What About Eric Winston?
March 28th, 2013
Last season, the Bucs paid Jeremy Trueblood $4 million to largely sit on his ass and watch Demar Dotson have an average-at-best season at right tackle.
Perhaps heralded free agent right tackle Eric Winston would take the same money to produce and be the final cog in the NFL’s nastiest (in a good way) offensive line?
Winston, who publicly skewered Chiefs fans for cheering when Matt Cassel got hurt last season, was cut from Kansas City two weeks ago. Since then, he’s been visiting various teams (not the Bucs) but hasn’t inked a deal yet. Per ProFootballTalk.com, Winston just thinks it’s an off year for most free agents.
Winston turns 30 in November, and he hasn’t missed a game since 2006. He would be a significant upgrade for the Bucs. Joe’s having a hard time finding anyone saying Winston’s play sucks.
Yes, the Bucs have more pressing needs. However, Joe knows Greg Schiano yearns to run the ball — and run some more. And Greg Schiano has revealed this offseason that he likes what he sees when Josh Freeman throws on the run. A stud right tackle sure would help.
Winston might come cheap on a one-year deal. He might like playing next to a Pro Bowl guard in Davin Joseph. And the Bucs certainly have money to play with.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:55 am
I thought about him for the Bucs but he’s always been in a zone blocking scheme and he’s said publicly he’s a better fit for that system…regardless I’m sure he would fit in just fine. Would no doubt be an upgrade over Dotson. Hopefully Dom has at least reached out and considered it as a possibility.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
I would love for the Bucs to get Winston. That line would be amazing!
March 28th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Too close to 30. Won’t happen.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
I would love this signing.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
from what ive heard he doesnt match our syle well
more of a Zone Blocking Scheme guy
March 28th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
We won’t sign him! You have to pay for talent, the only time the Glazers will spend a dime is for PR so the NFL doesn’t make them sell the team…..at least that’s what it’s beginning to look like. This plan of Dominick’s looks like no plan at all, but you get the feeling he’s simply doing what he’s told by the owners.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:17 pm
He costs too much Glazer will kill that deal.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:19 pm
This would be too good of an addition to the team.
we are not SMART enough to pull this one off.
Go ahead Dom, call Buddy Nix back and talk about how bad we are.
Can we trade Dominick for a CLUE?
March 28th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
We are more satisfied to draft another Trueblood in the 2nd round, only to watch him underwhelm and remain on the team bc his BFF is a good Guard….
Jokes, laughs, smoke screens…..
When is it time to make a conceited effort to win?
10 years since a playoff victory, you know the Super Bowl….. Watch the Raiders get back to relativity quicker than us.. Then we should really be ashamed.. Good luck spinning that Tampa Bay Bucs Writers, ha!
March 28th, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Joe,
McShay’s latest mock has the Bucs taking Tavon Austin. Do you really think the Bucs would make such a move?
March 28th, 2013 at 12:26 pm
stud RT? Are we talking about the same Eric Winston? Dotson is cheaper and more athletic. Winston is a minor upgrade at best.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:26 pm
J2.0,
Tavon Austin is the MAN.
Think about Devin Hester +Percy Harvin.
This will also give us leverage on a Mike Williams extension.
Tavon Austin would provide a spark on offense, a game changing speedy spark, and he is hard nosed.
Tavon Austin would win us some games bc of return abilities, and he is the next Welker.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
What part of Dominik is not doing anything no matter if it would improve the team or not. That’s hot air and he doesn’t mean it. You want movement? Fire Dominik..
March 28th, 2013 at 12:29 pm
He’d be a great pickup, and imo RT is a pretty big need right now. Not as big as CB of course, but RT and NT are both up there.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I would have loved Austin, but I don’t see how we can pick him now when we got zero corners in FA. We’re backed into drafting for need (CB) now.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
Why do we speculate on any of these guys? We made our big signing…we are done. We are only half way through our 10 year rebuilding plan. What is the rush? It is called the yoyo strategy. Next year, we go back to 5-11 and scoop up a new QB in the top 5 of the draft.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
The Bucs need to start filling some of these holes in Free Agency. There ia a need for 3 CB, a DT, an OT, and to a lesser extent even a TE and a RB.
The draft cannot successfully fill all of these with starters, especially if we trade away high pick(s). They have to get at least one quality veteran CB. Then pickig up an OT also would be a great start. Even if they added those two, they really need to take it one step further and get an additional CB or DT.
