Numbing News On Nicks
December 23rd, 2013
Money clouds his murky Bucs future
Yesterday, Bucs fans saw left guard Jamon Meredith get a mid-game benching in favor of Ted Larsen, who’s not new to being told to ride the pine.
Together they were filling in for the human armoire, Carl Nicks, who has been a mess over two seasons with a bad toe on a bad foot, made more complicated by multiple bouts with MRSA.
FOXSports.com NFL guru Mike Garofolo has been sniffing around on all things Nicks and compiled a long report today from a variety of off-the-record sources. His news doesn’t clarify much, but none of it was good.
Here’s a snippet that includes some of the cash involved:
Sources say Nicks has received mixed messages on whether he will be able to resume his career and regain the form he displayed with the Saints that led the Bucs to give him a five-year, $47.5 million contract before last season as one of the big acquisitions to kick off the Schiano era. One source said Nicks is hoping his upcoming trip to see a specialist will provide some clarity in that regard.
Nicks is slated to earn $7 million in base salary in 2014, $6 million of which is guaranteed for injury only. The team has not yet placed him on injured reserve or the non-football injury list. Kicker Lawrence Tynes has criticized the team’s decision to place him on the NFI list and has filed a grievance to fight the distinction. Tynes claims he contracted MRSA at the team’s facility and should therefore be placed on IR. Tynes has implied the Bucs placed him on NFI to avoid the perception of admitting they’re liable.
The business side of this is key for Tampa Bay. If Nicks is determined to have a football injury (aka non-MRSA) and the Bucs have to pay him at least $6 million of the $7 million due him next season, then you better believe the Bucs will stick by Nicks and hope he has a stunning recovery by September.
That could further spell doom for Davin Joseph, who’s slated to earn $6 million next season. Joe can’t see the Bucs carrying two physically questionable guards at that salary. Not again.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Dominik is saying a prayer every night that VJax turned out perfectly fine, because Nicks and Wright were catastrophically bad signings. Cut Nicks or injury settlement him, can’t be relying on an unreliable player.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:25 pm
It’s about time to draft a replacement for Nicks and if he’s ready next season great but if not then cut him. They can’t afford to keep paying him that big contract and getting nothing in return.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Better draft OLine…
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:30 pm
I just do not want these guys to be in charge of who the bucs draft
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:34 pm
Does anybody feel any sympathy for Karl?
Poor guy.
Pushed to return too early.
His big toe wasnt ready for training camp.
He contracts MRSA, gets poor surgery, the MRSA comes back,
And now he may never play again.
Poor guy. I am sure that he is bummed and pissed.
I pray for his health and recovery. One Love.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:40 pm
he never miss a game until he came to Tampa…
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Brutal mess – dom u are so bad it isn’t even funny wow- question how would the bucs look if we relied on doms draft pics?
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:42 pm
My guess is Nicks stays based on that guaranteed injury settlement for his toe and Joseph gets cut. We sure need hella lot of work on that o line.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:53 pm
The size of Nicks, the amount of weight that has to be put on that toe. Fahgetaboutit Bucs fans, he’s done.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:54 pm
how could davin joseph be any more questionable next year after an offseason of rehabbing and getting his body back in probowl form than he is right now….lateley he’s had some good games and bad games but i saw him literally pushing lineman to the ground yesterday, he’s getting better and i think it would be foolish to get rid of anyone before we can get them all on the field at once and see what the product would look like when fully healthy….they’ve been cheap for the last 4 years so let it play out, if you can let an idiot coach play out his contract why not players who have more upside than even the coach just starting out…. personally if schiano wasnt so worried about his job he could switch demar dotson and donald penn to see if dotson is worthy of taking over left tackle or do we need to draft one
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:16 pm
Just my opinion but the entire left side of our O-line needs to be rebuilt. Penn is extremely tough and a team leader, but he gets beat way to often on the left side. If he can slide to the RT position great he would be an upgrade to Dotson but if not let the man go. Nicks hasn’t panned out, they need to release or settle with him the sooner the better.
Zutah is a solid center and he is under a new contract so he is safe.
As for Joseph, he has come back from a major injury and he is getting a little long in the tooth as football players go. With that said I believe he can still play at a high level and with another offseason to heal up and condition should be ready for next year.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:17 pm
What about Joseph currently qualifies as physically questionable?
Age, long history of injury, not 100 percent strong off injury. –Joe
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:19 pm
O-Line needs a total rebuild. Bucs are a run-first team, but that’s not successful if you interior line keeps getting pushed back into the backfield like has happened all year and was constantly happening yesterday. Dom needs to break his own code and start drafting O-Line in the early rounds. I mean this is all assuming that Dom and Schiano are back next year (hopefully won’t be)
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:20 pm
ESPN is reporting Nerve Damage in his foot…. not sounding good….
Actually, that’s not what ESPN is reporting. Joe is linking to the same story ESPN is. –Joe
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:35 pm
Joe,
How about our Rock Star GM, and his refusal to draft O-Linemen. Whoops!
