Levi Wallace And The Bucs
February 15th, 2022
The annual free agency dinner bell will be more of a bugle call this year for the Bucs. Tampa Bay will be very active before and after fishing formally begins at noon on March 14.
One big fish in the Bucs’ retention pond is Carlton Davis, the Bucs’ best cornerback. The injury-prone 25-year-old will cash a Lotto ticket, but it’s unclear whether the Bucs want to pay him like a top-15 starter.
Is he worth it? That’s highly debatable when one considers the entire Bucs picture.
So if the Bucs cannot lock down Davis, would they chase a cheaper cornerback in free agency or invest in a premium draft pick?
Joe likes Bills cornerback Levi Wallace. He’s long like Davis (six feet tall) and tackles extremely well. Like Davis, Wallace has six picks over the past three seasons. Undrafted out of the University of Alabama, Wallace seems to be slightly less of an athlete than Davis, but he certainly has had excellent coaching and experience in Buffalo and in college.
He also got time this past season as a No. 1 cornerback when the Bills lost Tre’Davious White. Wallace was very solid in the role but did struggle at times, including against the Bucs.
It seems like Wallace might command about half of what Davis will, about $8 million per year versus around $14 million for Davis.
Signing Wallace over Davis could help the Bucs retain other free agents, and fellow corner Sean Murphy-Bunting next season when his contract expiries.
General manager Jason Licht has quite a puzzle in front of him.
February 15th, 2022 at 9:06 am
Waiting on SMB to make the jump is like watching paint dry or grass grow! Splash play here or there but always seem to give the play in a critical situation he had a great run in the playoffs last year!
February 15th, 2022 at 9:17 am
SMB is developing no slower than Davis did. There was a time when Bucs fans wanted Davis gome.
February 15th, 2022 at 9:37 am
I’m amazed that after the trainwreck that is our CB group a lot of folks want to trade our best CB.
and it’s not as if it’s an easy job with TB blitzing so much.
February 15th, 2022 at 9:39 am
with as much blitzing as TB does they would need multiple CB’s named Revis or Sanders to make them look good.
February 15th, 2022 at 9:49 am
We need to keep our draft picks……Godwin, Cappa, Davis, Whitehead, Gholston
OJ & Rojo….not so much….
These guys are Bucs…
February 15th, 2022 at 10:21 am
Wait, let our best CB go in the hopes of keeping our third best CB next year… no thanks.
February 15th, 2022 at 10:40 am
The thing about the corners this year we didn’t hear about them coming in early getting extra film and coaching like our Superbowl run. I’m not saying it didn’t happen but I’ll say it definitely didn’t look like it happened. I know we played the backups an awful lot and they 100%needed extra film study. Maybe this off season guys will get back to grinding to get back to the mountain top 🤔. Imagine with all the injuries this team had we were 42secs away from OT in the championship game with the eventual Superbowl champion. One could argue that Cincinnati’s OC cost them a Superbowl like plenty keep saying Todd cost us a chance to go to OT. Every game comes down to a few critical plays.
February 15th, 2022 at 1:35 pm
It all boils down to how the Bucs have prioritized their free agents this year and then how much money is left to pay guys like Davis. Obviously we have to re-sign Godwin, and depending how comfortable they are with Robert Hainsey at Center will probably decide whether they feel they need to pay Ryan Jensen. This may be his last contract so he is probably going to want to cash in with some money rich team. The center position is extremely important and if they want to try and attract Brady to come back they better spend on the offensive side to make sure he has receivers to throw to and the offensive line to protect him. So, Davis might be out if they think they can get someone in free agency a lot cheaper.
February 15th, 2022 at 4:55 pm
It all comes down to the QB. If the Bucs are tanking with Trask, then they shouldn’t look to sign anyone, they should let guys, outside of Godwin, walk and get as many comp picks as they can. You don’t get those picks if you start signing a bunch of players yourself, and if you’re tanking anyways, there’s no reason to sign them.
February 15th, 2022 at 9:26 pm
Carlton Davis is too good to let go, point blank
February 16th, 2022 at 2:13 am
Wallace, Stephon Gilmore, JC Jackson.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:13 am
Old guys to replace. Injured guys who may or may not be what they were. Huge questions at QB. Too many free agents to resign them all. No Brady to attract high level free agents. Lots of needs everywhere on defense. Replacing AB. The list is huge. Just being real, hard for the Bucs to be post season contenders next season. Licht will need to be a magician!
February 16th, 2022 at 4:49 pm
Joe! Wake Up! The defense is literally centered around Davis! Usually in Todd Bowles defense 5 or 6 rushers are sent to Blitz. Do you know what that means? Somebody has to pick up that slack in coverage and it is Davis who does so. You say it’s debatable to pay him but he ranks #1 in total passes defensed going back since 2018. No CB in the league is perfect but if the Bucs don’t pay him there is no other Top 10 or 15 CB who can pick up the slack. The secondary will be exposed. The linebackers/ safeties already are below average in coverage and most of the times Teams in the league know that. I’ve read ALL of your articles surrounding Davis and I think it’s clear that you don’t watch majority of downs for the Bucs defense at all. For somebody who’s been a fan since 2000 who can appreciate guys like Ronde Barber or Aquib Tablib we need to keep him long term!