Report: Bucs Believed Donovan Smith Had Gas Left In The Tank
May 11th, 2023
Becoming brittle?
Yeah, Joe understands some fans out there loathe former Bucs left tackle Donovan Smith so much they’d gladly have traded the 2020 Super Bowl title to have Smith erased from Bucs annals.
Despite this, it seems Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht sweated over the decision to turn Smith loose this spring. That’s the word from NFL insider Albert Breer of SI.com.
And since Joe knows exactly who Breer speaks to at One Buc Palace, it’s unlikely this is BS speculation.
Breer typed about Smith being named by Chiefs coach Andy Reid as the team’s starting left tackle. He added that mounting injuries (due to age?) and Smith’s hefty contract forced the hand of Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, not Smith’s play.
Smith’s future motivation, however, concerned Licht.
And for what it’s worth, the Buccaneers believed Smith did have gas left in the tank when they cut him in March.
The larger question was how motivated Smith would be to keep going after battling through injuries last year. With the Bucs retooling, and Smith carrying a big number, it was fair to wonder that for Tampa Bay.
Joe really believes the number of snaps Smith logged over the years finally was catching up with him last year. The guy was an iron horse at left tackle.
Yeah, Joe knows some fans are simply blinded by rage over Smith for reasons Joe simply doesn’t understand. Was the guy Anthony Muñoz? Hell no. Was he Anthony Collins? Thank goodness, no!
This is all Joe will write about Smith: If in the 2015 draft, the Almighty told you Smith would block for the Bucs’ last 1,400-yard rusher as a rookie, and then follow that up by blocking for two different quarterbacks who threw for 5,000 yards in a season and would start on a Super Bowl winner, you couldn’t draft Smith quick enough.
Teams with rotten left tackles don’t have offenses with that type of success.
Enough with the silly bickering. He’s gone.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:14 pm
Of course. This isn’t news. He was released because they had to free up cap, period.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:17 pm
Who cares either way. Average LT at best and we needed the money elsewhere. Move on already. He did lol
May 11th, 2023 at 3:19 pm
Donovan Smith was the worst offensive lineman for the Bucs since Todd Stuessie. Maybe Kenyatta Walker, too.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:27 pm
Someone wasn’t around to watch the Bucs in 2014. LOL
May 11th, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Happy hour started early for Rusty
May 11th, 2023 at 3:30 pm
I’ve been around 1976 and outside of Jason Odom, Kenyatta Walker, Charles McRae, and Stuessie, Donovan Smith was the best turnstile the Bucs had.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:35 pm
“Happy hour started early for Rusty”
Irrelevant when you never STOP drinking.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:37 pm
Rusty, you don’t have a clue. Donovan Smith had a bad year last year, but over the course of his career in Tampa, he went grew into a good starter for a few years. He’s just a punching bag for some people. We’ve had so many awful linemen in our history, and a whole lot of very average. Donovan Smith isn’t in the same category of awful as Kenyatta Walker and some of the other weaksauce they used to roll with. Smith is prone to some mental lapses and has some issues with speed rushers sometimes, but in the Super Bowl year, he locked that side down against some of the better DEs in the league.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:41 pm
Craziest comment section I’ve ever read in my life. Oh well
May 11th, 2023 at 3:42 pm
He was a very good Buc and I’m grateful to him!
May 11th, 2023 at 3:43 pm
I think, like Joe Donavan Smith was a steady LT. I think the real issue has always been the motivation to be the best.
Plus, besides injury Smith had a “personal issue” no of us know about.
I think it was just time and to risky to sign him, period.
May 11th, 2023 at 3:51 pm
Agree completely Joe. DS certainly had a bad season last year but it’s also been well documented he fought injuries virtually the entire season.
When a player of his age, and EXPENSE, has a subpar season due to injuries one normally questions whether that player is starting to show too much wear and tear. Add his expense versus the cap situation and Licht really had no choice.
May 11th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Good. Donovan can take his gas to the Chiefs where he will be a below average starting Left Tackle.
Smith was mediocre in Tampa. He had one or two solid seasons because Tom Brady got rid of the football faster than anyone else in the NFL.
Let’s see how much the KC fans love Donny Smith after a few 60 yard TDs get called back for holding.
Over the Cap has Smith being paid @ $2.76M… I thought it was $9M but maybe there are incentives involved. There is NO WAY he is anywhere near the $18.4M he was going to steal from the Bucs in 2023.
May 11th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Doosh, you should feel privileged that Joe has written you your own personal post. He couldn’t have written it more directly to any JBF poster.
May 11th, 2023 at 4:47 pm
Just because you have a piece of your heart in a player….doesn’t make any better than what he is.
May 11th, 2023 at 4:58 pm
He was a good player for us..last season was really bad.. He had penalties at the worst possible time.. usually on third down or when we scored..
May 11th, 2023 at 5:01 pm
Smiths salary was a bargain at only $1 million per holding penalty.
May 11th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
Hold on, Joe. Nobody is willing to give up the Super Bowl title just to have Smith off the team. We are allowed to have our perception of players just like you. We just happen to disagree on Smith.
May 11th, 2023 at 5:12 pm
Probably be an all pro at KC.
May 11th, 2023 at 5:22 pm
We couldn’t afford to keep him….same with Mason. Both probably have 2-4 good yrs left in them. If Brady returned, I would bet both would be here. We took our medicine this yr, next yr we’ll be in much better shape.
