Bucs Get “A” Grade In Re-Signing Jamel Dean
March 15th, 2023
Bucs GM Jason Licht.
Two weeks ago at the combine, the Bucs believed they would be able to compete in the rotten NFC South and perhaps maybe just win it with a little good fortune.
Joe believes that wishful thinking took a hit when the slimy Saints signed Derek Carr and the Stinking Panthers set themselves up to draft their franchise quarterback (C.J. Stroud?) with the first overall pick in next month’s draft.
(Joe would absolutely would laugh hysterically for days if the Stinking Panthers drafted Anthony Richardson at No. 1.)
Kyle Trask quickly went from the division’s best to the third-best quarterback pretty damn quickly.
Well, if the Bucs will make a run at the division crown this fall, they took a big step in that direction by re-signing free agent corner Jamel Dean.
Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News was impressed. He gave Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht an “A” grade for the transaction.
The Bucs were trying their best to keep their best corner for Todd Bowles and this is a reasonable deal to lock him up.
Look, if the Bucs had another cornerback ready to take over for Dean, then this Joe could have seen the Bucs keep their cash for another player. Or if the Bucs had a pass rush. They had neither.
And as much as Joe likes Sean Murphy-Bunting, he’s been way too inconsistent. At times SMB plays like a total stud, like in the playoffs in 2020. Then there are times he looks like a mismatch in the opponent’s favor.
There was no need to pull a lousy Lovie Smith and let a good guy go, thereby creating yet another hole to fill on a roster that currently has a fair amount of holes.
March 15th, 2023 at 12:09 am
I always liked DEan more than SMB I think I feel in love with his 40 time and his height strength, I hope next season we find the groove and start actually getting INTs Dean and Carlton 😎
March 15th, 2023 at 12:18 am
Not true. He has developed, especially with PD, but his injury history through four years gives him a B+.
March 15th, 2023 at 12:25 am
So far, an F- on getting a QB!
I heard over the last few days some talking head was saying he was hearing the Panthers owner at one time was glowing over Will Levis… LoL
March 15th, 2023 at 12:26 am
Turf toe situation at the end of 2022. There are different forms and better recovery in some situations, but can someone say Justin Evans???
March 15th, 2023 at 12:26 am
Only time will tell if the signing earns an A+ or an F. Same thing goes for the draft. Remember when the Bucs took OJ Howard at #19 overall? A lot of the pundits said that was a solid “can’t miss” pick. CBS’s Prisco gave the Bucs a B+ and said Howard was the “cleanest” choice even though the Bucs could have went defensive instead of picking the best player available. We know how that turned out.
March 15th, 2023 at 12:34 am
He’s not a top 10 corner. Plays too stiff, is passive n slow to react. He makes a play or two here or there but nothing worth bragging on during Prime time” highlights. This may be the year he gels to take his game to the next level but that’s yet to be seen. I dunno if it’s the coaching or what but until he play aggressive n heads up football to the point of consistently attacking the ball n receiver like the Bills secondary does, then he’s just a mediocre Jamel Dean to me. I hope we give last years FA Don Gardner a chance, he’s aggressive.
March 15th, 2023 at 12:38 am
A? Are the Joe-Joes on drugs? How about a D? They can’t just keep pushing the salary cap back year after year. That’s bad GMing. Let the guy go and draft another player.
March 15th, 2023 at 1:17 am
Dean is above average, you g and improving. Without Dean, the Bucs would be for ed to take a CB in 1st round and suffer through growing pains.
Now Bucs can draft DL, DL, LB, before getting backups at secondary and o line
March 15th, 2023 at 1:20 am
I just don’t understand this love affair the Bucs have with this secondary … I’m pretty sure opposing offensive coordinators don’t either ..
March 15th, 2023 at 1:20 am
Still no reason to overpay for the position. When you end up with league minimumers on the rest of the team, tell me how great it was to spend all that money on a corner.
March 15th, 2023 at 1:34 am
Not having cook instead of oj we would have probably had at least 2 superbowl cuz we could have ran it the second year with brady instead of having to throw it a record time.
March 15th, 2023 at 1:53 am
Your continued premise that Trask was ever the best in the division is disturbing and laughable. Maybe if you keep repeating it, it might seem like it was once true.
March 15th, 2023 at 2:00 am
Dean is above average, inconsistent. Not worth the cost. Would it have been disastrous if they had let him walk? To a regime that overpays its secondary at the cost of a DL and pass rush, yes. To a regime that still thinks the team is a SB contender, yes.
It all comes down to what the plan is. Is this a remnant of a team that should be resuscitated for Bowles Ball, or do you take it off life support and tank it? The problem is they love Todd.
(Tanking it doesn’t mean there isn’t competitiveness. Go ask Rah Rah Canales, who just came from a Seahawks team that had cut a crapload of veterans, going youth and long term and….they simply exceeded their own expectations without big new investments. And they are still rebuilding and are in position for high draft picks and a new QB.)
