Historic Decisions By Thursday
March 6th, 2020
Joe just wanted to share the critical deadline that represents a monumental decision in Buccaneers history.
Thursday, March 12, at 4 p.m., is the last possible second the Bucs could slap a franchise or transition tag on America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, or any other player.
That’s it. Jameis could hit the market as a free man if the Bucs don’t act in the next six days.
NFL players voting on a new labor agreement will not change this tag deadline. Voting has commenced on the new labor deal and players have through March 12 to cast their ballots.
Joe wonders how Jameis will feel if he is made a free man.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:34 am
Gods plan
March 6th, 2020 at 9:35 am
So he hits the market. And who and at what price have you heard wants him?
March 6th, 2020 at 9:38 am
youtube search Jameis’s 30 interceptions
then get back with me
March 6th, 2020 at 9:40 am
I believe Winston’s demands are so ridiculous that he’s purposely positioning to get out. I also believe ownership has bent over backwards for sub par results and have had enough of Jameis. He can play for market value or nothing as a Buc. Teams that grossly over pay for bottom tier results will never win…..especially at QB. It’s a death spiral for an organization. We hired Arians who’s resume far exceeds Winston’s in the QB dept….Arians has pegged a value on Winston and the organization is behind that.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:43 am
didnt they push it back to march 12th this year?
March 6th, 2020 at 9:43 am
Haven’t heard from any team that wants him
March 6th, 2020 at 9:45 am
It got pushed back to the 12th this year.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:46 am
multiple career-defining long term critical decisions involving the incompetent glazers, proven failure of a gm in licht and a senile washed up coach who has never won nor built anything on his own… what could go wrong.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:50 am
Shaq doesnt have a deal so the franchise better go to him. Winston won’t make 27 mil on the market but he’d get a nice payday though. Not hatin on dude I just want to move on and hope he does too.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:50 am
Watch the titans a real possibility to snag jameis. Pair him with Henry and that oline.defense.
Why ?
Jon Robinson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2013–2015)
Director of player personnel
March 6th, 2020 at 9:54 am
1. Winston Extended
2. Shaq Franchised (while still working on Long term deal)
3. Servers on JoeBucsFan go crazy from overload
Ya heard it hear first… 3/12/20
March 6th, 2020 at 9:55 am
“Historic”? Maybe for this website. A “historic” decision is what Tom Brady may choose to do, not what a team chooses to do with a numb skull 30 Int. QB.
History will only remember Winston as a clown that never lived up to the hype and never figured out how to get out of his own way on and off the field.
His calling card will always be the cringeworthy video of him “eating a W” and poking Latimore in the back of the head from the sideline inducing a fight.
Just like GMC, Winston will be a footnote in NFL history. An “Oh yeah, I kind of remember that guy”, when some one mentions their name 15 years from now. He’s one notch above Josh Freeman.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:00 am
Can’t wait until all the speculation is over
Also waiting to see all these teams eager to sign Jameis… ha ha ha ha ha
March 6th, 2020 at 10:04 am
Wherever he lands, JayMiss will have a long career as a journeyman QB.
Look at Ryan Fitzpatrick; he’s made a ton of dough and even has a plaque in the HOF.
That’s what JayMiss is; a journeyman. Good enough to rack up stats, but never good enough to win on a regular basis.
Only way JayMiss gets to playoffs is either as a backup or buys a ticket to game.
Either way, he won’t be missed.
He’s just another in a long list of bad Buccaneer draft picks.
Peace, out
March 6th, 2020 at 10:11 am
As an FSU fan I have supported Winston for 8 seasons. He got the noles a Ship and nobody can take thay way from him. However there are Qbs doinf way more with less talent around him. Yea the run game could be better but he has 2 all pro wide recievers to throw to and has had vincent jackson to mike evans to now chris godwin to throw the ball to. I just think this team is in win now mode with the coaching staff and players in position. Its time to see what someone else can do.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:13 am
Jameis hit open market, doens’t get the offers he wants, we resign him to a more team friendly price at $22 mill a year for 2 years with clauses.
It was all posturing this whole time.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:13 am
BYE BYE GROPER!!
March 6th, 2020 at 10:16 am
Joe…we both know that the word out of the combine is that that won’t happen.
