Wright Set To Earn At Least $1.5 Million
April 9th, 2013
Might Wright become draft-day trade bait?
Now Joe still doesn’t know how much, if any, guaranteed money Eric Wright miraculously got from the Bucs to restructure his contract this evening.
So there’s more to learn, but according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, via ProFootballTalk.com, Wright’s new deal for 2013 is worth a minimum of $1.5 million and up to $3 million.
Joe is not pleased or soothed by the Wright signing, but Joe is withholding judgment and a full blown commentary until Joe knows whether Wright can be cut without significant financial consequences to the Bucs. And Joe wants to know more about Wright’s deal to determine whether he could be legitimate draft-day trade bait.
UPDATE: Joe has learned that there are no guarantees in Wright’s new pact. He can be released at any time through training camp with no penalty to the Bucs.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
I dont think theres any chance Wright gets traded or cut now. He’s ours for the forseeable future. Having said that watch him be traded soon.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
1.5 cap penalty is not bad at all.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:03 pm
It sounds like at the most it’s a 3 million dollar against us
April 9th, 2013 at 8:04 pm
Mr. Lucky thinks that Dominik is up to something – like making Wright look VERY tradeable along with maybe a 2nd round pick for a current NYJ player!
April 9th, 2013 at 8:06 pm
If Wright is as good as the other CBs that were on the market at the beginning of FA, and I’m sure they weighed this, then this is a shrewd move. Getting a starting CB for 1.5-3.0 million… It would’ve made everybody happy if he had been cut, but Dom remained calm (theme developing) and didn’t respond to the bloodthirsty haters (I was one of them w/ regard to Wright)… but if the coaching staff thinks he can play and they can get him for a decent salary, then why not write-off last year and see what happens from here? That’s smart.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:08 pm
Joe, I’m sure this post will get delted and I will get a stern warning of which I am sure I will deserve, but can you hide those love-again.com ads. They are making me sad.
Don’t be silly. Joe will issue no warning. And Joe thinks you should embrace older folks finding love. Actually, they come through via national ad feeds, and Joe doesn’t control who sees them. They’re hardly offensive, so Joe has no problem with it. –Joe
April 9th, 2013 at 8:15 pm
Joe you will be OK. As far as this news it’s exciting and official, unlike the Revis news. We just saved some money to possibly do more things to create a more competitive team for 2013
April 9th, 2013 at 8:20 pm
I’m certainly not going out buying an Eric Wright jersey, but I don’t hate the guy like so many seem to. When healthy last year (which wasn’t for long at all unfortunately), he played well. He made a stupid mistake with the Adderall, and he was punished accordingly. I’m sure we’ve all made stupid mistakes in our lifetime, I know I sure have. I understand it bothers people that he tweeted he was on vacation during his suspension, but the fact of the matter is, that’s probably not that uncommon. It wasn’t very smart to release it to the public, but we’ve already established he’s not a rocket scientist. We are desperate for CB’s, and he’s a pretty decent CB (a helluva lot better than anyone else we currently have on our roster). I will at least give the guy credit for playing hurt last year. With a hurt Achilles, he could have very easily packed it in last year, but he tried to tough it out. I think it’s a little funny that people who have never seen anything beyond highlights of all these alleged “great” free agent CB’s pretend as if they are talent scouts. You haven’t watched any film on them, nor have you talked to them or their agent, yet you would sign them because you see them on Sportscenter (so they must be good). I wanted Sean Smith, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen him play a full game, never met him, and have absolutely no idea how he would fit into our defense. Maybe I’ll go out and buy Madden and see how good he really is.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:24 pm
I’d hump the old lady in the black skirt. Just sayin’… Carry on.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Love this move. Not a huge fan of Wright in regards to the Adderol crap but he is a serviceable corner. Better than Biggers, Johnson and Lewis. If we cut him, we wouldn’t have anyone back there. Now we wait for the Draft…
April 9th, 2013 at 8:29 pm
I agree with Hawaiian. And to add to it, while Wright was on vacation and tweeting Buc fans were nailing him with negative insulting remarks on twitter and he kept it professional. He could’ve easily blew up at everybody, talked sh!t and made things spin further out of control but he didn’t. That showed some maturity. I’m cool with Wright being here. He’s made his mistake. I’d love it if he were our no.2 CB and not the no.1 but we’ll see how everything pans out. If we land Revis for less than a no.1 draft pick the guy truly IS a rockstar and no one will be able to talk sh!t about him anymore….ever. Can’t wait for draft week!!!! Go Bucs!
