“How You Going To Get Gronk On The Team?”
March 24th, 2022
Challenging days ahead for Bucs GM Jason Licht, says a noted cap guru.
Teams work salary cap magic all the time, and Bucs general manager Jason Licht certainly has performed plenty of Michael Carbonaro work this month.
But there are limits, as a noted cap guru explained today.
Former Jets personnel chief Pat Kirwan, also a former Tampa Bay scout and a Jets linebackers coach, was talking Bucs finances while hosting on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
He was noting how “they don’t have any cap space” and will have to look to quality players with long-term deals for restructuring (Shaq Barrett and Donovan Smith come to mind), something Licht already has done. Kirwan is very confident the Bucs will re-sign Rob Gronkowski and pay him well, but “they’re going to have to be creative here and they may have to dump some guys.”
Licht’s task ahead is not easy, Kirwan noted, as the Bucs have 59 players under contract and need a lot more bodies to fill their roster. Many teams, per Kirwan, are at 70-plus players. Teams go to training camp with 90.
“Tampa Bay, they got no cap space and they have 59 guys under contract. We’re coming to a different phase where you gotta really tighten your belt a little bit and make some decisions you hope you didn’t have to make,” Kirwan said. “How you going to get Gronk back on the team? That’s today’s theme, and he’s not the only one.”
Remember, the Bucs will need cap room to sign to their draft class and for emergency pick-ups, and to hopefully find a decent offer for Ndamukong Suh.
Fans don’t want to think about it, but Kirwan is right. Cuts could be coming. If Joe was a Buccaneer who kicked for a living, Joe would be very nervous.
March 24th, 2022 at 4:37 pm
Yup our kicker and punter could be in trouble. I’m sure there will be one or two surprise cuts
March 24th, 2022 at 4:38 pm
Our kicker and punter are overpaid. Could afford to lose them.
March 24th, 2022 at 4:39 pm
They need to cut Succop and Pinion.
March 24th, 2022 at 4:39 pm
Gronk and Edelman will sign once they convince Brady to sign a 3 year deal making his cap drop to 2-3m this year.
March 24th, 2022 at 4:40 pm
I am in finance and gave up caring about the cap years ago – mainly due to Joe’s advice lol
Go Bucs!
March 24th, 2022 at 4:41 pm
Play with no fg kicker go for 2 and on 4th downs
March 24th, 2022 at 4:41 pm
How do we get cap relief? That’s easy, sign Tom to a deal that takes him till he’s 50!!
March 24th, 2022 at 4:45 pm
Scotty.
March 24th, 2022 at 4:51 pm
The saints were 75 mil over cap. And have been over caps for years and years. We will make it work
But commenting on kicker and punter
Punter is gonzo. Bucs would hit a home run by drafting punter out of san diego state. Dude blasts 60, 70 and 80 yard bombs
Borrales could take over succop. They protected him every game past year for a reason.
March 24th, 2022 at 4:59 pm
Licht has been in the zone since Brady got here. All the dominos are falling exactly how he planned it.
Sit down, relax and drink your Bromosa.
LFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 24th, 2022 at 5:03 pm
Brady will resign will help..lvd ..smith.. still a few ways to restructure
March 24th, 2022 at 5:05 pm
Somebody should buy TDTB2022 a Bromosa for that post!
March 24th, 2022 at 5:05 pm
One way or another.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Licht actually may be able to restructure Shaq Mason also…..some signing bonus here, some void years there…..voila!!! Gronk !!!
March 24th, 2022 at 5:14 pm
I’ll guess I’ll state the obvious… only top 53 count against cap
March 24th, 2022 at 5:17 pm
Isn’t it the top 51 salaries that count for the salary cap?
March 24th, 2022 at 5:18 pm
Nice job Buctank,,
I always forget about that. Thanks.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:18 pm
Report: Miami working hard to get Tom Brady in a trade.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:19 pm
Report is from Dale Arnold.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
He takes a cut like brady has his whole career to keep playing. End of story.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:28 pm
Lord C … Joe says he doesn’t care about the CAP, yet he writes things like this … ‘If Joe was a Buccaneer who kicked for a living, Joe would be very nervous.’