That being said, I see absolutely no reason to franchise tag him. On the other hand, I mentioned the transition tag possibility a couple weeks ago, and still think that would be a smart play. Why not…he finds out he can’t get more than 15 to 20 mil a year, and we match it if door numbers 1 and 2 don’t work out? So I still think that might be the smart play.
But if Bruce and Jason do nothing, it kind of tells everyone where things stand with Jameis…which would be nowhere.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:33 am
Hope they get it right this time. So far Licht hasn’t often found the right places to hang his hat. Maybe Arians can help him out.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:34 am
Thanks for the update Joe,
Been a while waiting for this phase of the off-season…
Now to hold on to the ohhh sh!t handle.
Go Bucs
March 6th, 2020 at 10:37 am
None of the owners want to reset the QB1 market, w/o having the new CBA approved – before FA starts. Since this is highly unlikely to happen before the FT has to be rendered, due to players haing until 11:59pm 12MAR to submit their votes… I cannot see JW3 getting tagged or ANYONE not named Brees / Dak or TB12 getting $30M+ in 2020 $, this go round.
Brees will get his on a yr-to-yr deal w/ NO.
Dak will get his via the exclusive right Franchise Tag from DAL.
TB12 will get his, because he’s the GOAT & someone will over pay for that last hurrah. (Hope it is TEN or NE & not the Glazers!)
Every other QB on the market will get less than TAG money & only get short-term offers, due to the CBA uncertainty & potential for 2021 work stoppage/player strike….(The Owners need the security of a new CBA to go get the best 10 yr TV deal they can & need the 17th game / expanded play-off format to sell it for BILLIONS more than they get today!)
After CBA is resolved…Then STFB, cause we are only 12-24 months away from seeing the 1st $40M/yr contract in NFL history! (Mahomes)
March 6th, 2020 at 10:40 am
Curious where you get March 12? NFL.com says the deadline is March 10 at 4 PM Eastern time??
March 6th, 2020 at 10:45 am
If bucs resign Winston as a BUC fan I’ll be on board but just not expecting him to do anything different than he has his entire career until I see it.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:55 am
Lol. Nothing historic about letting a mediocre QB walk to free agency, especially for this franchise. I follow NFL news and rumors pretty closely… What franchises has Winston been linked to? How about none?? I see Winston backing up Trubisky next season….
March 6th, 2020 at 10:56 am
Those of us truly “in the know” have known for awhile that Jameis Winston was not going to be resigned by the Bucs at any price.
It was pretty easy to figure out if you put all the pieces together…
1. Why would Jameis go and get lasik eye surgery? It surely wasn’t to convince the Bucs that he could improve on his turnover & accuracy problems. They know after 5 season what they have with him, and Arians certainly knows what he has in him after a full season in his offense.
Winston most likely got lasik eye surgery as a ‘PR’ maneuver that was recommended by his agent. The Bucs most likely told Jameis they were not to be resigning him. So the lasik surgery move was done at the recommendation of his agent to convince another team in free agency he’s worth taking a shot on based on the big yards he put up and that the lasik issue would be a wildcard that it might fix his INT problems.
Again, Winston would have no reason to get lasik surgery if the Bucs had told him they were probably going to bring him back but had to figure out Shaq’s contract first and if they were going to use the tag on him.
Winston often wore contacts or RX goggles in practice, so again, the Bucs knew all too well what the vision situation was with Jameis. Lasik is only seems interesting to outside teams for free agency.
Not a bad strategic move on Winston’s agents part if you think about it. That lasik procedure might be enough to move a team off the fence and give Winston a fat guaranteed contract for at least 3 years. It’s all about getting paid as much as possible now; and having it guaranteed.
2. If the Bucs wanted to bring Winston back they would have already extended him. It’s not about the money. Saving a few million per year and getting a ‘deal’ wasn’t their top priority. They have plenty of cap space with some of the maneuvering they can do with team salaries. So another $5M/year wasn’t going to be some sort of make or break amount to keep Winston or not. So salary wasn’t the #1 issue in bringing him back or not.
It’s not about letting Winston test free agency and then hopefully getting him back at a cheaper price. Not extending him is because they don’t want to keep Winston at all and are ready to move on without him. Again, a $5M/year savings (or even a little more than that) isn’t the issue here. They recognize he’s not the guy to get them back to the Super Bowl and they’re moving on.
