Bryant Wants To Return, Grumbles About Offense
December 30th, 2009
By any NFL standard, Antonio Bryant has had a subpar season for a franchise player. So Bryant has gone on the offensive in an unusual manner in hopes of returning to the Bucs in 2010.
Bryant gave Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times a moment of his time and, while lobbying for another shot next season, grumbled about the Bucs offense this season.
“We have situations where you have your guys you want to get the ball to and I’m not on that sheet right now. The tight end is the quarterback’s best friend. They’re committed to Kellen. But that commitment is not helping me. I know how everything operates so I’m just going to be a team guy and do my part.”
Not exactly the best way to get another chance with the Bucs, though Bryant did say in the same conversation about his skills, “Man, turn on the film and let it play.”
Would Joe like to see Bryant return? Of course. The Bucs don’t have anyone remotely close to his abilities to replace him. But Joe believes that general manager Mark Domink/Bill Cowher knows better than to give him a franchise player salary.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Does Bryant care about the team or himself? Not helping him? Seems like he only cares about himself.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
This quote speaks volumes about new regime:
“Most definitely,” Bryant said. “I think in the Carolina game (in December 2008), I caught every ball that was thrown to me that night. I probably missed one. The difference between this year and last year, is we (practiced) that stuff every day. Before I went out there on the field, I knew exactly what (Panthers CB) Ken Lucas was going to do. As soon as he touched me, I almost knocked him over because I knew. I told my coach on the sideline excactly what he was going to do. And as soon as he put his hand out, I did it and ran.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Between last year and this year, Bryant made just over 10 million. Five million a year is about right for the production he has given. Even if we were lucky enough to draft the next Randy Moss in this year’s draft, we still need to resign Bryant. Stroughter is a slot guy and he’s all we have. If we can throw Mike Clayton $25 million for blocking well, we sure as hell better pay Bryant. Like him or hate him, he is probably the best WR we have had this decade…maybe ever. Give him a 3 year $18 million deal and have one less need to worry about. Do it now before he becomes a FA.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Give him a 3 yr deal with statistical escalators to guard against injury or lack of production. That deal could make him very, very, very rich, or just rich.
Either way, we have to sign him. There are no other FA WR’s out there right now. Even if some high profile names become available, there is no guarantee they want to be a Buc.
Sign AB. Joe, pull strings, tell Dominik.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Sounds like someone if jealous of Kellen. They have throw the ball to him plenty. He just either hasnt been healthy enough or hasnt caught the ball. I mean c’mon, what else can they do?
December 30th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
BTW, he’s been targeted 77 times and he’s only caught 37 times!
December 30th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Is AB a unrestricted or restricted FA?
Personally I would think the Bucs would offer him a 3 year $20 million deal with $5 guarentee and incentives. He in all likelyhood wouldn’t take it but to be honest was AB really worth $9.7 million this year?
December 31st, 2009 at 12:00 am
They put the franchise Tag on him so I think that makes him an unrestricted FA. Donald Penn was restricted and teams would have to comp the Bucs with picks for him, but this year won’t be. They need to get Penn a new deal to sew him up. Bryant would be good trade bait too if they get him a deal before the season and if not he is one heck of a WR. Olson is doing better but we need to improve at the OC job, to utilize all the weapons available.
December 31st, 2009 at 12:15 am
Hey Lucky, rather than asking if Bryant was worth 9.7 million this year, ask if he was 10.9 million for the past two years. That’s 5.45 million a year for the past two years…I’d say he has been worth it. You know who else is making 5 million a year but can’t catch a cold?