Free Agency Countdown: 26 Days — Quick-Fix Eric Kendricks
February 12th, 2025
Joe wants to thank in advance the tens of thousands of Bucs fans that will be here refreshing their browsers like lunatics on March 10, when the curtain opens on 2025 NFL free agency.
Hooters opens for carryout at 11 a.m. The free agency siren goes off at noon.
That’s when agents can negotiate with teams and reach agreements to sign players, per NFL rules. Josina Anderson and the “sources” crowd will start spitting out big-name signings on social media. Those deals can be made official on Wednesday, March 12.
The Tom Brady credit card bill is nearly paid and the Bucs will have cash to spend. They can make more salary cap room by re-crafting current contracts.
Tampa Bay needs an inside linebacker whether or not Lavonte David returns.
It’s clear that the Todd Bowles defense is complex and heck, some young guys need a year to learn it. Bowles, frankly, may not have that kind of time to improve his defense. His job could be on the line if the defense isn’t better next season.
Enter Eric Kendricks. The former All-Pro turns 33 this month and just finished a heck of a bounce-back season for the Cowboys — 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 3 sacks and 138 combined tackles in 15 games.
The Cowboys got way more than their money’s worth as Kendricks played on a one-year deal for $3 million.
Kendricks may want to stay in Dallas, but Joe always hears that players love to play for Todd Bowles, and the Bucs’ defensive pieces should be very enticing to Kendricks.
How much of a raise could he command? It smells to Joe like Kendricks would be affordable.
Joe could see the Bucs signing a guy like Kendricks and drafting an inside linebaker in Round 3.
February 12th, 2025 at 8:58 am
refresh. refresh. refresh. yup – that’s me on March 10.
February 12th, 2025 at 8:59 am
My bet is we’ll hear during free agency.
February 12th, 2025 at 8:59 am
CRICKETS
February 12th, 2025 at 8:59 am
Only problem is that he would be an old man by the time he learns Todd’s Phi Beta Kappa defense.
February 12th, 2025 at 9:39 am
Not a bad short term band-aid…
75 PFF grade but is 32 years young. Ranked 27 out of 189 LBs.
Let’s compare that to what we already had here last season:
LVD – 35 years old – 68.7 PFF grade. Ranked 64 out of 189.
KJ Britt – 45.2 PFF grade. Ranked 171 out of 189.
JJ Russell – 67 PFF grade. Ranked 76 out of 190.
-Bring back LVD for one more season.
-Add an experienced free agent like Kendricks.
-Bring back JJ Russell on the cheap as a back-up/special teamer.
-Let KJ Britt go.
-Draft another ILB with our 2nd or 3rd round pick.
Go Bucs!
February 12th, 2025 at 9:44 am
Dear Joe..
Let me add, that if LVD doesn’t come back we will need 2 ILB……
February 12th, 2025 at 9:56 am
Oooops.
I forgot S. Dennis – 67.3 PFF grade. Ranked 74 out of 189.
Bring him back for another 3 games before he gets injured again…
LOL!
February 12th, 2025 at 10:00 am
I’m not giving up hope on Pass the Sirvocea Dennis and am a little surprised he hasn’t been talked about more.
He had 22 tackles (14 solo) and a sack in 3 games of action before being out for the year 5 snaps into week 4. That was with him splitting some snaps in a rotational role.
And not only that – i remember I kept asking who the heck #8 was. He was a physical presence those early weeks of the season and straight up wrecking plays. He stood out visually.
February 12th, 2025 at 10:03 am
I’m mostly with Marine for the ideal offseason plan at ILB.
L David / S Dennis / R2-R3 Draft Pick / JJ Russel + maybe a cheap FA.
Unless there is an all pro in R1 but i haven’t gotten that vibe reading mock drafts. It feels like R2-R3 is the $$ rounds for ILB
February 12th, 2025 at 10:12 am
I hope LVD will be back but…. I like the idea of picking up a veteran ILB and Hendricks sounds like a good bang for the buck play. Pair him with a rd2 rookie like Stutsman or Higgins (Jihaad Campbell will be gone in early rd2). I still like a corner at 19.
February 12th, 2025 at 10:20 am
“I’m a little surprised he hasn’t been talked about more.” Well, for starters, you can’t be counted on if you’re always hurt. Now, I’m sure over compassionate bleeding hearts feel it’s just bad luck and all but the reality is that everyone is built differently. Some people get hurt just bending over to pick something up ok. Got no time for all that, no time for people that are never available because theyre always hurt. Play and start all 16 games, stay off IR and benefit of the doubt will have been earned. Until then, heres my *Italian Chin Swipe*
February 12th, 2025 at 10:40 am
Josef – Puleeze – Do not feed us 26 days of constant revisitation to the Old Folks Home. FORMER all-pro. Turns 33 this month! Do the rules in the NFL even allow wheelchairs and walkers on the playing field?
