Stop With The Loser Clichés
March 14th, 2018
Joe is already seeing it on Twitter.
While Joe may be jumping the gun here typing this piece some seven hours before the free agency dinner bell rings, it sure smells like the Bucs — who had the most salary cap space of any NFC team prior to free agency — have decided to take a siesta this week and watch NFL Network from the sidelines witnessing most of the NFL trying to improve their rosters in between bites of Cuban sandwiches from Brocato’s Sandwich Shop.
(Yeah, Joe has to confess, watching Kay Adams makes Joe hungry as well.)
With most potential impact free agents already linked to other teams or reaching agreements during the legal tampering period, Bucs fans on Twitter have started throwing out empty cliches to somehow justify in their minds the confusing inactivity by a five-win team flush with cash.
One of Joe’s favorites was “You can’t build a team through free agency.” Who exactly suggested the team go lazy Lovie Smith stupid and sign a collection of stiffs (Ghost Johnson, Anthony Collins, Stewart McClown) that would scare a mortician?
Granted, it is dangerous to try to build a team through free agency. Just ask Danny Snyder in Washington. That doesn’t mean a five-win team with oodles of cap space should just throw its hands in the air and declare, “Nah, we got burned once, we won’t get burned again.”
Teams make personnel mistakes each and every year, and that includes Bill Belicheat. So a team misses out in the draft, that doesn’t mean a team, having swung and missed, sits out a draft and tells NFL strongman Roger Goodell to give away its draft picks.
And then there is Joe’s favorite cliché he got on Twitter concerning Jerick McKinnon, “He’s not worth the money.”
So Doug Martin and his non-production was worth the money? So a slug of a seventh-round pick who doesn’t produce is worth the money? Is the name of the game winning the Accountant’s Cup or victories? If a guy produces, he’s worth the money, plain and simple. If the team is winning, and the guy is producing, he may be worthy of a raise.
This is such a dumb response. When exactly have NFL salaries declined? Joe has written this many, many times over years and it still holds water: What is considered overpaid today is a bargain in two years.
This tripe about “can’t build through free agency” doesn’t mean you quit. This trash about “not worth the money” is such a dodge.
And frankly, they are both defense mechanisms to justify losing.
The Bucs have lost so much so often in the post-Chucky era, Bucs fans are like an abused child. They think the norm is losing and don’t know how to emotionally handle winning.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:08 am
Joe what in the hell is the bucs doing? Licht must want to get fired
March 14th, 2018 at 10:08 am
FEAR LOSING NOT THE SALARY CAP
March 14th, 2018 at 10:12 am
Joe
The eagles won the SB and still went shopping. Why? Because winning is fun and they want to do even more of it.
The bucs ate cubans and drank mojitos….. they are telling the fans everything we need to know.
Everyone was joking two years ago when the big joke was the Jags won the off season but not the regular season. Last year was saw the fruits of off season work.
It’s hard to support a team that doesn’t seem to support itself. I’ll spend next season at home drinking Mojitos and eating cubans watching on my High Def big screen with surround sound until the team shows me it wants to be in the playoffs again.
You can’t pick fruit tomorrow by buying a seed packet, everyone once and a while you need a mature fruit tree from a nursery.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:14 am
We are like the movie ” People under the stairs”.
Just say Licht blew it. Dropped the ball. He could not get one guy? Just one?
March 14th, 2018 at 10:17 am
Agree 100%.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:18 am
Licht makes Dominic look like a genius. F the Bucs.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:18 am
“And then there is Joe’s favorite cliché he got on Twitter concerning Jerick McKinnon, “He’s not worth the money.”
So Doug Martin and his non-production was worth the money?” – J0E
To be fair, many of us did not feel Martin was worth the money, and right along with you, preferred he be franchised instead of given a huge contract. But there were plenty so-called experts here that wanted him to get that contract.
Personally, I wanted Jerick McKinnon, but those are the breaks.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:20 am
I know it’s difficult from an entertainment perspective. But let’s see what the roster looks like heading into camp not in the middle of March. There is still a second wave of free agency where there could be some very good talent and there’s a draft. I would have liked to have had McKinnon but he is actually getting paid more than a feature back and I think he’s mostly a third-down back. I think the Buccaneers will be happy to commit to a large money for a guy that can do it all not just third downs. There are a ton of running backs in the draft who could be better than McKinnon, there are a handful of defense of line men that are far better than what free agency is offering. I do hope however they improve their offense of line.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:21 am
This is pathetic. If we don’t plan on at least signing a DT and OL in FA then I don’t know what the hell the plan is. Licht and Koetter might as well pack their bags if they plan on the draft fixing everything for this season.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:23 am
The Bucs would never have won a SB without free agent signings. The Glazers have the UK on their minds. They don’t mind spending there.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:23 am
Joe,
As a lifelong baseball player, the Buccaneers FO approach reminds me of someone “striking out looking to end a game with an L”.