TE, added CB, RB, backup QB, and other positional depth can be filled in the draft. However the time is NOW to close on at least some free agents.
Go Bucs.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
I often thought this would be a great signing for us . . . The reason I didn’t mention it was Becuz one age and two he like zone blocking and third price but I think around 3 million a year he would be great and this year the market is soft sign him to two year deal and then when we have our holes filled in the next two drafts draft a replacement
March 28th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Joe, I have been wondering the same exact thing. Why not pick up Winston or Andre Smith for the cheap. They can be the final piece in a dominant run game. Unless the Bucs brass is really sold on Dotson, I think he is a better run blocker than people give him credit for. Look at the year Doug Martin had without 2 pro bowl guards. Dotson must have done something right. But where I dont like Dotson is he gets bull rushed into Josh Freeman way too much, and at 6’9″ he blocks Josh’s line of sight which causes interceptions. I am sold on Dotson I just think that if we want to have the best offensive line in the league we should upgrade the RT position, or at least give him better competition than Trueblood
March 28th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Well, there goes that: Dotson signed to a three year extension.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
and what happened to if your not getting better you are getting worse Dom? Because besides for Dashon Goldson not only have we not gotten better, we have subtracted key pieces from our team, Roy Miller and Michael Bennett. I hope “the rock star” Dom has a plan in place, because right now we have to draft a corner or DT in the first round and dont have the flexibility to take the best available player (Tavon Austin).
March 28th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Exactly ^^^^LGB,
We are going to “pidgeon hole” ourselves into REACHING for NEED.
Because our OWNERSHIP and GM are too proud to admite failure and move on.
They are insane to go into the regular season expecting any differing results from Myron Lewis.
I am convinced, we are ok with being bad.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
We have holes all over this roster constantly thanks to Dom. Every offseason our roster is a mess.
Let’s take a look at his marvelous tenure so far:
-4 seasons, no playoff berths, last place in the division 3 out of 4 times.
-The secondary has been a laughingstock every single year
-We can’t sack the freakin’ qb.
-Our quarterback still sucks
-We can’t beat teams above .500
-Now we don’t even have a #1 rush defense anymore thanks to letting Miller and Bennett walk
March 28th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
Hey I hear is available:
Avg JoeBucFan.com respondent:
Yeah, sign him, Dom sucks, ohhhh shiiiiiiiiii7 the sky is falling we’re not signing Urlacher? Harrison? OMG we SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 28th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Makes too much sense, won’t happen
March 28th, 2013 at 1:04 pm
Flmike- yes. We do suck. Last place 4 outta 5 years is the very definition of sucks. Nice you finally opened dem eyes, buddy
Eric Winston is a talented right tackle. Sign him, and our line is Sick!!
Won’t happen
March 28th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
@Flmike I understand where you coming from but that’s called being a fan . . . I personally feel Dom is heading in the right direction but needs to speed it up . . . The fan base is getting impatient. . . We are very close to being a playoff team constantly just each to fill a couple key holes hopefully the draft will do that and maybe after the draft we can sign 1 or 2 free agents on the cheap to fill the rest
March 28th, 2013 at 1:21 pm
Winston has been passed over by every team that has seen him, including his own last two teams (KC & Texans) he’s a zone-scheme blocker, who has trouble in pass protection, if we ran a zone scheme I’d say sign him, but to sign him just to sign him makes no sense. We are a month away from the draft and 2 full months away from Jun 1, when a whole lot more people will be hitting the street due to cap issues teams have created for themselves either thru signing FAs or the draft.
There are no quick fixes for long term success, if we were a player or two away from the the team we want to be I’d say sign away, sign an aging veteran that can fill a hole for a season, but we’re not, we’re building a franchise to win for an extended period of time, not just a season or two, lay the foundation and then fill in the holes.
March 28th, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Eric Winston would be an upgrade over Myron Lewis at CB…
March 28th, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Thats my point SteveK – we will garbage around but let solid but not great players slip by for little to nothing.
Cant do anything but trust the brass.
March 28th, 2013 at 5:12 pm
I could see this on a 1 yr deal. They could use the depth.
March 29th, 2013 at 9:00 am
Great player. Bad fit for our system…thrives in a zone blocking scheme, but he’s not strong enough to be play our mashing power blocking scheme.
March 29th, 2013 at 10:15 am
Dom saving sll the money he can to give to Revis. What a shame.