You have to win at least 3 games in a row to have success in the playoffs. The Good Jameis vs. Bad Jameis cycle makes it almost a mathematical certainty that you can’t string together 3 wins against top playoff teams. Arians knows this and so does anyone else that truly understands the NFL.
3. All the ‘myths’ about Winston have finally been busted… “Guy never had a running game…” Not true. Martin ran for 1,400+ yards in Winston’s first season and he was still a turnover machine. So a great running game doesn’t necessarily mean anything on the lines of improving his turnover problems and bad decision making.
– “No other QB than Winston would be able to come in and put up big numbers like he has. It would be so dumb of the Bucs to let him leave.” Another myth that has been busted. Ryan Fitzpatrick with the same OL (aside from Cappa substitutions) had several 400+ yard games and multiple 3+ TD games. And that was without Godwin in a starting position. So it’s already proven that Winston is not the only QB that could put up big production behind one of the most expensive OL’s and Offenses in the NFL.
– “The Bucs don’t care about protecting Winston. The OL sucks and he hasn’t been given a fair chance.” Another busted myth. Bucs have one of the most expensive OL’s in the league. Stats also prove that the OL isn’t actually that bad and is better than half the lines in the league for pass protection. Winston holding the ball too long has also contributed heavily to his QB hits and sacks. These are stats and facts that many Jameis fans don’t want to admit.
It’s a New Day in Tampa Bay. The Bucs are ready for a major turnaround, especially from a Marketing standpoint… New uniforms & New face of the franchise for 2020. They know what they’re doing. Jameis will NOT be the face of the franchise any longer and will not be brought back… not at any price.
The Bucs are ready to move on from the James Winston Experiment.
* As just as many NFL experts (like King and others have pointed out) there’s a very good chance Winston has a very limited market in free agency and there may not be a starting job for him. He may get signed as a backup somewhere. Either way, it sure seems that Winston is well on his way out of the NFL due his 5-year consistent track record of leading the league in turnovers. GMs and coaches know that the turnovers (and Starting Field Position implications) far outweigh and yardage stats.
March 6th, 2020 at 10:56 am
Let him hit the market, teams are not clamoring to get to him.
His best option is a team friendly deal to stay with the Bucs at about 20 a yr with the 2nd yr player and team option.
If he asks for me the Bucs are going to explore all other options and likely go another direction. That leaves JW going where? The Charges, Dolphins and Bengals are all drafting QBs.
The Pats wont put up with his TOs, Indy is in win now mode and are looking for a game manager, Denver? possibly but that teams turned into the place where QBs careers go to die. Ten is not going to let RT out the door. Which leaves him going somewhere that he will have to compete and will not at signing be considered the starter.
March 6th, 2020 at 11:08 am
Jameis will have a long NFL career, he might even get a SB ring, as a backup QB somewhere, and he’ll make a ton of money doing it. Not bad for a poor kid from Bessemer, Alabama
March 6th, 2020 at 11:27 am
Jay-miss should have been a “free man” back when he was suspended years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 6th, 2020 at 11:28 am
Jameis was a mistake…
Whose NEXT!
March 6th, 2020 at 11:38 am
Tye Says:
March 6th, 2020 at 11:28 am
Jameis was a mistake…
Whose NEXT!
I bet a lot of people say the same thing after meeting you!
March 6th, 2020 at 11:49 am
Joe wonders how Jameis will feel if he is made a free man.
he’d cry like realist did when smitty was sent packing!!!!!!
then he’ll go join jamarcus russell, christain ponder and ej manuel at the lake to talk about the “good ole days” with jimbo!!!!….lol….
GO BUCS!!!!!!
March 6th, 2020 at 12:05 pm
And we’ll break the bank for Bridgewater. Woo hoo!! (That’s sarcasm)
March 6th, 2020 at 12:22 pm
Ivan the Insider says;
“Good Jameis vs. Bad Jameis cycle makes it almost a mathematical certainty that you can’t string together 3 wins against top playoff teams.”
~~~~~~~~
Not a bad point, but is there a QB in the NFL that had 3 consecutive wins against playoff teams last year?
Jameis did have 4 wins in a row last year.
I still understand the point, though. He would have to be immensely more consistent to make a playoff run.
March 6th, 2020 at 12:23 pm
Never mind, my bad.
You MEANT the playoffs, haha.
Yea…. he would have to get us there first.
