Bucs Lead NFC In Defense Spending
July 11th, 2018
Money spent equates to little when it comes to NFL rosters, but the Bucs sure hope that trend changes this year.
Tampa Bay has a little Team Glazer loot left to spend under the 2018 salary cap, but not much. And that’s thanks to the all the cash they’ve allocated to the defense.
Reliable salary-data site Spotrac.com reports Bucs have used the most cap room on their defense in the NFC this year, and the second-most in the NFL behind Jacksonville. The Bucs are using 20 percent more than the league average on the defensive side of the ball.
Of course, a giant load of that is along the defensive line, where even backups are making major money.
Now the defense must produce. The excuses are gone, unless you consider a large collection of unproven cornerbacks an excuse.
How that expensive defense performs likely serves as a referendum on general manager Jason Licht. No, Licht doesn’t coach, but defensive failure this season leads to Team Glazer wondering why a pass rush, among other things, is so hard to acquire.
For those wondering, the Bucs were ranked 7th in the NFL in cap dollars allocated to the defense last year. Not a good look for the 32nd-ranked defense.
July 11th, 2018 at 11:59 am
Everybody in this country loves defense spending, no matter what it costs.
July 11th, 2018 at 12:24 pm
this staff should be able to overcome any adversity or injuries thrown their way…..licht had added talent and depth….time for the coaches to step up…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 12:31 pm
It does not look good for the GM at all!!!! Having to basically redo the defense in one offseason thru free-agency and the draft!!!!!!! The Bad part the the “real” fans know is that it at best is a temporary fix!!!!! GMC and JPP and BG are at the end of their careers!!!!! The GM made a lot of moves, But move don’t always mean that it moves forward!!!!!! We will all have to see what it looks like all throw together all in one off-season!!!!!!
Coach Smitty already proved that he can cover up holes on defense back in the 2016 and scheme around roster deficiencies!!!!!!!! hopefully GM licht found the right guys and actually did more good than bad in free-agency, which would be a first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 12:32 pm
What counts is the return on investment. I hope we see that this year in a big way, if not we might see some changes in our money manager(s).
July 11th, 2018 at 12:36 pm
JA
That was funny! After all one can never have enough Nimitz class carrier groups when the rest of the world have none…
I think this is just a case of rebalancing. During our #weaponsforjameis era we went all in on offensive spending and draft capital including on Jameis himself.
So we ended up with perhaps the best overall group of WR’s and TE’s in the league….and the worst DL.
This off season was just balancing things up again.
July 11th, 2018 at 12:45 pm
tick tock around the clock, tick tock it’s getting closer, almost here, soon everyone will cheer a 2-1 record out the gate, fitz’s magic no mistake’s, along comes jameis, revenge on mind a 5-1 record at the bye, tick tock mid season done and were not thru rojo wreaking havock as were 6-2 smiles on fans faces, our defense shines too, no more depression were now 8-2 a small blip brings our troops down, what once was laughter now tuns a frown 8-4 still work to be done at 9-5 were shooting our guns, playoffs a calling the division we hold, 11-5 it’s good to be bold, deckerhoff happy, glazers full of glee, we are now champs of the NFC
July 11th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
smitty proved to be worse than lovie…..outside of 5games he’s the worse in buc history…..that 5game streak is looking more and more like a fluke…..
smitty has all the pieces now….he has everything he needs to run a good defense…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 1:05 pm
Buc Realist……Smitty better hope Conte , if he’s going to start him again gets hurt again and he puts Tandy in the lineup like he did in 2016. If he wants to win he better start him from the get go or he will be looking for another job in 2019!!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
“The most money spent but all we have is a 40 year old corner who is lucky to play 12 games? The modern NFL offenses are pass oriented”
“This overall defense is not built well”
Kobe Faker
July 11th, 2018 at 1:32 pm
a good off season of free agents
a good draft
if, we falter, its coaching and time to clean house, mid season
July 11th, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Nobody is worse than Lovie.He is number 1 on the list of college coaches on the hot seat.
July 11th, 2018 at 2:57 pm
@Bob in Valrico
That is the truth!!!! If some thought last year’s defense was bad!!! Add a 3 point avg to last year and that is loser lovie!!!!! And that was against a soft schedule!!!!!! How do you think carolina went 15-1 that season!!!!!!!!!
The Incompetent one lovie can not even cut it in high school football!!!!!!!!!