Swing the damn bat, or move along and let someone with courage enough to try take a shot.
Thanks for posting this!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:24 am
We aint signing anyone! WTF are they doing! We at least need def line help. Kony Ealy, Poe, somebody, DAMN!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:24 am
Dolphins had minus cap space AND STILL got better.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:25 am
Most of the FAs out there (and their agents) know Licht’s penchant for cutting FAs after one year on Buc friendly contracts . That coupled with the stench of a perennial loser does not make for an attractive place to land. Mostly it’s that Licht is incompetent and keeps selling the fans BS about being close. Us fans don’t drink that cool aid anymore. Bucs need another Tom Coughlin type and we’ll be cellar dwellers until that happens.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:26 am
Maybe this is a strategy. Licht tried actually signing players to fill holes in the past… maybe he’s seeing what happens if you just leave the holes wide open…… you know what they say the definition of “insanity” is.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:28 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8_nRkCJx9o
March 14th, 2018 at 10:28 am
I mean the browns are doing better than us and they didnt win a game. At least they are trying to get better, what is going on?
March 14th, 2018 at 10:29 am
Perfect!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:29 am
You know the bucs have to resign ali marpet kwon by next year and jameis year after they cant waste money on a backup rb for 7.5 million
March 14th, 2018 at 10:30 am
Here’s a bit of advice…wait and see what happens shortly after 4 pm today.
The Bucs are not letting it be known what they are doing…but that doesn’t mean they are doing nothing. While guys like Tom and others give up before things even get started, I fully intend to live stress free and wait to see how things play out.
Id that blind optimism? Not at all.
Louis L’Amour once said, “Why worry about the things that you cannot change? If you have done all you can from your side of things, all the worrying will bring you is an early death or sleepless nights.”
It amazes me how so many of you are stressing out for no good reason. The bottom line is that you either follow the team or you don’t. What can you personally do to change how the team operates? Making insubstantial threats to not buy tickets or merchandise amounts to nothing. Saying you are done, or you’ve had it with the team is little more than an outright lie.
The truth is that though you threaten, you are not going anywhere.
And in the end? Nothing you say or do will have made a difference to the team. They will be what they will be regardless of the stress you apply to yourself for no good reason. We do not own the team. We do not run the team.
We watch the team. That’s all we do. Oh, sure, we like to pretend we are more important than that, but the hard truth is we are not. So all this complaining and whining and idle threat making? A waste of time.
“Why worry about the things that you cannot change?”
If you are truly tired of it all, follow through on the words you speak. There was a time when our words defined us as people. When our words were our bond.
So man up.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:31 am
I don’t care what the final record is,I don’t think anyone is getting fired next year! I think Jason.L & Dirk.K were told that already that why they’re not signing any FA.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:31 am
The history of Buc Free Agency success prolly makes the owners think “WTF?”
March 14th, 2018 at 10:33 am
Cant build through FA
Ask the Jags Anyone see their Defense
Please take a look at another Tampa team the Rays
Dump their best players / Have a bank full of money
What do the Rays want. To Move
Sorry Fans this is the only possible reason this team would do nothing in FA with the worst Defense
March 14th, 2018 at 10:33 am
“If a guy produces, he’s worth the money, plain and simple.”
Then why is his team letting him walk in free agency?
March 14th, 2018 at 10:34 am
Gasp — oh no!
This is Loser Cliche No. 3.
You mean like other teams don’t have good young players to sign in the future? So the Eagles don’t have good young players? The Vikings? The Saints? Joe could go on.
That hasn’t stopped other teams from bolstering their rosters. Hell, the Super Bowl champion Eagles added to their roster already. The Eagles!
Yet a five-win team with the worst defense in the NFL and no pass rush cannot find a way to add players to its payroll, despite loads of cap space.