March 6th, 2020 at 12:26 pm
Ivan the Insider says;
“It’s a New Day in Tampa Bay. The Bucs are ready for a major turnaround, especially from a Marketing standpoint… New uniforms & New face of the franchise for 2020. They know what they’re doing. Jameis will NOT be the face of the franchise any longer and will not be brought back… not at any price.”
~~~~~~~~~~
I have to say that I have come to believe that you are EXACTLY right on this. I think everything you said in this paragraph is true.
I am a JW fan and will definitely be pulling for him, wherever he goes.
But yes, I believe the winds of change are a-comin in TB.
March 6th, 2020 at 1:09 pm
@Ivan the Insider@ 10:56AM :
Thank you for one of the best posts I have EVER read on JBF, and I agree 1000%! You even used correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, as best I can tell. Kudos to you, young man!
So, as I’ve posted before, if JW3 is NOT “the guy”, then the amount to pay him makes absolutely no difference, even if it is a relative pittance, and therefore hope we move on.
To me, the next question is can the Bucs win enough next year to get in the playoffs? If that answer is NO, then the best option at QB becomes the best available CHEAP option as a “bridge QB” and drafting their next stab at a “franchise QB”. (And moving up in the draft as necessary, and using as much draft capital/players as that takes to get your choice of QB). That allows keeping the rest of the team intact, and below the salary cap. Unfortunately, that likely wastes the next year, waiting for a long-term answer at “franchise QB” to develop.
That looks like this:
– Start Gabbert, Keenum, Glennon, or Dalton, and draft a future QB in the 1st round. My choices would be: Herbert> Eason> Fromm>Tua>>Love.
If the answer is YES, and you think you can get to the playoffs, and try to win NOW, then the choices are the best QB you can get regardless of cost, or long-term viability.
That looks like this:
-Sign Brady>Rivers for short-term shot at playoffs, and again draft a QB.
or consider a longer term perspective with Carr(not a free agent)>Tannehill>Bridgewater>Dalton.
tickrdr
March 6th, 2020 at 1:20 pm
tickrdr Says:
“@Ivan the Insider@ 10:56AM :
Thank you for one of the best posts I have EVER read on JBF”
~~~~~~~~~
Agreed. I should have said it earlier.
Outstanding post.
March 6th, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Not really historic; if he was really the franchise this would have been done by now
March 6th, 2020 at 1:57 pm
If they don’t get the CBA passed, only ONE tag applies. No transition tag.
March 6th, 2020 at 2:23 pm
Thank you for sharing the date Joe. Kinda feel like Winston is gone if he hits free agency but it’s just very hard to tell and I’m guessing the debate will rage on after this deadline……which right now seems like to come and go with no deal.
Seems telling that the Bucs are suspected to use the tag on Shaq and not Winston. If they wanted Winston as top option they would find a way to sign Shaq and tag then negotiate with Jameis.
Winston’s value is pretty complicated while Shaq is kinda set in stone……..He’s a top sack getter. He’s getting top dollar.
March 6th, 2020 at 5:49 pm
@Ivan the insider, good job of making a logical well thought out post to prove Jameis is toast. But you did not refute that Jameis rate of interceptions doubled after his first year in BA’s complicated higher risk offense that has doubled interceptions in the first BA year for other QBs not named Jameis, who then did much better the next full year in BA’s system. Actually you should have expected any QBs interceptions to happen when a team loses two all pro WRs and the QB has to also try to play with a bad thumb and even on a leg injury as well and took a bad beating with a bunch of sacks because of his high priced OL were not as great at pass protection as you represented. So if Jameis only gets backup offers well below his agent’s hopes and BA can’t land a Veteran QB that can match Jameis’ production with far less sacks, and Jameis offers to take a $20 million prove it contract with incentives for making the playoffs and even bigger incentive if he wins BA another ring, and proves his injuries are healed, and asks to show his improvement with his better vision in a work out, don’t count out Jameis returning as the best shot for the team this year, and if it fails badly the Bucs have a shot at Clemson’s QB next year.
March 6th, 2020 at 6:01 pm
Not to mention that other QB who had a couple of games with Jameis type production and lower interceptions than Jameis, how did he do in his third game
when facing Pittsburg’s defense? Why did Koetter have to later bench such a better QB than Jameis that year and then start Jameis? Why didn’t that first QB take us all the way to the playoffs behind our “above average OL”? I am waiting to hear that explanation. Crickets!