And how phony is 813???????? here is what he had to say about “coaching”
813bucboi Says:
December 18th, 2015 at 4:39 pm
…what more do you want me to say…fire lovie…but at the same time I hold the players accountable as well…as a coach once told me and my team mates…”I cant play the game for you”…lovie cant coach and play the game…for the three of you to sit here daily and put 100% of the blame on lovie and not blame the players that are actually playing the game is just down right wrong and sad on so many levels…
July 11th, 2018 at 3:17 pm
First. Ill admit I think Lovie and his staff is worse than this one. But Realist, arent you doing the exact samething you are criticizing 813 for? You put all the blame on Lovie and now you are putting all the blame on the roster and none of this, as of right now, one of the worst coaching staffs in the league.
July 11th, 2018 at 3:43 pm
realist
you have yet to hold this staff accountable……instead of blaming the staff you blame HK…SOS…IRMA….etc…..
make no mistake about it….if dirk fails this year, he and lovie will have a lot in common….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 3:54 pm
JBFers must be getting hard up for things to write about when Lovie’s name Starts popping up in comments. So we FINALLY started spending some capital ($$$ AND draft picks) on the Bucs’ defense … Whoopee!!! Prior to this off-season we’d spent $$$ on McCoy, David & Grimes then stocked our defense with lower-grade FAs & higher-round draft picks. Again … Whoopee!!!
Well, we finally fixed at least some of our defensive deficiencies, so why aren’t Bucs’ fans more optimistic, at least about the defense? If this defense doesn’t improve from #22 to at least #15 or so, then yes, coaches need to be fired. (And yes, our was a #22 defense last year based on POINTS ALLOWED ). BUT … I’m personally ‘cautiously optimistic’ that this defense could end up in the Top-10 in POINTS ALLOWED (Won’t really give a rats about YARDAGE ALLOWED until that becomes a criteria for winning & losing).
July 11th, 2018 at 3:58 pm
when your drafts are crap you have to sign free agents.
July 11th, 2018 at 3:59 pm
Hmmm, are guys drafted in Rnds 4-7 higher round draft picks or lower round draft picks? Like 1 is lower than 7. Oh well, you all probably know what I meant even if I didn’t.
July 11th, 2018 at 4:20 pm
couch fan
@realist aint fooling nobody……he’s as wrong and slimy as they come….
The Buc Realist Says:
July 24th, 2017 at 6:21 am
Can you smell the change Buc fans?????? Can you smell the change in the air sheep????? We fans are so glad to have the “Coaches” that promote and foster that change!!!!!!!!!! That hold this team and players to a very high standard!!!!!!!!!! Last year was about the “changing the culture” and they succeeded in changing the losing culture!!!!!!!!!!!! Now they are implementing a “winning” culture!!!!!!!!! It is all pretty amazing when you remember that they were “coaching the lovie out of them” last year and fixing all the mistakes and bad coaching from 2015!!!!!!!!!!!
lol….we can smell the change alright…..lol….we can smell dirk a$$ burning up on that hot seat…..after the season, the new HC will have to coach the dirk out of players!!!!….singing dirk and smitty’s praise has you looking like a straight up clown….
now pull your skirt down!!!!…your tmax is showing!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 4:57 pm
Yes, that is what happens when you pay a DT as a second QB for 16 million per season with average production.
July 11th, 2018 at 5:06 pm
talk about someone being dead wrong and slimy!!!!!!
@realist takes the cake!!!!!
The Buc Realist Says:
July 24th, 2017 at 6:21 am
Can you smell the change Buc fans?????? Can you smell the change in the air sheep????? We fans are so glad to have the “Coaches” that promote and foster that change!!!!!!!!!! That hold this team and players to a very high standard!!!!!!!!!! Last year was about the “changing the culture” and they succeeded in changing the losing culture!!!!!!!!!!!! Now they are implementing a “winning” culture!!!!!!!!! It is all pretty amazing when you remember that they were “coaching the lovie out of them” last year and fixing all the mistakes and bad coaching from 2015!!!!!!!!!!!
we can smell a change coming alright!!!!!…..the new HC will have to coach the dirk out of players…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 5:14 pm
When you can count on your offense to put up points you don’t need to pour all that money on defense. Unfortunately, we don’t. We’re lucky to score 20 points per game.
July 11th, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Defense Rules… lower is how Buc fans feel when they lose, higher is how Buc fans feel when they win.
July 11th, 2018 at 9:55 pm
More money on the defense than even the Rams?
July 11th, 2018 at 10:43 pm
That pic of Licht and the Glazers would be good for making memes.
July 11th, 2018 at 11:05 pm
Must be the Trump tweets. Are we Germany?