“Tampa Is Going Through It Now”
August 31st, 2023
Bill Belichick checks in.
It’s always worth acknowledging when a word about the Bucs comes from the wizard of NFL coaches, Bill Belichick, who also is a general manager.
The leader of the Belicheats was on Boston sports radio (WEEI) recently talking about managing the salary cap and how he believes in consistent spending — because that’s the best chance of consistent success.
“Temporarily you can [overspend], but you can’t sustain it, no,” Belichick said, via MassLive.com. “You can’t sustain the 20 years of success that we sustained by overspending every year without having to eventually pay those bills and play with a lesser team. So I think if you look at the teams that have done that, that’s kinda where some of them ended up. Jacksonville back in ‘14, the Rams are going through it, Tampa is going through it now. So, I’m not saying there’s anything right or wrong with it. It’s just a different way of doing things and there’s the results for doing that.”
So would Belicheat have not gone all in like Bucs general manager Jason Licht did back in 2021, doing the impossible and returning every starter and most key backups of a Super Bowl team? It seems so. After all, this is the guy that let Tom Brady walk out of the building.
Joe is sure glad Licht went for it in 2021.
It’s debatable whether Licht should have kept the faucet running in 2022, but Joe can’t go there too much.
It’s easy to forget that sports is about entertainment. Firing up another season with Tom Brady and free agents around him last year was fun and worth a shot.
If Licht and Todd Bowles can contend with 13 rookies and a tight payroll this season, then they’ve done a hell of a job.
August 31st, 2023 at 9:41 am
If you party for three years, sooner or later you will have to pay for it, that´s mainly what Belichick says, and I agree with it….
Everybody in Bucs Nation knew this before, so that´s why is tough when you hear people complainning and moaning against our actual situation…….
Just common sense….that´s all it is……
August 31st, 2023 at 9:54 am
It’s easier when you have a quality team built when you draft a stud rookie qb. That’s a sustainable model.
August 31st, 2023 at 10:02 am
Trouble is well over half the “stud” rookie QBs fail. Fans want instant success. Patient coaches are rare. In today’s game players like Terry Bradshaw would have been discarded and never had a chance to win 4 super bowls.
August 31st, 2023 at 10:07 am
Bill’s model works because of two related factors: stability and player development. No one had coached up better than the Pats over the past two decades…though maybe the Steelers aren’t too far off.
August 31st, 2023 at 10:24 am
Belichick had the luxury of having the GOAT while dealing with the rest of the cap dollars
August 31st, 2023 at 10:38 am
How many playoff wins has he had since Brady left?
August 31st, 2023 at 10:43 am
Sorry. He has a losing record without Brady. Wizard of losing without Brady maybe.
August 31st, 2023 at 10:46 am
Brady taking a pay cut all those years also helped!
August 31st, 2023 at 11:02 am
Didn’t he spend over 100 million in free agency a couple of years ago….. sry but without brady belicheat hasn’t won that much. I know it took both but at this point you git to think it was mainly brady..
August 31st, 2023 at 11:05 am
Bill and Joe are both right.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:14 am
What a joke. He sustained not over spending for 20 years because he had Brady. Brady took less, vet FA would come to NE on the cheap for Brady also. Three years without Brady Billy boy is .500 coach. The Pats will be lucky to finish 3rd in their division, keep sustaining that success Bill.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:25 am
lmao.
20 years of success = having the greatest QB of all time who was also willing to take less $$ for the sake of the team. lol. That’s the formula dude don’t act like you still have it now when you’ve had 2 losing seasons out of the last 3 and haven’t won the division since he left.
Their offense sucked last year. You had people hollering for Zappe in year 2 of Mac Jones.
Brady really helped the team so much in terms of how little his cap hits were compared to what he could have demanded. He never pulled like a Drew Brees to re-set the QB market and take a higher % of the team’s cap space.
By the way – doing some research because I was curious – after Drew Brees did his holdout back in 2012 and got the next biggest QB contract of that time, the Saints had losing seasons 3 of the next 4 years as their roster eroded in talent because he was taking up such a high % of their cap. Those re-set the market QB deals really just screw other positions whenever it takes a higher % of cap.
