 6-8 game stretch.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:36 am
Everyone keeps saying he was hurt a lot. Before last season he really hasn’t missed to many games. It’s going to hurt more than most fans think. Yea Davis wasn’t elite but in a passing league we need him.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:49 am
Can’t ever tell if a draft pick is gonna be Jalen Ramsey or Vernon Hargreaves
March 13th, 2022 at 10:50 am
Not only was he hurt quite a bit but couldn’t intercept a pass. Never saw him as a lock down corner & even though he is the best theBucs had a CB, thats not saying much. They will pick up a decent corner in free agency or the draft & save a lot of money. He’s definitely expendable. Need to resign Lenny and/or Jensen or Cappa. Stinnie was a good signing. Keep it up. Don’t fall into the Watson trap.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:51 am
“The Gravediggers” were never gravediggers.
They were middlin’ decent with a solid pass rush.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:53 am
At this point, I’m sick of all this nonsense. Let’s get a final roster of people who want to play football and go with that. Let the greedy go. I’d rather rebuild than overpay.
March 13th, 2022 at 10:54 am
“The 2018 second-round pick was a hell of a draft choice.”
But … but … I thought second rounders aren’t good and shouldn’t play! … What am I missing here? … /s
March 13th, 2022 at 11:12 am
Bill collector is saying CD’s money was spent on the 2021 “band”
Biting the franchise in the azz tomorrow.
I don’t blame him for leaving with his SB Ring and the sum total of his rookie contract that was peanuts for his contributions.
March 13th, 2022 at 11:18 am
He was unknown and a gamble that paid off. This is the nature of football especially super bowl champions. Countless guys have gone on in free agency to have great careers or suck after leaving a certain scheme. I remember what it was like before Davis but No choice but to find a replacement.
Seems Bucs never had any intention on paying him top dollar. There was no grave digger era though as that run only lasted for the playoffs. Can’t call yourselves that during a Brady era especially when you let a guy light you up for 200 yards in one half of football
March 13th, 2022 at 11:40 am
I would consider losing him as a chance to upgrade from Carlton, He was good, but We can get a speedier replacement, with better hands, in the draft.
March 13th, 2022 at 11:42 am
Davis a “ Lockdown corner”?
Literally, Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off
March 13th, 2022 at 11:49 am
He’s a lockdown corner …ya ok…and Winston is an elite QB
March 13th, 2022 at 11:55 am
There’s a reason CB is the one position Belichick is willing to spend big money on. It lets you do so much more with your defense if you can lock down a receiver with 1 guy.
March 13th, 2022 at 12:02 pm
See ya Carlton, go get your payday. Wise not to throw tons of money at him. No position group is more important than d-line if you want to win championships. Bolster your defense up front and the secondary gets better by default. Just ask Ronde who benefited greatly thanks to Sapp, Booger and Simeon.
March 13th, 2022 at 12:03 pm
He’s the best corner that we still briefly have. We are going to lose some. I myself have stated that I at least feel like it’s a mistake to lose him. Doesn’t matter what I think though. I can only go with what my lying eyes are telling me. And that is that there BETTER BE a damn good reason for losing a CRUCIAL(home grown)
player like him. Or it’s soon to be Goodbye Mr. Licht and company. You better have a damn good plan bud because at this point I’ve been brainwashed into believing that if we Really want to keep a player, we CAN find the money…. SO WHERE’S THE MONEY FOR AN AREA THAT WE ARE STARVING IN?
GO BUCS!
March 13th, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Good corner but not a game changer.
March 13th, 2022 at 12:36 pm
Bucs fans dont realize what they got with Carlton. Yes, he is lockdown corner. The stats speak for themselfs.
Luckily we got Bowles who has done quite well developing DBs. Carlton was not a Bowles pick and I suspect he wants a CB who can make big plays with picks…….Which should mean we need to beef up the passrush.
But do not be surpized if we see Carltons replacement give up more yards and defientaly dont complain because yall are asking for him to go.
But Im still hoping they find a way to keep Carlton.
March 13th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
For everyone who’s saying that ‘he’s not that good’, I’d ask ‘Who on the Bucs is better?’ Is Davis worth $20 mil a year? Not in my book. But neither is Dean or SMB or any of our others. Heck our ENTIRE SECONDARY didn’t make that much in 2020.
So it’s obvious now where Licht’s priorities are: the offense. The Bucs’ defense has to replace Davis, Suh, JPP, Gholston & Whitehead, plus McLendon, Minter & several others. That’s FIVE quality starters from our SB team, plus some pretty talented rotational players & reserves.
Is there anybody in Bucsville who truly believes that the Bucs will replace all of those with COMPARABLE TALENT? And if you don’t replace them with comparable talent, is there anybody in Bucsville who believes our 2022 defense will perform at least as well as our 2021 defense? No problem though, we’ve still got Todd Bowles to use as a piñata when the proverbial shiit hits the fan.