I hope Nicks can recover, but lets not kid ourselves. Joseph, Nicks and Penn are not playing to their paychecks.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:06 pm
The bucs are very depressing to watch. I don’t think Glennon is the answer. I don’t think different coaches are the answer. I think drafting is the bucs weakest link. Aside from LD and GMC the bucs drafts have been horrid. AC is a prime example of this. I can guarantee if Glennon is our QB next year we will see another season wasted. Go ahead and write it down or take a screen shot. We have no chance of winning with Glennon. No chance. I feel bad for GMC for being on such a crappy team. Players like him don’t deserve to be on this bad of a team. He should have done what Bo Jackson did years back. Fire “rockstar”. I hate that nickname too but Joe has a deal with Dom.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:11 pm
From the ESPN:
Mike Garafolo reports that Nicks might be dealing with nerve damage in his foot. The report also states that the MRSA staph infection Nicks had earlier this year is not causing the current symptoms.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:12 pm
The O-line looked to be one of the strengths of this team going into the 2012 season. Now, less than two full years later, it may be one of its biggest weaknesses. The team has relied on free agency and undrafted free agents to build the line. Maybe drafting an O-lineman once in a while wouldn’t hurt.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:12 pm
IF, and that is one big “if”, Nicks comes back, what shape will he be in? How many games will it take to see his potential again? Look at Joseph. It took nearly half the season to return to form.
Neither player is reliable in terms of injury but if we HAD to keep one, I’d say Joseph will be closer in terms of health. Unfortunately, I think that it would be wise to part ways with Nicks.
I truly hope this organization is smart enough to realize it needs OL help, bad!
I heard that there’s a G from Miami that’s going to be a free agent next year! Cue the cheesy soap-opera music, ” and so are the days of our lives.”!
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:05 pm
Cant blame Dominick in not drafting an O-Line. not much good talent in recent year, Iupati and Pouncey TrentWillams and Okung are good in 2010 but i prefer McCoy. 2011 and 2012 arent very good.
Carl Nicks is great but you cant predict injury, who wasnt happy that Nicks came to the Bucs? Although Dominick Clearly messed up on Wright, that aone could get him fired.
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:05 pm
You cannot blame anyone for this signing imo. When your team sucks you must overpay for free agents like a lot of teams have done in the past. If you look at the top guards in the NFL they have signed similar deals, plus he’s a 2 time All-Pro that was 25 years old. Very rare for someone like that to become a free agent. The Saints couldn’t afford everyone so they had to let some pieces go, how is that Saints line looking the last few years now? Pretty bad.
Dom gets a hall pass from me on this no matter the outcome; I loved the signing it’s unfortunate injuries happen. Hopefully he can come back to form or 90pct of it then he will be very good to great again.
December 23rd, 2013 at 6:29 pm
Sorry to say but this team needs at least 3 more years of perfect drafting before they can contend. That’s assuming coaching and scheming are top notch. It’s time to bring in people that know what the fu*k they’re doing.
December 23rd, 2013 at 6:43 pm
2014 is already starting to look like a throw away year as well unless the whole organization has a shake up. Cyber toughies get after Joe for wanting Johnny Football..but at least it would be exciting to watch. At least he could move around and make plays. Sure he could get hurt…every other qb faces some sort of danger as well. Bottom line is this brand of football is awful to watch and there’s no hope in sight if things stay status quo…
December 23rd, 2013 at 6:48 pm
I said this guy wouldn’t play more than 4 games this season and so many people laughed and scoffed. Where are they now? Eating crow now I guess.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:14 pm
This organization needs to move on without Shiano and hire a HC and ownership needs to force some hires from teams that have gone from bad to good quickly. Cincinnati has made huge improvements offensively with a defensive minded HC. Grab some of their assistants and give them a better salary and higher rank. Jay Gruden possibly. Get some Eagle assistants, they know the Chip Kelly offense. Maybe if Cowboys fjre Jason Garrett make him your HC, who knows if he can coach or not with Jerry Jones micro managing his every move. Bring in someone from the Patriot organization. Time to hire some winners.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:32 pm
Wow Ed…why don’t you add signing Aaron Rogers and Jordy Nelson because they get tired of snow, and throw in Clay Matthews. Maybe add Boldin as well. And let’s “Benjamin Button” Ron Wolf while you are at it and hire him as our new GM. But really, this is real football, not fantasy football management.
December 23rd, 2013 at 8:11 pm
Joe – the new website format sucks… It took forever to load before but at least we could read the site quickly. Now i just find myself glancing at the headlines and spending my extra time reading the times and trib. Hope there is some genius plan behind all this. FYI bro.
Jeremy in Tampa on an Ipad…
December 23rd, 2013 at 8:33 pm
The Oline went from being a supposedly our strong point to a laughing stock.
December 23rd, 2013 at 9:02 pm
If only Nicks wasn’t forced to sprint 110 yards 16 consecutive times in the Florida summer heat last opening day. 400 LBS linemen aren’t built for sprinting.
The reason they wouldn’t cut him is that he would sue them and win handily. Throw in treble damages for pain, suffering and humiliation. Throw in a negligent and life threatening MRSA infection and Nicks might end up owning this team.
How butch was that, Schiano?
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:13 pm
ed, I cannot say I like the sound of any of your ideas, lol.
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:18 pm
Saw him at Best Buy 2 days ago walking around with socks and slides, looked fine to me. Biggest guy I’ve ever seen. I think you keep of them for one more year an let them both get healthy. They’re both Probowl players how about some different coaching before we dump either one. The guy I’m down on is Penn he has been healthy all year but is just an average LT now. WHY?
December 24th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
no worries dom…there are plenty more opportunities to pick up busted has beens looking for golden parachute…sucker