Please! Spare Joe.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:34 am
If it were up to Joe this team would be comprised of 16 players make $10 mil a year.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:36 am
Think I saw Jason Licht out on the side of my road this morning with the other bags of garbage
March 14th, 2018 at 10:37 am
Jason Licht will put on his boxing gloves and fight for the bums and senior citizens that’s left.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:40 am
this staff is a dead staff walking…..lol…..glazers said win with what you got or go fishing at glazers bay!!!!!!
no urgency!!!!!…..no excuses!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:41 am
It amazes me how so many of you are stressing out for no good reason.
Yup. You rodents have no right to criticize this team. The Bucs are right there in the chase for the Super Bowl. Don’t look at numbers. Don’t look at 11 losses; don’t look at the worst defense in the NFL; don’t look at 22 sacks; don’t look at a horrible rushing attack. All of that is misleading. If you skunks had a piece of a brain, you’d already know the Bucs are just as good as the Eagles.
The gall of you scumbags not to enjoy losing year after year. This team knows what it is doing! You will take five wins, and you will like it you degenerates!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:41 am
Has it occurred to anyone that the FAs don’t see the Bucs coaching staff as elite? Who wants to come here when the coaching staff don’t even know what scheme to match their personnel with and vice versa?
Also, Richard Sherman, for example, said Jimmy “Jesus” Garoppolo had a huge part in him signing with the 9ers. That and he obviously wants to crack skulls with the Sea urchins twice a year!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:43 am
Joe
You are talking out both sides of your mouth. You have jumped on the bucs all season because you feel william gholston is overpaid eventhough he is getting paid rotational money for a defensive end. Yet you are good with paying a running back who has never rushed for over 600 yards and averaged 3.8 yards a carry as a top flight back? That is crazy. At least martin had 2 superstar years in his 1st 4 years. Mckinnon has never been anything close to that but you want pay him as shady mccoy? This fan base is nuts.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:43 am
Bucs don’t have that attraction with our players given the tank job they pulled last season.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:45 am
I see y’all frustrated but honestly I’m not tryna win the offseason. Honestly I would love for us to find another starting corner to keep VH3 at Nickel all season in this free agency and a DT that’ll compliment GMC (Richardson Suh Poe etc.) I hope we can do that. Also I know a lot of you guys want a running back and from what I’ve been looking up, this draft is full of really good backs outside of Barkley (Guice Michel Jones II Penny Chubb etc.) Also I think Peyton Barber can be reliable for us as well. Mix in a fresh young Rook to compliment him and we might possibly have a formula similar to the ‘Aints. Y’all could panic bitch and moan. Either way I think we’ll be fine. No complaints. Just stating my opinion. That is all…
PS Food for thought… Offseason Winners = Regular Season Losers
March 14th, 2018 at 10:47 am
Webster
You are king of the excuse make low standard fanbase… no one can accept and celebrate failure like Webster and cancer93
March 14th, 2018 at 10:48 am
Status woe, slingshot engaged.
5-11 again? Let’s hope not!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:49 am
Webster,
Why didn’t we pursue Calais campbell last year?
Why not trade for Robert Quinn? We didn’t try hard enough.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:50 am
I do not trust Licht
March 14th, 2018 at 10:51 am
Well just read on Pro football Talk that we plan on signing the greatness that is back up DT Beau Allen…….AWESOME, NOT!! So this is who we’re going with, a back up guy that sucks? Way to go Licht and Glazers!
Beau Allen heading to Tampa Bay
Posted by Darin Gantt on March 14, 2018, 10:32 AM EDT
Getty Images
Beau Allen was likely heading out the door anyway, but the Eagles have already replaced him with Haloti Ngata, so you knew he was gone.
Now we know where.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers are adding the Eagles defensive tackle.
Allen can fill the hole created by the release of Chris Baker, and give them a solid run-stopper next to Gerald McCoy.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:51 am
While i truly believe you build in the draft, you fix drafting errors and fill holes via free agency and trades. In both cases, you must over pay for the drafting errors
Everything could (and must) break perfect for the Bucs.
This off season cements my belief that the Bucs are in desperate need for a team president between ownership and the gm.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:52 am
A few folks i know have decided not to renew their season tix……There’s just nothing there in 4 yrs under Licht that remotely resembles fielding a competitive product. Folks look at what the Eagles did in 3 yrs which included stripping the team of the Chip Kelly era, how the Jaguars made a few bold moves and suddenly they are contenders, how the Titans who drafted just behind us in 2015, advanced IN the playoffs last year, the Rams turned it around, the Vikings with a stable of back up Qbs went deep in the playoffs……Then you see a team trying to lose like the Jets equal us when we are trying to win…..Its a joke. This franchise is a joke. If Buc fans want a competitive team, stop watching and force the owners to wake up because right now all they keep doing is selling hope, followed by next year….then next regime…and the cycle continues. Football is entertainment built around winning games……the Bucs aren’t entertaining. Its reruns of the same garbage yr after yr.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:52 am
This is supposed to be the BEST time of the year for a BUCS fan… A time for hope and optimism lol… We all know how miserable the regular season normally is. Licht, you better step your game up. Smh. Damn-it!!!