So the formula = franchise QB willing to take a discount that can play for 20 years lol. Not whatever BS he’s talking about. And htey have taken their own lumps in teh cap/etc over the years. They’ve had their all-in moments (Randy Moss) as well.
Brady is the GOAT man lol
August 31st, 2023 at 11:30 am
Glad it happened. Got a Super Bowl got to watch the goat play in a Bucs uniform and the offense was just unstoppable in 20 n 21. Was very entertaining.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:52 am
Wow was going to touch on how Bill doesn’t exactly have a great record without Brady but wow……. these comments have done the JOB lol!
August 31st, 2023 at 11:54 am
Let’s see Bellacheat maintain his greatness while he doesn’t have the best quarterback in the history of the game playing for less than market value contracts. The Bucs organization has won a Super Bowl without Tom Brady. New England has not.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:58 am
Lord Cornelius says that bank breaking QB contracts screw the team yet I point to Patrick MHommy. It’s working just fine there.
Not saying you don’t have a point, but it can work with proper training and coaching kids up. Having a consistent at QB is worth it for some teams.
Especially as the Cap goes up. Locking in a guy for an absurd amt. isn’t that bad if you do it for 10 years. By then it will be much less.
That’s why they aren’t signing RBs like that because their shelf life is half that.
I like the formula we are in now.
Build a good team and then go get a good QB has worked 2 out of the past 4 years.
The other, was none other than Patrick Maholmes.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:02 pm
The Bucs did the right thing. Next year when Caleb Williams or Drake Maye is starting for them they can start the process of getting right with the cap with the benefit of a rookie QB low cap hit.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:18 pm
@Billy
I’m all for locking up a QB with a big contract if we ever had the chance. And for all we know the Pats could have won even with Brady on a max deal – I’m just more so trying to give credit to Brady for basically taking a pay cut each year that amounted to them being able to probably sign 1-2 more high quality starters vs a max contract situation.
And agree on Mahommes / KC.
But Mahommes is like a unicorn in his own world of elite play lol. He’s basically already on the career trajectory Brady had with 2 SB wins and 3 SB appearances in 5 years as the starter, except he’s an elite athlete. It’s scary.
And imo Andy Reid >> Bellicheck. That guy has won with all sorts of different team make ups and QBs.
Basically I’m just talking crap on Billicheck lol.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:21 pm
I also was talking crap on Brees lol. I vividly remember his holdout 10+ years ago and him trying to sell it as something he was doing not just for himself but others and I was so perplexed by that. And I had a feeling he was going to destroy the Saints roster & ability to be competitive by doing it. And then that’s what happened.
Like no be real man you are doing this for yourself and it will only help elite QBs and you are screwing the average NFL player every time you decide your position needs to take a higher % of the overall cap. No problem with seeking as much $$ as you can get. But that’s the reality of it – you aren’t helping anyone else.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:26 pm
Bill Belichick only won because he had Tom Brady, he’s been a loser before and after Tom Brady. Not only did have have the GOAT QB, he had a GOAT QB willing to take pay cuts and not be the highest paid QB. Andy Reid is a much better head coach than Bill Belichick because he was a winner before he had future GOAT QB Patrick Mahomes.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:41 pm
Hoodie is smug while appearing humble. TB12 had EVERYTHING to do with your “20 years of success”
Hoodies philosophy is evident with the Brownies record with him, and the Patsies without Brady….
How many SB did he win without Brady? ZERO
August 31st, 2023 at 12:57 pm
I think most of us went into this with our eyes wide open.
It’s easy for Bill to talk about not spending when he had Brady for twenty years pulling out miracles for him with lesser talented teams. Can you imagine the stats Brady would have put up if Bill would have even been mediocre at scouting offensive skill players? He struck gold one time with Gronk, besides that, essentially nothing unless you count Edelman which was just sloppy luck.
August 31st, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Just maybe, Belichode is no better than he was in Cleveland. He lucked into Brady with a 6th round pick and now looks more like another pedestrian riding a great player’s back for two decades.
August 31st, 2023 at 1:17 pm
“So the formula = franchise QB willing to take a discount that can play for 20 years lol.”
