Logan Ryan Is Waiting
August 26th, 2023
“Maybe they’ll call, Antoine.”
It’s easy to forget that the Bucs’ defense last season was stone cold dominant in Weeks 1, 2 and 3.
Tampa Bay allowed a total of just 27 points through those games.
Free agent safety Logan Ryan was a big part of that success, including an interception of Aaron Rodgers in Week 3 during the Bucs’ 14-12 loss to the Packers.
Then Ryan broke his foot early in Week 4 against the Chiefs. The defnese never seemed to recover.
No, Joe is not pinning the Bucs’ defense collapse last season on Ryan’s injury; he returned late in the season. But it is worth noting how the Tampa Bay defense hummed early with the veteran on the field. Ryan was widely praised by Todd Bowles for his instant grasp of the complex defense and his mentoring of young players.
Ryan, 32, lives in the Tampa Bay area and has not retired. He made that very clear this week on NFL Network. In fact, Ryan said he’s had offers from teams but hasn’t taken one because they have not been the right fit for family, which includes two kids in school.
That got Joe wondering if White is waiting eagerly/hopefully for a call from the Bucs. Tampa Bay’s nickel cornerback situation is suspect and the safety depth isn’t what it was last year.
If Ryan really is healthy, the Bucs could do much worse than him if they need to make a depth move.
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August 26th, 2023 at 11:30 am
Ryan is waiting eagerly for the call Joe – not White.
I’m surprised the Bucs haven’t signed Logan Ryan. Fully expected that over a month ago.
It must be about the $. As in – we don’t have any…….
Signing Evans to a new deal is taking longer than I expected as well – and bringing back Ryan probably depends on that to happen first.
August 26th, 2023 at 11:38 am
Ryan as depth would be a no brainer. Dude showed he was still a great player when healthy, just battled injuries. He’s also a top shelf human and great teammate and veteran leader.
August 26th, 2023 at 11:43 am
Somebody gonna get hurt, sooner or later
August 26th, 2023 at 11:44 am
Hope his foot is healed well.
August 26th, 2023 at 11:50 am
Youth Joe…they need to get younger.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:26 pm
Don’t need Him… And joe For You to start off stating He had an interception off A Rod.. in we lost 14-12 is just funny to me We need to get Younger and hungrier look around the League and take somebody that was A really really tough Scratch from a team that has a Great defense and because they’re new to the team they couldn’t make the 53 man roster…get someone like that ..and Logan Ryan retire Man. Clearly no other team is chasing After You…. Got Damn Bucs
August 26th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Agree with Bucky; signing Logan Ryan is a no-brainer. After our 4 starters, we’re very inexperienced in the Secondary, to the point of having to use a rookie as our starting nickel.
Last season Dean gave us 15 games, Davis 13 games, Winfield 13 games, McCollum 13 games and Delaney 17 games. Neal got 17 games … he’s gone. Edwards 13 games … gone. SMB 12 games … gone. So our starters (Dean, Davis, Winfield) missed 10 games, we’ve lost 3 guys (Neal, Edwards, SMB) who were starters at various times last season, and we’ve backfilled with several youngsters. What could possibly go wrong in that scenario?
I’d say sign Ryan to an incentive-laden contract. He only got a half-season last year before he broke his foot. But in his 9 games he did extremely well for us: 1 INT, 3 PDs, 1 FF, 1 FR & 37 combined tackles (24 solo). That’s 3 more combined tackles & 1 more solo tackle than JTS got in twice as many games & twice as many snaps. IOW, Logan has a nose for the ball.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
He’d probably get injured after like 2 quarters, and then the Bucs would be stuck with his salary as a cap hit.
But, just so I better understood this situation, I asked our AI overlords, as I’ve always been a bit unclear of how this works.
So if they signed Logan to a vet min deal, and he’s injured and goes on IR after 2 quarters, he can in fact be replaced with another player on that same vet min deal – so you can basically replace the player if they have the same deal without cap complications. Again, assuming it’s just a vet min deal.
But the Bucs, in any case, would likely wait until after week 1 to sign him, since if they signed him before that, his entire contract for the year is guaranteed if he’s on the opening day roster. They can still get cap relief, but from a cash side, they’d be on the hook for his entire deal.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
It will become crystal clear which position group needs a veteran signing after week 1 , it ain’t defensive secondary , it is Oline.
August 26th, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Stop it already. Keep going for old guys you’ll never know what the young ones can do. Don’t you keep pointing out people saying we’ll only win like 6 games? Just let it be
You have cap concerns. Licht has gone the youth route before how do you think we have the roster you’re looking at. They were suspect last year! Every year I keep hearing how the teams have holes, same thing was said after winning the superbowl of all things. There are no teams in the world of sports without questions marks
August 26th, 2023 at 2:52 pm
Agreed, his savvy veteran presence would be very valuable at some point of the season, if not the whole season. He already knows the defense and he is an extremely smart football player with great instincts. I’m not sure why they haven’t already reached out to him. I’m sure it has to make sense financially to both parties but one would think that they could sign him if they really wanted to
August 26th, 2023 at 5:14 pm
I wouldn’t mind this, along with an O-Line addition.
August 26th, 2023 at 5:23 pm
Smart guy. If we can afford him bring him in.
August 26th, 2023 at 5:26 pm
I assume he’d be a vet min player, I can’t see how the Bucs could afford more than that — and continuing to do void years and push stuff off to next year is a bad idea.
But I have no issues with it. The Bucs depth at safety is very questionable.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:20 pm
@RealityBucfan
Did you even bother to read the article or just wanted to cry after just reading the title? He clearly said he turned down other offers because they aren’t the right fit. Reading is key
August 26th, 2023 at 10:42 pm
He is 32 1/2. I think it’s simply them trying to go younger and cheaper. That said, if injuries hit the secondary, I would be surprised if he has not signed quickly.
August 26th, 2023 at 11:25 pm
Bucs might be waiting until after the game one full season salary guarantee to sign Logan Ryan and possibly even Carl Nassib.