Salary CAP is the one thing that keeps NFL teams competitive. And that’s a good thing IMO, otherwise games could be really boring (big markets would dominate?).
Kirwan’s comments seem very negative, but the Bucs still have quite a bit of maneuvering space if they restructure Brady, Donovan & maybe LVD (he’s a UFA next year, so restructuring him is in essence a new commitment). Could also see us re-signing one or more of next year’s UFAs early to lower their 2022 CAP hit (most notably White who’s CAP hit this year is $9.5 mil). I have total faith in Mike Greenberg to make it happen.
BTW Lord C, don’t look at 2023; well, not without a 6-pack under your arm at least. Bears lead the pack with $151 mil of CAP space with 23 players signed. In #31 place are the Saints at $11.5 mil of CAP space with 29 players signed. And pulling up the read is … tada … the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MINUS $25 mil with 31 players signed. And that’s all BEFORE you count Dead CAP. The cost of just those 29 contracts for 2023? A whopping $243 mil. Wait, better make that two 6-packs.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:31 pm
Gronk hasn’t signed because he doesn’t know where Brady will end up
March 24th, 2022 at 5:41 pm
The salary cap is in place to keep NFL teams competitive? No, keeping teams competitive is a byproduct and a PR move that the NFL sells to the public to promote its image. The real reason the NFL salary cap is in place is to guarantee the profitability of even the most poorly run franchises.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:55 pm
“they don’t have any cap space”
Ha Ha – thats a good one…
Just before Brady announced his return – the Bucs were officially sitting at $2M under the cap. Since that time they have ‘spent’ well over $100 Million….
Bucs are going to be soooo screwed by dead money that has to be repaid in 2-3 years. But who cares. We got the GOAT for at least 1 more year – so there literally IS NO TOMORROW! We are ALL IN for 2022 and likely have the most talented team in the league.
March 24th, 2022 at 5:55 pm
And Brady would work hard to recruit players to the Bucs just to be traded to Miami why? It’s just more wishful thinking on the part of Patriot sportscasters and fans who can’t stand Brady being in Tampa.
March 24th, 2022 at 6:01 pm
Marques valdez scantling – receiver from green bay just got 3 years 30 mil
Dude has high average and per catch…sure
But dude is average to good
Everyone should feel better about gage deal
Oh and green bay got worse. Ole karen got his though
March 24th, 2022 at 6:17 pm
Joe, I’ve always wondered, Can the glaziers just cut a back room check to Gronk to circumvent the salary cap? Does this happen? Can Brady just pay a couple guys and be reimbursed down the road after retirement?
March 24th, 2022 at 6:17 pm
i would have to believe these type of deals are legit?
March 24th, 2022 at 6:19 pm
They made an offer to Gronk Drew Rosenhsus just announced it
March 24th, 2022 at 6:26 pm
Brady to Miami… Old news that never materialized!!! Total BS now!!!!
TB12 is OURS!!! ALL OURS!!!
March 24th, 2022 at 7:04 pm
@ DR
Agreed. Still several contracts to restructure – I believe Shaq Mason can be restructured as well.
Plus – our punter and kicker are both overpaid…
Plus – Plus – If we re-sign Gronk and Suh I believe we will be able to push their dead cap dollars into 2023 – which would grant us another $10M or so.
That should give us enough for Gronk, Suh, Triner, Gabbert and our draft picks.
I would also like to sign Bernard, J. Wells, JPP, Minter, Delaney and McClendon but not until after the draft if still needed.
March 24th, 2022 at 7:20 pm
How do you bring back Gronk?
Bucs: Brady is the quarterback
Gronk: Where do I sign?
Fans: Gronk is back!
