Jared Allen Ready For His “Clean Shot”
March 5th, 2014
Team Glazer’s private jet awaits
Lovie Smith is on record saying he wants a double-digit sack guy on his edge and the Bucs don’t have one. (Sorry, 2011 draft picks.) That means Tampa Bay has to buy one, or gamble that they’ll find one in the draft that can produce immediately.
There are zero indications Lovie is willing to make that May gamble.
So that leaves the Bucs with what has become an annual tradition: Team Glazer’s private jet ready to pick up a potential free agent, fly him to Tampa when the free agency bell rings Tuesday, and sign the man immediately.
Likely future Hall of Fame defensive end Jared Allen is going to be available. Yes, while new Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer glowed about Allen and talked about wanting him to stay in Minnesota on Monday, now Allen’s agent is telling NFL.com Allen is heading to the open market for a clean shot at free-agent glory.
Allen is not washed up, but he might not have multiple years of greatness in his tank. He seems like a perfect Bucs fit to pair with other young edge rushers the Bucs might add via free agency and the draft.
Second-year man William Gholston spoke very confidently to Buccaneers.com a few days ago about how much he grew late last season when he became a starter and how he’s entering this season brimming with understanding versus his rookie year. That’s no surprise, given how good players make big strides between in the second seasons of their careers. Gholston is just another guy who could benefit from Allen’s presence.
The connections are there for Allen, with his old defensive coordinator, friend and head coach Leslie Frazier in Tampa, plus the Bucs’ strong tradition of supporting the military, a big focus of Allen’s charitable efforts. But the biggest hook of all has to be Gerald McCoy. Playing alongside McCoy should let Allen record enough sacks to guarantee his eventual spot in the Hall of Fame.
Don’t think that’s not a factor. Joe remembers hearing John Abraham discuss how important that was to him last season, when then-35-year-old Abraham was sniffing the best opportunity for himself in free agency. That turned out to be Arizona, where Abraham notched 11.5 sacks.
The free agency dinner bell rings in six short days.
March 5th, 2014 at 4:29 pm
Allen is the only DE worth going after in FA and would be a great fit in Lovie’s defense. Get him and Clowney at all cost and the Bucs D will be one of the best.
March 5th, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Rumor has it that Allen wants to go to a winner. (Last shot at a ring) Seattle ??
March 5th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
I agree Allen would be a great addition but dont forget Corey Wootton from Chicago…. he can play both DE and DT Mike Glennon Fans- Facebook
Joe has written about Wooton, a likely target because he can be a legitimate backup/rotational guy for McCoy. But he’s coming off surgery. –Joe
March 5th, 2014 at 5:04 pm
Joe … thanks for all the great articles. May not agree with all of them, but at least you keep folks thinking about our Bucs (and yes, I too have been a long-time season ticket holder). I keep wondering though if maybe we’re all expecting too much/too fast out of Lovie. He’s put together what I think is an outstanding coaching team, and they’ve got quite a few players they can build a championship team around. But … there are a LOT of holes to be filled (particularly on offense). By my count, I see 7-8 defensive starters on-board, but only 4-5 offensive starters under contract. Add in our outstanding punter and our place-kicker, and we’ve got 13-15 quality starters out of the 24 needed. And very little depth behind that. Nice that Lovie has almost $20 million in cap money to work with, but not so good that we’ve only got 5 draft picks. I recognize what Kansas City was able to accomplish last year in terms of turn-around after a major reshuffle, but theirs is the exception to the rule, not the norm. And I personally think that they had even more to work with initially, and had an easier schedule than the Bucs face this coming season. An incredible Bucs turn-around in one year may happen (and I for one REALLY hope that it does), but there’s very little if any room for error. Two to three years down the pike, watch out … I’m confident that our Bucs will tear up this division. This coming season is the one to be really building the coaches/players team and to get everyone focused on playing winning football. A break-even record next year would be a major step forward in my eyes, as long as our Bucs are playing all hard-fought games. Losing stinks, but losing because you don’t know what you’re doing stinks even worse. (No indictment of last year of course).
March 5th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Allen is going to take Bennett’s spot in Seattle he came out today and said he wants a legit shot at winning a Super Bowl.. Some team is going to over pay for Bennett this year(Raiders)..