March 13th, 2022 at 12:51 pm
Even the best corners can’t expect to be paid like WR’s. None are faster than top tier WR’s (unless you’re Neon Deion in his Prime). I trust our coaching staff and Licht to continue to develop guys into a rock solid scheme. Even with Davis we weren’t the strongest secondary
March 13th, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Here’s the deal. This team doesn’t need one corner at $20 million. It needs three or four corners who’s salaries add up to $20 million.
March 13th, 2022 at 1:09 pm
Secondary is this weakness of the team for like 7 or 8 yrs… I hate to see him lose but let’s be honest the weak play from that unit has been what ruins our season every year.
Hint rams playoff rams game.
The defense couldn’t hold any team from passing on us.
March 13th, 2022 at 1:21 pm
@DR: I suspect you’ll see this draft consist of 4-5 O/D big uglies, a couple of corners & a speed WR.
March 13th, 2022 at 1:22 pm
CD is a lockdown corner….unless he’s playing Cheetah Hill. THEN, he is a spectator watching Cheetah’s backside running into the endzone
March 13th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
I have seen it mentioned in the comments on this site. That Carlton Davis is an elite press man coverage corner in his prime. And Tampa would be stupid to let him go. I remember seeing our corners lined up 8yds plus deep off the line of scrimmage. Even in 3rd and 5 situations. So someone will have to justify to me why Tampa should pay what Davis’s press coverage skills are worth to another team when they go under utilized on this defense. Tampa doesn’t play press man coverage enough to justify it.
Not to mention the guy missed 7 games in a contract year due to injury. He is 25yrs old it’s rare a guy that young is out 7 games due to injury. Davis is worth more to another team with a different defensive scheme. Tampa should only offer him what he’s worth to play in Tampa.
March 13th, 2022 at 1:47 pm
Secondary is the reason no repeat. Couldn’t stop a decent quaterback all season and oh yeah, how did Kupp……….
March 13th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
Sully is right. The defence prevented a repeat. Just watch the 4th quarter of the Rams game, when defense really counted.
March 13th, 2022 at 3:34 pm
Wasn’t he the guy covering cheetah hill when he had 200+ yards in the first half of the regular season game our SB year? Lock down ?
March 13th, 2022 at 4:00 pm
New England and Green Bay who run 3-4 defenses every year seem to draft lots of cornerbacks. They prioritize cornerbacks over edge rushers and typically have been good defenses.
Personally, I would like the Bucs to let Davis walk and draft a good corner at the end of the 1st round and have him 5 years on a rookie contract. I think Bowles and this team knows how to coach cornerbacks.
March 13th, 2022 at 5:07 pm
He’s good and he’s the best corner we have…. but he’s not a true #1 corner and he’s not worth that kind of money.
March 13th, 2022 at 5:18 pm
I think it’s a mistake to let him go. Do you guys really feel comfortable with Dean being our #1 corner? Sure we can draft someone but that’s always a gamble.
March 13th, 2022 at 6:12 pm
Adios Carlton and may you enjoy the riches you’ve earned from a team dumb enough to overpay for you. Luckily it’s not us and it’s bad enough that our own gm is dumb enough to overpay for Chris.
March 13th, 2022 at 6:15 pm
Nah let him go. Inconsistent at times & he’ll take stupid penalties at times, too! Go after somebody like JC Jackson or Stephon Gilmore. Those are the two I’d consider first. I wasn’t big on Davis or Dean coming out. Especially when Dean suffered that torn ACL. For some reason they seem to like players coming off torn ACLs. Dean, Cichy, Chappelle, etc. Even though Chappelle isn’t there anymore & Cichy probably finally realized he had too many injuries.
March 13th, 2022 at 6:24 pm
We arguably have ZERO players in the secondary that can lock down anything. He is an average. Just because he may be “our” best, that doesn’t equate him being a lockdown player. We have zero great players in our secondary. It happens. Our defense cost us a ring. Playing so much cover 2 and zone really magnified how ordinary a skill set Davis and others had.
March 13th, 2022 at 6:44 pm
Either JC Jackson Stephon Gilmore Kyle Fuller or Darious Williams.
March 13th, 2022 at 6:54 pm
Years ago, JPP hit free agency, and I wanted him so badly. Bucs even made a good offer to him. But he decided to return to his team for less money.
Davis could do the same thing.
March 13th, 2022 at 7:39 pm
Hey guys Brady’s coming back!
March 13th, 2022 at 7:39 pm
Just heard it Brady’s coming BACK!
March 13th, 2022 at 8:00 pm
BRADY’S COMING BACK. GOBUCS!
March 13th, 2022 at 8:17 pm
I guess I’m too late in the tread. But Tom Brady’s coming back.
March 13th, 2022 at 9:45 pm
The best out of our 3 corners hands down.