March 15th, 2023 at 2:41 am
Kevin Youn
And if one of these overpaid above above average injury prone CB, you got McCollum or Delaney to come in and guarantee a loss. It’s still early, but could’ve signed SMB and a decent-above average vet, and would have no problem drafting a Logan Ryan type to rotate the slot with Antoine Weinfield.
March 15th, 2023 at 2:43 am
^^for much less than $52 million^^
March 15th, 2023 at 3:06 am
Yeah Joshua, Cook could have made a difference for sure. The only thing I remember about OJ Howard, besides being an injury prone bust, is that he made a great catch at the Trop during a Rays game, much more memorable anything he actually did as a football player. Licht gets a solid F for drafting OJ, now Licht has had some gems too but OJ ranks right up there with his worst picks due to the fact it was a mid first rounder.
March 15th, 2023 at 3:54 am
dean became a very rich young man, and we got a nice deal too boot…go figure…
A++
March 15th, 2023 at 3:55 am
FortMyersDave … ‘Only time will tell if the signing earns an A+ or an F. Same thing goes for the draft.’
Thank you, thank you, thank you Dave. GMs can only really be graded on ‘strategic’ decisions based on TEAM BUILDING not ‘tactical’ decisions based on building position groups or signing individual players. Strategically, we’re a mess, not just for 2023, but for several years to come it’s looking like. We’re not ‘kicking the salary CAP can down the street’ any longer. We’ve fitted it with rocket boosters & launched that sucker into uncharted territory.
You build (or rebuild) strategically from the trenches out. Without that solid foundation (representing roughly one-third of the 53-man roster), you’re TEAM is built on sand instead of on rock. And right now, I see nothing in the offensive OR defensive trenches to warrant anything other than delusional optimism.
Next we might want to move to our QB situation, just for kicks. That one’s a piece of cake … we’ve got ONE on our roster, Kyle Trask. And despite all the fancy talk, we’ll at best add 2 fairly low-paid others to compete with him. IF we opt for someone higher-paid, then strategically we’ll have screwed up this team even more.
Every other position group looks the same, with the possible exception of our WRs (our Top-3 are pretty good). All we need to do now is find a QB to throw to them, find an OLine to protect said QB, and find a defense that can keep the other TEAM from controlling the game. And when that happens, THEN we can grade our GM.
March 15th, 2023 at 3:58 am
NFC South Official Power Rankings: QB Edition
1) Used Carr: Taints
2) Red Dalton : Panthers
3) Taylor Heinike: Falcons
4) Rookie to be selected: Panthers
5) Winny; Jamies : Taints
6) The Riddler Ridder: Falcons
7) Trask Force *: Bucs
*And that’s being generous. The top NFC South QB quote is from none other than Jason Licht…who picked him. No surprise there…
March 15th, 2023 at 4:02 am
dean played his cards right because bowles loves him, and he takes to bowles…so if he continues to absorb and improve his play year by year, he’s gonna be a heck of a player…with the potential ability to line up another big contract after this one…
like another 3 year 45-50 mil contract down the line…top corners could be making 25-30 mil a year then…so he probably has another 50 mil contract coming his way if things work out well for him…he could leave the nfl with 100 mil + in earnings, a superbowl ring, and maybe more…
if you win a ring and clear 90-100 mil in career earnings in the nfl, holy moly, what more do you want…that’s like achieving footballs ultimate goal
March 15th, 2023 at 4:10 am
Their best corner? This analyst does not watch the bucs Carlton Davis>Dean
March 15th, 2023 at 4:59 am
Filling holes in the grave digger backfield.
March 15th, 2023 at 6:25 am
A in Dean F in salary cap. Will be the worse team in football but also the worse in salary cap( except for the aints) whats that add up to complete stupidity.
March 15th, 2023 at 6:47 am
Before Brady Licht was rated 28 th in GM ratings he went to number 1 with Brady now without Brady I am sure he will drop down to a more familiar rating.
March 15th, 2023 at 7:26 am
Still waiting for the big splash! Probably more like a little drizzle.
March 15th, 2023 at 7:38 am
What dmatt said…
As far as him blossoming into something this year.. I doubt it. He got his bag.
March 15th, 2023 at 7:39 am
In spite of all my pissing and moaning about the Bucs they are still my team. I much rather be in this teams dire straits now than what that idiot GM with the Jets catering to every Karen Rodgers demands and don’t know if he is going to play for them.
March 15th, 2023 at 12:32 pm
You can sign players until the cows come home. Everybody including Mr. Licht knows..You gotta have a good QB to win in the NFL. If your QB is average? Then you had better have one of those Lynch/Brooks/Sapp type defenses. And we ain’t got that.
March 15th, 2023 at 2:59 pm
Look, at $13 mill a year Dean is a very good deal if he stays healthy. I think he’s better than Davis by a little bit.
Davis is overpaid by a little bit.
The cap is about $250 mil and our tho corners will earn about $28 mil so that’s about 1/8 our cap, ignoring all the financial magic stuff.
That means we need a good pass rusher and a good inside linebacker in the draft for sure this year because we’ll never get decent free agents on the cheap at those spots.
A decent offensive tackle, defensive tackle, tight end and safety would put us in contention as long as our QB play pans out.