Patrick Mahomes would like a word.
The formula that works is to have the best QB period.
August 31st, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Easy to say when you have the Young GOAT lined up for years.
Hard to say when you have the Old GOAT on a short rental.
August 31st, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Pats have not won a playoff game since Brady left in ’19 & not likely this yr . So thats 4 yrs of being consistent . Without Brady they would never had that 20 yr run .
August 31st, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Belichick let lots of stars go, sometimes a year early in trades, so I don’t think he’s BS-ing. He is also right. Teams like the Pats and Pittsburgh never fall too far, and they reach the heights as often as anybody.
Draft well, coach hard, and think of each player in terms of that first contract only, for the most part.
August 31st, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Having Tom Brady helps
August 31st, 2023 at 3:20 pm
A lot of thanks goes to Mike Greenberg. He and Licht have done an outstanding job from loading the roster for Brady to getting rid of older players. 11 rookies this year and multiple players on first contract. They have kept #13 and #14. That is a task right there.
August 31st, 2023 at 3:23 pm
He’s definitely a great coach, but a so-so GM. For the “record” his record as a HC with the Browns and Patriots without Brady is….
51-65.
He’s 136 – 39 WITH Brady.
It is what it is.
August 31st, 2023 at 3:26 pm
Bill Belichicks record without Brady is 53-58. He’s not a coaching genius. Nor is he a personell genius. He’s a good head coach. I do wish people would stop quoting him as though he’s cracked the riddle of the NFL. He had the amazing good fortune to have the greatest quarterback of all time for 20 years. It’s the same with Arians. Brady padded his numbers as well. Both are excellent coaches but…
August 31st, 2023 at 4:26 pm
Belichick reminds me a lot of Nick Saban. Both are very good coaches who are made to look God-like only because of the talent they have/had at their disposal.
Belichick actually didn’t always field the most talented team on the field in his glory days but always had the best QB.
August 31st, 2023 at 4:50 pm
Pretty obvious that Belichick cut all his QBs except for Jones, because Brady is about to unretire and rejoin the team.
August 31st, 2023 at 5:20 pm
Buddha is correct. Most of the really good college QBs go to teams that stink, they throw the weight of the world on their shoulders, and drop them like a deuce after they have ruined them. The Jim Plunkett’s and Geno Smith’s are rare birds
August 31st, 2023 at 7:54 pm
6-11 yep
August 31st, 2023 at 8:05 pm
Nobody stays on top forever. The Bucs had a great run. Now is rebuild time. They have a decent chance at winning their division. There is plenty of talent on this team. It may take a season or two before they are major contenders., but realistically, winning their own division would be dam good. Anything beyond is a stretch for this year but a good draft is a good start.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:19 pm
Belichick is sort of right. You should only go for big dollar free agents when you’re team is contending for a deep playoff run. That current New England squad will either finish last or second to last in their division. So Bill is right, don’t mortgage the future for now if “now” leads to nowhere.
So why Bill is “sort of right”? Because he’s going to get his QB killed. His OLine doesn’t look very good, in fact it might be as piss poor as the Buc OLine last season. He should have spent a few dollars to fix that issue.
August 31st, 2023 at 11:21 pm
And I agree with the posters who mentioned that Belichick really had a major advantage in free agent wars when Brady was QB. Free agents would sign below market deals for a ring. That stopped after Brady left. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least that old Bill thought the free agents were coming to New England because of his coaching. There is definitely quite a bit of hubris in Bill Belichick.
September 1st, 2023 at 12:16 am
Sustainable only with consistently good drafts, good FA signings, and a true “franchise QB”. Belicheat is one of the very few to have done it. I give him credit.
In a way we got lucky. In that Brady fell in our laps at a time when Jason’s hard work with the draft and some free agent success all came together. We are trying to sustain our success, but without the QB it is going to be difficult.
We managed a few good years without a “Franchise QB” culminating in our first Superbowl win… with an all time HOF defense…We do not have that defense currently.
September 2nd, 2023 at 8:12 am
Mmmm, coincidental?
Belichick mentions thia now Evans agents complaining about more money.