March 5th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
@Dick2111
Well said.
March 5th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Yea, there’s some quality pass rushers in this free agency, so we cant miss our opportunity to pick one up. Sign Jared Allen to a 2-3 year deal, if he is willing to come here. If not, then there are still a couple other good ones. And Dick2111 might be right, I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but in Lovie’s first season with the bears went 5-11, so this year might not be the year to expect the playoffs. There is still a chance that we could have a winning season though, just depends on how well we fill our holes this off season. I’m optimistic.
March 5th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Henry Melton from the bears might also be someone to watch, if the bucs see Spence as more of a backup, rotational player.
March 5th, 2014 at 5:53 pm
Where did the “this team is built to win now”crowd of Buc fans go? Surely they had to be the fans that were screaming the loudest for Schiano’s head.
Here’s a thought, not that it will happen, but it could. What if Lovie goes 3-13 in his first season?
March 5th, 2014 at 5:58 pm
@Buc1987
Then we do what we always do. We say that they run too many stunts ( even though most teams run stunts,) We get billboards that say Fire Lovie!!! we will say The O-coordinator needs to go back to college. And we will call The GM a Rockstar because all 5 of his draft picks saw the field.
March 5th, 2014 at 5:58 pm
@ Buc1987
I dont think that will happen, but If it does, then we really wont have any trouble drafting a QB in the next draft. Just my view from the bright side.
March 5th, 2014 at 5:59 pm
I know for one Capt Tim is one of them. To him and many, many,many, many many more fans it was all Schiano’s fault and this team was loaded with talent. I’m not saying they were right or wrong. I’m just wondering where those people went to is all.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:00 pm
Please come back from time to time.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:06 pm
I read somewhere that the Bucs may be interested in DT Jason Hatcher/Cowboys. The Dallas Morning news thinks they may also kick the tires on DE Anthony Spencer. Remember, Lovie’s BFF, Rod Marinelli is Cowboy’s DC. Dallas has no money, can’t keep them, might lose Demarcus Ware. Stay tuned!
March 5th, 2014 at 6:23 pm
Bobby Rainy signed a two year deal!!!
March 5th, 2014 at 6:36 pm
Did a little pre-draft research on Lovie.
In the first round with Chicago, Lovie drafted 1 DT, 1 DE, 2 OTs 1 HB & 1 TE – Only 2 Defensive players in nine years.
In the second round, he drafted 2 DTs, 2 DEs, 1 DB, 3 WRs & 1 RB – As you can see, he sends to go for Wide Recievers and defensive line more in the second round.
And he wasn’t very good at drafting offensive tackles in the first round.
The knock on him was no offense, even with 8 drafted offensive players in the nine years.
Why? Well part of it is they didn’t have first round picks in 3 of the years, including his first. The other reason? Because he never once drafted a quarterback. If he has learned his lesson, then QB will be the pick this year.
Just found all that interesting.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:37 pm
“..no offense, even with 8 drafted offensive players in the nine years…”
In first and second round I mean.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:39 pm
So Joe’s
Gholston can make big strides in between and in his second season but Glennon can’t.
Joe admit that you never wanted Glennon to start or play last year. You were still calling Joshstrap Freeboy the franchise quarterback two days before he was benched and also clamoring for him to play all season that same week. Your mancrush for John Boyziel runs very deep in you, most likely since the game A&M beat Bama.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:50 pm
rdbucfan Says
“Gholston can make big strides in between and in his second season but Glennon can’t.”
So, are you saying we should not bring in Dline players to compete?
Joe isn’t. And he’s saying nothing less for Glennon.
March 5th, 2014 at 7:04 pm
Bonzai
I’m for competition across the board. Schiano mentioned that there was no depth last year and Joe mocked Schiano because it suggested his buddy the pop star was not a good gm. I just don’t get why Joe thinks just about any player other than Glennon can be better next year.
I just don’t think reaching for any player is good. If the bucs pick whomever they think is best player available at 7 I will be happy. Even if that player is a QB.
March 5th, 2014 at 7:27 pm
You just don’t get Joe.