February 12th, 2025 at 10:45 am
“The Tom Brady credit card bill is nearly paid and the Bucs will have cash to spend”
Um – no its not – and no – they don’t.
$52.5M in 2025 dead cap hits = 20% of the entire budget.
spotrac says as of now the Bucs have $5.6M to ‘spend’ – OTC says $2.2M
either way – the Bucs have to ‘create’ about $30M just to sign their own top free agents back (Godwin, LD54, Bredeson and Nelson).
Doing much more than what is absolutely necessary puts the team right back into cap hell for at least a couple extra years.
February 12th, 2025 at 10:56 am
Come on, a 33 year old, we can and should do much better than that. If Lavonte comes back, we need a young guy in there to learn with Lavonte. Not have two 33+ guys out there.
February 12th, 2025 at 11:24 am
Pickgrin… won’t there still be $50 million in relief next season regardless of what they do this season?
Frankly, I am willing to go back to bargain hunting and not having cap space for a couple years if it means a SB or SB chance this season. I don’t trust Bowles but with a bunch of defensive reinforcements, I think the Bucs are there. Hate to waste it just for future cap flexibility.
I’m not saying you are wrong… just a tough call for me based on the age of our core guys who we know can win a SB.
February 12th, 2025 at 11:59 am
Is 4 years $50 million too much for Nick Bolton of KC. That guy is all over the place and could solve a bunch of LB holes for the Bucs.
February 12th, 2025 at 12:56 pm
Dennis was hurt first two years. McCoy was also hurting the first to years. Turned out great for him the third year. Dennis could break out?
February 12th, 2025 at 1:24 pm
The complexity issue has gotten out of hand. The HC needs to tell the DC what time it is.
Oh, wait. He’s the same guy.
February 12th, 2025 at 1:36 pm
If one or two guys struggle to learn your defense, it’s a problem with the personnel. If everyone does, it’s a problem with the defense.
February 12th, 2025 at 2:00 pm
Let’s draft a 10 year starter at ILB….no temp fixes…
February 12th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
BoJim … Virtually everyone making it to the NFL has talent; some admittedly more than others. But if a guy can’t stay healthy, he won’t be able to learn the system (via daily practices) to the degree that it becomes ‘instinct’, nor build the experience that only really gets perfected in games.
Guys who spend a bunch of time hurt during their initial years don’t really help the team. If we drafted them, I can see keeping them on our Practice Squad, but not taking up 1 of the precious 53-man roster spots. Availability counts.
Because of injuries, 74 total players racked up snaps of one sort or another last season (offense, defense, S/Ts) for the Bucs. Several more went on IR early-on but never even got any snaps (Bryce Hall for example). We got to the point that we literally had to sign guys off their couches (Merriweather, Neal?) and then had them starting within a week or 2. The Super Bowl champion Eagles had only 66 total players who racked up snaps of one sort or another last season. Represents quite a difference actually.
February 12th, 2025 at 2:41 pm
If he can excel at playing pass coverage, he’s your guy.
February 12th, 2025 at 3:36 pm
Marine Buc … Tending to believe that fixing our ILB position group should be our top 2024 defensive goal. Personally I think it’s a disaster right now.
There’s zero guarantee in my mind that LVD will re-sign for yet another year. And even IF he does, no guarantee how many games he can give us, nor any guarantees regarding how well he’ll be able to play (I still remember Derrick Brooks last year; he was hurting & it affected his play).
NONE of the rest of the ILBs we have under contract excite me enough to anoint them as starters. Because they have game experience & are decent at S/Ts, I could see keeping both Britt & Russell for this year only. The rest of them belong on the Practice Squad at best.
Assuming that we can re-sign LVD, I’d prefer to sign a veteran starter-quality Free Agent ILB AND draft a starter-capable ILB in Rnd 2 or 3 (I still don’t see any ILBs worthy of our Rnd 1 pick … which I’d use on a CB to pair with McCollum BTW). That’d probably mean that we’d have to carry 5 ILBs on our roster (but only suit up 4 of them on game days).
If we can’t re-sign LVD, we’d at least have 2 starter-quality ILBs in the fold. Hopefully they stay healthy this season.
In terms of names, take a look at the 2025 ILB UFAs on Spotrac. Two guys stand out to me:
1 – Cody Barton (Denver): 6’2″ & 237 lbs (28 years old) – 4 yrs with Seattle; 1 yr with Washington; 1 yr with Denver – He’s done quite well the last 3 years; very good tackler (3.8% Missed Tackles); decent in coverage – Market Value: $6.6 mil.
2 – Tyrel Dodson (Miami): 6’0″ & 237 lbs (26 years old) – 4 yrs with Buffalo; split last year between Seattle & Miami – He’s a bit more of a project than Barton is IMO; fair tackler (10% Missed Tackles last year) but a tad better in coverage – Market Value: $5.0 mil.