Do something!!!
March 14th, 2018 at 10:53 am
Webster
Are you a mentally handicapped member of the glazer family that was cut out of the will so you come here defending the indefensible to try and get back in good graces.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:54 am
It is not about “winning the offseason” it is about trying to improve your roster. The Bucs were 5-11 and have holes up and down the roster that in no way can be all filled through the draft next month.
Given the fact the Bucs swung and missed on two critical trades, it made free agency all that more important and the Bucs have all but decided through inaction that they are seemingly content fielding a 5-11 team.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:54 am
Preach Joe, and Tmax of course.
And for the “cant build through FA” crowd, the Jags seem to be doing alright with it.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:03 am
Bucs don’t have nearly as much $ to work with as you seem to think Joe.
By my calculations – discounting the $8.6M for our draft picks – Bucs are currently sitting at $32M as of right now after signing new deals for Grimes, Evans, Brate, Fitz, Hump, Glanton, Barber and Elliott.
I expect Licht to also try to bring back McDonald and McClain which should cost roughly $4M for both. And they would be smart to bring back Evan Smith as well for $3M.
If those 3 signings finalize before the FA dinner bell “rings” – Bucs are coming into the official start of free agency period with roughly $25M above the cap.
$25M still sounds like enough to get at least 2 or 3 good players. Right?
Well yea – Until you realize that Licht has every intention of offering long term extensions to Kwon and Marpet who are on the books for peanuts this year. Possibly D. Smith as well.
Bucs intend to invest in and win with the youth they have drafted and what they expect to get out of this and future drafts.
They said they were going to build and win largely through the draft and they meant it. Guess no one was listening or really believed them.
We shall see about the winning part – but you gotta give credit for sticking to the plan.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:06 am
Pickgrin,
Calais Campbell should be our all-pro DE and in his second year with us.
What the hell went wrong there?
March 14th, 2018 at 11:11 am
and my favorite excuse… “we don’t need guys like him on our team” but had nothing to say when riley cooper was catching passes in a bucs uniform … how do you thing the locker room chemistry was gonna work with “mr. n-bomb” running around in it? meanwhile the packers got mo wilkerson for 1 year & $5M 🤦♂️
March 14th, 2018 at 11:17 am
Steve – If 32 y.o. Campbell was on the books – we would have $8M left in cap space as of this moment heading into free agency.
Campbell was a humongous gamble that Licht and/or the Glazers were not willing to take.
Jacksonville took that huge gamble and it payed off big time for them. For 1 year.
Likely as not though – Campbell’s stats will fall back to earth in 2018 and/or he will get hurt and not play a full season – but still gets his $17.5M this year.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:30 am
Joe- your analogy about Martin doesn’t work-
Martin was a 1st round pick of Bucs and had produced in past and based on that- Bucs gambled and lost- Martin was injury prone and his drug issue may have screwed him up physically so that he wasn’t the same, don’t know.
But building a team with free agents is usually a disaster- You build your foundation through the draft and when you’re close- you add a difference maker or 2 who is coming to a solid team already built. And you’ll attract quality free agents if you’ve built a solid team through the draft- not “collect the check” types
March 14th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Pickgrin,
I’d cut Martin, not resign Gholston, and not sign Swaggy. We’d have more cap space then. But I hear ya. Big mistake by a Licht and co.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:39 am
At some point it kind of matters. If we paid $30 mill per year for some mediocre player are you going to say we’re losers for saying that contract is absolutely terrible?
$7.5 mill for McKinnon is an absolute joke. He’s being paid like a top 4 RB.
The reason I say “not worth it” is because that $$ should be going to any DE/DT/CB we can sign instead because the value is better. It’s not because I wouldn’t want the team to get better. That’s likely a lot of fans’ sentiments. That doesn’t make them losers. It makes them smart people who see a big picture you fail to grasp. You can’t sign McKinnon AND 2-3+ good defensive impact players AND an O-lineman with our current cap space. That’s the bottom line. And I’d MUCH rather go RB in the draft; and sign a FA CB/DE; than the other way around.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:41 am
This team is easy to hate.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:42 am
Of course in hindsight – keeping Martin, signing Baker and re-signing Gholston as opposed to spending that $ on Campbell looks like a huge mistake.