My thoughts are this…Glennon might be good. Or he might not be. But if he isn’t do you really want to wait through 3-4 years of losing without another option?
Do you believe we will win more games with Lovie?
If so, that means we won’t get a pick this high for a very long time. You can get the other positions much easier in later rounds. Good ones. But Getting a shot at a top three QB? Not very often.
And, say we draft Johnny or Bortles. That doesn’t mean they will be handed the starting role. Mike Glennon has a year under his belt. He has the edge. He CAN make it impossible to bench him if he is as good as everyone says.
And if he is, we’ll have first round trade bait for next year. Or really good backup.
March 5th, 2014 at 7:28 pm
In Free Agency, I’d be happy with any of the following
DE Jared Allen, WR Eric Decker Broncos, DE Lamarr Houston Raiders, OT Jared Veldheer, DB Sam Shields, DE Everson Griffen, DL Corey Wootton,LG Zane Beadles
March 5th, 2014 at 7:29 pm
Some are obvious depth guys, which we’ll need. I think DE Everson Griffen is about to take a big leap forward.
March 5th, 2014 at 7:50 pm
just say no to eric decker…he played big in a contract year…fool’s gold.
March 5th, 2014 at 8:58 pm
Bonzai…you honestly, seriously think that if the Bucs draft a QB @7 that he won’t be handed the job.
I don’t know Bonzai I usually agree with a lot of what you have to say, but there is no way in hell you are right about that one.
March 5th, 2014 at 9:13 pm
In a dream team defense line I would love to add Jared Allen & Demarcus Ware on the ends(Bowers & Clayborn can both learn from great stars and be good backups). This would be an insane pass rush and with David & Revis, plus 2 good safeties this would be a number 1 defense next season. We just need to add in Sammy Watkins (if available) & depth and we can turn this around IMO next year. With 20 mil available to spend we can definitely sign some depth.
March 5th, 2014 at 9:14 pm
Lamarr Houston might be the most interesting available DL. He could come in and play LDE on 1st and 2nd downs and move inside on 3rd downs. He is big and explosive. Michael Johnson is by far, the top RDE available for the Bucs system. Long, explosive, and young, he is a lot like Simeon Rice and would blow up in Tampa.
March 5th, 2014 at 9:51 pm
Allen did not have a great year last year.
Leslie Frazier’s presence on Lovie Smith’s staff could help the Bucs lure Jared Allen to Tampa if the Vikings allow him to hit free agency
It’s only speculation at this point, though Allen does make a lot of sense for Tampa who are in desperate need of a pass rusher.
Of course, Allen looked like a shell of his former self this season, though it’s hard to tell if that was a decline in skills or simply being affected by all of the trade talk/poor roster.
March 5th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Lovie took over the bears in 2004, had the 14th overall pick. The Bears selected DT Tommy Harris, 2005 Bears had the 4th Overall pick, selected RB Cedric Benson.
To say the now that Lovie is the coach and the Bucs will not have another Top 10 selection is just plain wrong. Also Qb are drafted all over the draft. There is no rule that you get a great QB only when draft at the top. If Tefford finds a QB he can work with in the draft, thats great. If he is not, you have to try next year.
March 5th, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Ram,
You’d have to trade Revis to get the bucks to do your dream team. You good with that?
March 5th, 2014 at 10:24 pm
The_Buc_Realist Says:
“To say the now that Lovie is the coach and the Bucs will not have another Top 10 selection is just plain wrong.”
Realist…apparently you missed the newsflash. Lovie Smith is going to be the Bucs savior ya know.
March 6th, 2014 at 2:28 am
Anyone falling in that small population of those thinking Bennett is overrated or believing that getting upset over his inexplicable departure is an overreaction, needs to NOT quit their day job for a GM position in the NFL.
Take a look at who’s at the top of the list:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/freeagency/
March 6th, 2014 at 8:52 am
@rdbucfan
“Gholston can make big strides in between and in his second season but Glennon can’t.”
I agree. Glennon will most likely start but if he doesn’t produce in the first few games he will be benched. However, only if we have a viable QB to take his place. If not, we will have a long season again. Then 2015 is a possible top pick for us. Yeah. And I like Glennon.