And BTW, I wouldn’t have a problem re-signing Devin White on a cheap, incentive-laden contract UNLESS Todd Bowles has written him off. Devin has undeniable talent; he just needs to learn how to optimize that within the TEAM concept.
February 12th, 2025 at 3:39 pm
Bowles loves Plan 9…..his perfect edge. Nothing can stop him when he fires his retro rockets.
February 12th, 2025 at 4:21 pm
@ DR
I agree.
ILB is a mess right now. I like the 2 FAs you listed. Either would be a solid upgrade over Britt, Dennis and Russell…
I wouldn’t mind seeing our GM move back in round 1 (like he did in 2022) and collecting a few more top 100 picks then selecting the best ILB available. My hope is that J. Campbell will still be available in the late 1st round or early 2nd.
February 12th, 2025 at 4:42 pm
Marine Buc … ‘My hope is that J. Campbell will still be available in the late 1st round or early 2nd.’
I’m a huge Bama fan and watch all their games. Bama’s defense did not impress me last year. Walter Football has their 2 LBs (Campbell & Lawson) listed as the #1 and #2 prospects currently, with Campbell going in Rnds 1-2 and Lawson going in Rnds 2-3.
They’re both big LBs (Campbell 6’3″ & 244 lbs and Lawson 6’2″ & 239 lbs) and both run the same 4.55 sec 40-yd dash. Personally didn’t see a whole bunch of difference between the 2 of them.
I just keep thinking that IF Devin White got his act together and learned to play ‘within the system’, he could be the answer to one of our needs (like he was in 2020 & 2021). Folks keep talking about how bad he was in coverage, but that’s not what his stats tell me.
o 2024 (7 games Houston): Targets – 18 … Completions – 11 … Catch percentage – 61.1%
o 2023 (14 games Tampa): Targets – 43 … Completions – 29 … Catch percentage – 67.4%
o 2022 (17 games Tampa): Targets – 60 … Completions – 46 … Catch percentage – 76.7%
Those numbers (71% completion percentage allowed over 3 years) are actually quite good for an ILB. LVD for instance allowed a 79.7% completion percentage over those same 3 years.
February 12th, 2025 at 5:41 pm
@ DR
I would be OK with a cheap one year incentive laced prove it type deal.
But I don’t believe his past issues were purely mental.
Personally – I believe D. White is just physically washed up… He played a lot of ball at a high level at a very physically demanding position.
The Bucs let him go (did not re-sign) then Philly gave him a shot and gave up on him @ mid-season or so.
Doesn’t look good to me man but I trust Licht and Bowles to do the right thing…
February 12th, 2025 at 5:43 pm
Bengals linebacker and defensive captain Germaine Pratt has requested a trade, per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of Ian Rapoport.
Pratt set a career-high with 143 total tackles in 2024, which led the Bengals and ranked 11th among all defenders.
February 12th, 2025 at 6:47 pm
Houston didn’t even activate Devin for their final game. Anyhow, I read on Spotrac that we have $28 million dead cap in ’25 (Shaq and Jensen) and like 100k with Camarda. Things change huge if Godwin leaves
February 12th, 2025 at 7:58 pm
Sounds like some posters are gearing up for mock draft season. Some of the most hilarious stuff to read used to be this one dude’s mocks. Did em every year and got more and more wrong each time! Split your gut funny stuff!!!
It would have been more accurate to splatter a dead fish on the pavement and have a tarot card reader interpret the mess.
February 12th, 2025 at 8:05 pm
Damn it Pickgrin, beating us over the head with the facts again. Just when we were dreaming of sugar plumbing and Hendrickson. Lol.
Back to reality, we need 2 reasonably priced FA ILB like DR has mentioned and then draft the several other needs. Joe probably has to wait another year for his edge unless Green falls to us. Regardless? The smart move is to finally put the dead cap black cloud behind us. Go young and hope Licht can snag another Shaq Barrett off someone’s roster. Corners, DL and a left guard in the draft and Bowles gets to prove it. Replace Whitehead for similar dollars, make the hard choice on Dean and hope Winfield’s season was just an injury riddled fluke.
This gives us a punchers chance and puts the dead cap in the rear view.
February 12th, 2025 at 8:14 pm
Plumbs.
February 12th, 2025 at 9:44 pm
As much as everyone seems to like to proclaim the players love for Bowles, do find it interesting that very few of his former players end up deciding to join him in Tampa, despite many having the oppt to do so over the years. Just food for thought.
February 13th, 2025 at 3:09 am
Love the idea Joe. I bet Jason and company are way ahead of you on this one.
Tell him no State Tax and the home of Hooters. He will be sure to sign. LOL
Go Bucs!
February 13th, 2025 at 10:30 am
Nope to any 33 year old LB FA not named LD