March 24th, 2022 at 7:43 pm
Gronk has been hurt a lot. He did not seem as “into the game” last year, to me. If the signings came down to him and Suh, I would take Suh. I know others will never agree but I feel like Gronk should retire again, and party. He dropped balls that he shouldn’t have. He was not that efficient in tackling, often–and now this joking around about signing or not just rankles me. Is he into playing to win or not?
March 24th, 2022 at 8:09 pm
Some pain is to be expected. The WR corps is getting a flat top haircut. The kickers are in limbo’s ejection seat. Can’t see a high priced backup FA QB either.
This draft is going to matter much sooner than later. Keeping all these proven vets is an expensive proposition. Younger players are cheaper.
For years, I’ve never trusted the FO or owners. Licht has changed that. Glazers are listening and spending too.
March 24th, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Wow Joe! A Carbonaro reference? You are the Man, I love it!
March 24th, 2022 at 8:33 pm
I thought Aaron Rodgers was holding out for more ‘control’ on the team?!!
Now Adams and Valdez Scantling are gone!!
So much for that narrative. He sunk the team for $!
March 24th, 2022 at 10:13 pm
Lets open a go fund me page.
March 24th, 2022 at 10:16 pm
Do yourselves a favor: Cleanse your mind of all things Roberto Aguayo then pull up the YouTube for Matt Araiza P San Diego State. He has a generational leg and would solve a bunch of cap issues if he’s available in the 5th. Look… we could trade down….
March 24th, 2022 at 10:37 pm
Ok, here’s what I will do. I had a 42 yard per punt average when I was in high school 50 years ago. I think with the Bucs offense I might have to punt 2 times a game. Except against the Saints. So I figure tops, 45 punts. Give me $100,OOO a punt , that works out to $450,000 a year. Half way through the year BA will say f::k this and go for it on 4th down more. Better for everybody. What do you say Jason Licht?
March 24th, 2022 at 10:43 pm
Lavonte David is taking a cut,,,, Love the guy ,,however LB s galore in free agency
March 24th, 2022 at 10:54 pm
Gronk is the only really good TE left in free agency. It’s a sad list. There are a couple of decent backup types like Ross Dwelley, but that’s it.
March 24th, 2022 at 11:25 pm
I was promised there would be no math.
March 25th, 2022 at 12:23 am
GOB
LOL. Please ignore the national media who have been throwing darts at a wall on pure speculation and garbage with the Buccaneers for the past year. They’re literally about 90%-95% inaccurate
March 25th, 2022 at 1:18 am
There’s still room to maneuver & the FO will do so as needed.
Rest assured, if the Bucs want Gronk or Suh or JPP or Whoever else…The FO will find the room, while still leaving space for draft pick contracts & an injury contingency plan.
March 25th, 2022 at 10:55 am
Don’t let dolphins steal brady give them scotty Miller an daft picks for exchange for money. Then resign rob gronkowski an ndamukong suh an jason pierre Paul an richard sherman. Then sign tom brady other best friend julian edelman . Also sign honey bager tryann mathews
March 25th, 2022 at 11:06 am
Let’s get a kicker who can punt and hit field goals. I remember Lou Groza, he played the line and did the kicking. Got to have players who can multi task. GOBUCS!
March 25th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS …
Stop supposing what can and cannot be done under the cap. The Bucs had $6M in cap space at the beginning of FA. They’ve signed 9 players to $50M.
March 25th, 2022 at 2:59 pm
Soon we will be giving away draft picks to other teams if they agree to take up some of our cap space. Giving away a first rounder for 20 Million in cap space sounds about right.
March 25th, 2022 at 5:10 pm
Okay, not the most important consideration here, and I get that. BUT, we HAVE TO SIGN GRONK SO I CAN GET MY ONGOING EPISODES OF “TOMMY and GRONKY”! i live in Bucs Nation and I love it!
March 26th, 2022 at 2:21 pm
We need to resign Gronk ,we need to have all the guys on the team that’s got big contracts to restructure so that we can get all the pieces back that we need to make another deep run,or win it all again.Please let’s all do our part to make it work !!!!