May 11th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
PM likes to hold on to the ball wayyyyy longer than TB. Not sure he even finishes the season as their LT. He’s had one good year and a bunch of average ones before that. Factor in health and a serious lack of motivation. Good riddance
May 11th, 2023 at 5:37 pm
he has all the skills, he just rarely used them. He was on point in the SB year. if he does the same for chiefs he earned his money. his heart was not in it here anymore and he wasn’t worth the money with the effort on the field.
May 11th, 2023 at 5:39 pm
Look the guy always sucked and don’t shoot the messenger
But we don’t have a left tackle at the moment so maybe we should have kept him till we had a replacement ?
We also have 2 crap guards and a center coming off a major injury..
No Brady no free agents
May 11th, 2023 at 5:45 pm
I think they were hoping they could bring him back at a much cheaper price- around 5 – 6m per year…
“Motivation” is a valid question though, given Donnie’s questionable effort during his career minus the Brady years.
May 11th, 2023 at 5:52 pm
He had a good run. I think he’s far past his prime and Reid will not cash in. Smith’s biggest problem was consistency. When he was good, he was really good and when he was bad haha
May 11th, 2023 at 6:52 pm
I really wish Donovan well. Last year was a bad year for him, but when the team can free up 15 or 16 million against the cap and you’re coming off a bad year…and your 30 years old…
He has had several really good years for us, but like Bill Bellicheat says: “Id rather get rid of a guy a year early than a year too late.
May 11th, 2023 at 7:25 pm
Steven007 Says:
May 11th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Doosh, you should feel privileged that Joe has written you your own personal post. He couldn’t have written it more directly to any JBF poster.
___________
Ha ha!
No, as much as I detest the lazy loafer, Durable Donnie, I wouldn’t give up the SB year.
Even I don’t hate that much!
I had to laugh when I read that he still has gas in the tank though.
I mean, it’s E-15 and has been sitting for 5 years and it just might start……..
Oh, and it’s Dooosh with three 0s, the classical phonetic spelling.
😃
May 11th, 2023 at 7:35 pm
Dumbass moves made by Licht through time giving Smith money based on his ability to stay healthy. Move on from Donny.
May 11th, 2023 at 7:43 pm
Last year was painful, Donovan Smith called for holding in the red zone over and over. They would show replays of him holding with a headlock. Touchdowns negated. It does not matter about how much talent he has now, how great he may be. Playing for the Bucs, he was bad, real bad, real hard to watch and he was not motivated to be good even with Brady (in 2022) who took this man to a superbowl. Now if he would be playing for Baker, he would do what he does and let his game go to sht. he may be excellent now for KC. We have to dump him based on what he is for us. No regrets with this guy, don’t get knocked over by the door on your way out big guy.
May 11th, 2023 at 7:45 pm
Overall he was a decent left tackle who got old and cost too much.
for a second rounder he was a really good LT however was never in Paul Gruber’s class who was infinitely better LT.
May 11th, 2023 at 8:04 pm
I keep reading and hearing that Smith went through some “personal issues” last year. Can anyone tell me what happened with him? It seems like people know but it’s never written anywhere?
May 11th, 2023 at 8:51 pm
Colin in 🇨🇦,
It’s really a sad story.
Donnie’s Cheeto delivery driver died and without pallets of Cheetos to fuel the Warrior, Donnie was unable to perform to his usual sub-mediocre standards.
I can only hope that KC has a dependable Cheeto delivery driver and The Durable One can get back to business.
🤞
May 11th, 2023 at 9:16 pm
cap space and the the possibility of Wirfs playing LT is something to look forward to
May 11th, 2023 at 9:22 pm
I remember Donald Penn being hated too. Penn was excellent. Smith was usually very good. The early elbow injury was too much to overcome. Penn was thrown out of Tampa with pitchforks and torches. Maybe it was time to go. Maybe. But he was very solid up until last year.
May 11th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
I will always be grateful for him as a member of our Super Bowl team but it was time to go. He was the weakest link last year on a terrible line. And he carried a big number. You can’t pay 2 left tackles. Wirfs is the future at LT
May 11th, 2023 at 11:02 pm
Tom Brady made Smith look better with his 2.50 seconds release but Smith still sucked at run blocking.
May 12th, 2023 at 1:26 am
If I told you “we are about to draft the player that will lead the league in total penalties over the next 7 years” would you still have a hard-on for him?
May 12th, 2023 at 9:01 am
Gotta free up a tackle spot for a benched left guard
May 12th, 2023 at 2:28 pm
I no offensive line expert like most on this thread but heard from sources who know much more than me that both he and Shaq didn’t fit the new system. This was before either of them were cut loose. I’m sure it had a lot to do with cap space too.
May 12th, 2023 at 3:13 pm
Licht knows what he’s doing. And if Reid picked Smith up, I wish both the best. Smith took a lot of abuse off of dimwits on sites like this one. I am glad Tom Brady is GONE! Now, fans like me can finally see what Bowles has as a head coach. Plus, what we’ve got in QBs. Licht had no choice with the cap. Sounds like he made some hard, but good, decisions.
May 13th, 2023 at 7:33 am
Should we start talking about the old kicker too? Fournette is gone too want to start raving about him? DS had a lot if holding calls a lot. I am ok with not having him around
May 13th, 2023 at 9:05 am
Lets face it Donovan could at times be one of the best LT in the game….When he felt like it.
I played footbal with a guy like him. Dominant when he felt like it. Which used to irk the hell out of the HC. They came to blows on the practice field eventually. I was rooting for Coach!
I had to work my ass off to be a starter and this guy was just plain lazy as I saw it! Pissed me off. I recognized this in Smith fairly quickly.
I wish him well though and hope he has an outstanding year…If he feels like it….