But heading into it – guaranteeing $33M to a 31 year old player who had never had a season like he did last year in his career probably sounded like a bad idea.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:44 am
Tua 2020
March 14th, 2018 at 11:51 am
Thank you Joe. The absolute worst proclamation made by fans is “you can build a team through FA!!!!” Nobody says to stop drafting. There are multiple ways to add talent to you team and these are the two primary areas. Guess what, most draft picks don’t work out long term. You have to supplement your team via FA. There will not be two defensive ends, a safety, and two cornerbacks and a RB that you will be able to get in the near future that will contribute if we only build through the draft. A 5th round DE, a 6th round RB, and a 7th round safety most likely won’t even make the team. So all you anti FA geniuses, what is your plan then to fill those spot. Oh and by the way, picks 1-4 are probably 50-50 to make it as well. And if that first pick is a DE he most likely won’t contribute much in year one.
March 14th, 2018 at 11:51 am
It’s very hard to sign Quality players when they don’t want to play in Tampa. Players and agents have figured out that the Ownership doesn’t give a hoot about winning. The coaching staff is subpar at best. The Starting Qb can talk but can’t back up the talk by winning. The GM has his hands financially cuffed by owners. It’s really that simple. The best you can hope for is players hat are looking for a big payday (DJax) or 3rd string situational players. Unfortunately we are back to the 80’s and early 90’s Bucs.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:12 pm
No one in the media holds these guys accountable, during the press conference to announce our own garbage signings of players who could have been signed a month ago and the same guys who contributed to a 5-11 team, not one media me ever said well that’s great Jason, but what about signing free agents to fill the countless holes we have on this roster?????? Not a single f’ing question, it’s like the media is scared to ask hard questions.
This is a really misguided take considering the news conference was held before the start of free agency. The verbal agreements you hear of now and yesterday and Monday are not official or signed, which means teams can’t talk about them. Licht talked about free agency two weeks ago at the Combine and you read all about it here. He’ll be there again after the Bucs sign a player or two this week. That’s the time for real answers. –Joe
March 14th, 2018 at 12:24 pm
@ tmax
No maxipad, im just not an idiot like you. Im done trying to explain to a simpleton like you. If you want to buy a honda civic but pay benz s500 amg prices then you do it idiot. What you eat dont make me $#!+. Continue being an idiot.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
@ pick lord c
You cant teach stupid. Let these fools moan about not signing a 3rd down as if was shady mccoy. Why didnt they sign calais campbell? Why didnt they sign alshon jefferey? Why didnt they sign antonio gonzalez when he went to the falcons? Why didnt the bucs sign jonathan joseph? Why, why why????? Why didnt they draft jj watt? Why didnt they draft richard sherman in the 5th round? Why, why why????
March 14th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
“Not worth the money” means spending cap dollars wisely… To make McKinnon a 7 million a year player is outrageous. He’s a situational player ferkreissake… As usual, Joe advocates spending that would get most GMs canned within 2 years.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:51 pm
Sorry for the smart @$$ comments on twitter JOE, but the only way I can deal with this overwhelming frustration with this team is through humor. It mask the hurt.
March 14th, 2018 at 12:53 pm
“Teams who win free agency lose the regular season. “
March 14th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
SteveK
I’m looking at you kid. Tier 3 free agents bro. GET READY TO APOLOGIZE!!
You should say something along the lines of:
” your highness DB55 forgive me for my naivety, for I know not what I say. Never shall I ever question you your highness for you are all-knowing and NEVER WRONG. I am blessed to simply read your wisdom and gain knowledge from you your highness DB55. Forgive me My lord.”
Then I’ll respond: “Take him to the Den of Depression – Dilly Dilly”
March 14th, 2018 at 1:25 pm
TOM Says:
March 14th, 2018 at 10:18 am
Licht makes Dominic look like a genius. F the Bucs.
——————————————————————————-
No Tom–F&$K YOU Glazers!!
March 14th, 2018 at 4:43 pm
YES!!!
Kick em where the sun don’t shine, well said Joe.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
At this stage this is what the Bucs are doing same coaching staff, same players, same environment = same result.
March 14th, 2018 at 10:16 pm
Wait! It’s not the norm?