March 6th, 2020 at 6:03 pm
@Ivan
When receiving a compliment consider the source and those words from tickdr are high praise indeed.
I agree with tickdr and Demon it was an outstanding post.
It’s mostly speculation this time of year but you laid out a lot of convincing clues to back up your theories. They all made perfect sense.
March 6th, 2020 at 7:14 pm
Owlykat,
Should have beat Pittsburgh. 2 horrible calls at the end and a dropped ball , razor thin margin between losing and winning.
As for benching Fitzpatrick. Winston was benched too, your point is?
Why didn’t Fitz get another chance to start or why did they stick with winston.
You seem intelligent, but that’s a really dumb ass faux question. But let’s play along.
To say winston outplayed Fitz is wrong . Wrong factually and definitely wrong approach to base an argument. Incredibly, short slighted and works against your stated position. Jeez …..
I answer with a question, do you think koetter made that decision?
Jameis is Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick is Jameis.
March 6th, 2020 at 7:37 pm
^^^^^
Agreed with all praise for Ivan’s post….. but it was actually more of a novella!
Bonzai please take note.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:17 pm
Thanks tickrdr, Demon, stpete, and Doosh. Sorry for all the typos in my post. I was typing fast.
@Owlykat – Winston’s INTs doubling in his 1st year in BA’s high risk offense doesn’t matter when his previous FOUR YEARS he was consistent in leading the entire NFL… every…single…year… in turnovers.
Winston had more INT’s because he had more passing attempts. Not a surprise that a high INT ratio guy would throw more INTs if he was throwing the ball more.
Jameis not only threw for 30 INTs last season but he also had 12 fumbles. The fumble problem hasn’t been talked about enough. His INT numbers are so high (and so bad) that the fumbles are like a small bonus item when it fact they’re also a major problem.
The #1 statistic that can predict the winner of a football game is STARTING FIELD POSITION. That’s a proven, mathematical fact of the game. Winston’s opponents had some of the best Starting Field Position against any other team due to Winston’s turnovers. That’s very, very bad.
As far as your point about Arians and if Winston is his only option, I still don’t buy it… sure, anything can happen… but I’m not buying it. If the Bucs aren’t going to extend Winston, then no matter what happens in free agency won’t affect them. They’re still moving on from Winston being on the team.
I believe that Arians (with limited years left for coaching) does not want to continue trying to win with Winston. He wants to try someone else. So I think no matter what happens, the Bucs will have a different QB in 2020. He may end up with Keenum or someone that was no where near his top choice, but it won’t be Winston.
March 6th, 2020 at 9:23 pm
@D1:
Posted previously, everyone else please ignore.
tickrdr Says:
December 16th, 2018 at 7:11 pm
After 14 games, both of the Bucs QBs have started and played approximately 7 games apiece. So, the updated totals are:
Fitz: 164 of 246 = 66.7% JW3: 188 of 295 = 63.7%
Fitz: QB rating = 100.4 (10th in league) JW3: QB rating = 85.3
Fitz: 17 TDs (6.9% of passes) JW3: 14 TDs (4.72% of passes)
Fitz: 12 INTs (4.9% of passes) JW3: 13 INTs (4.4% of passes)
Note that neither one has a TD/INT ratio of at least 2:1.
Note: I am pretty sure they have played with the same offense, the same running backs, the same receivers, the same defense and the same coaches.
It seems at BEST: Jameis Winston = Ryan Fitzpatrick
tickrdr
March 6th, 2020 at 9:27 pm
tickrdr Says:
February 14th, 2020 at 3:51 pm
If you believe as I do, that keeping Winston for next year would be a lost year (AGAIN), then do NOT re-sign him, even if the cost to do so is not prohibitive or even cheap.
If next year is going to be LOST anyway, better to bring in the cheapest veteran you can (I don’t think it matters who, since that guy would likely only be the bridge to your new QB, and paying big dollars to some other retread would not likely be good enough to get you deep into the playoffs, and would necessarily mean LESS money for the defense). So, keep the defense intact, and draft your next attempt at a franchise QB in the FIRST ROUND, and hope you get lucky. That is potentially the biggest bang for the buck, i.e. a first round rookie QB gives you another five year “window” to develop him into a franchise QB, while keeping under the team cap limit, since the QB would still be on a rookie contract.
tickrdr