April 9th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
Wright signing is good….he will play hard to try to save his career….has only a 1 year deal. I think we now have Plan B started (without Revis) and Wright would also fit with Plan A (with Revis).
If we get Revis…Wright will see lots of action on his side. I think he will be up to the task as he will probably have a good rookie corner waiting in the wings.
He can still be traded but I doubt it. We need depth at corner and no matter what we do he provides that.
Lay off of Dominik until its all done!!!
April 9th, 2013 at 8:34 pm
I too have said Write should have his ass kicked all the way back to CA. but if Schiano is willing to give him a second chance than who am I to object? So I’ll reserve further judgment until we can see if he will become a true Buccaner Man. Balls in Write’s court, let’s see if he takes it for a touchdown.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:36 pm
Didn’t Joe say he’d stop calling Dom a Rockstar if Wright is retained? If so this is good news for the fans that don’t drink the Rockstars kool aid.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:43 pm
That’s a good point GenocideD. I wouldn’t have blamed Wright if he had (there’s only so much a man can take, and some of the comments are downright awful), but he kept his cool. The same fans that expect accountability on the part of Wright have no accountability for the irresponsible things they say.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Hawaiian buc
Great post. Enjoyed the honesty. Great point on playing injured last year.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:48 pm
A ”better than nothing” signing.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:49 pm
Hawaiian, my girlfriend is a diehard Dolphins fan (grew up with the kids of the Killer B’s, so she knows her stuff), so I’ve seen quite a bit of Smith, and wasn’t all that impressed. He’s a big CB, yes, but he always seemed to get beat in the redzone. It was like he was guessing what the WR was going to do, and always guessed wrong. He gave up the most TDs in the league last year, and I believe was the most targeted as well, so obviously other teams saw someone they felt they should go after. I’d take a healthy Wright on a reduced contract over Smith at $5mil per any day. Good move by Dom.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:55 pm
The restructuring isn’t bad at all. The other 3 yrs have been removed so esentially it’s a 1 yr deal that could be $3 mil. That’s right at if not below market value for a CB of his caliber this year.
April 9th, 2013 at 8:55 pm
Called it 😉
April 9th, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Genocide …… You didn’t write what I thought I read did you? LOL ! Yes it was funny.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Joe, you gotta see the forest for the trees – this is a great signing for the Bucs. You act like Wright is a bottom feeder CB in the NFL. He’s an average starting CB, which as of right now, is about as good as the Bucs have on the roster. Plus – this guy’s going to be extremely motivated to get another contract in 2014.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:09 pm
I am very happy with this. Great job by Dom for saving big money. If Wright is healthy and can stay that way, huge dividends paid. I want that D lineman at 13 and to he’ll with Revis. Save the money, we don’t need him.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
I think Joe is reading more into this than it really is. I think Wright was closeted all along until they needed a stop gap in case things didn’t pan out. That’s it. Now if he stays on the field and out of the infirmary is another question.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
He’s getting backup pay. Interesting.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:19 pm
1.5-3M isn’t backup pay. It’s #2 CB money, but certainly not backup.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:24 pm
As much as I really hate to admit it because I think the Bucs bringing Revis here would be a mistake and bite them in the ass, I really think that Mr. Lucky may be on to something.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:28 pm
wow!!!! this is huge! Jets really pinned against the wall now becasue we have a number 1 now just draft rohdes or give up a secoond for revis at most
April 9th, 2013 at 9:32 pm
@agree with Hawaiian and Genocide earlier. I’ve been calling for a contract that was 1/2 of the original for Wright. Dom did better than that. We are in a win win situation. Wright has a chip on his shoulder and we essentially just have him on a 1 year prove it deal for less than market value. If he chokes out, we aren’t on the hook for more than 2013. That was nice. Make no mistake, he won’t be our #1 when the pre-season rolls around. It will either be Revis or our 13th overall. It is our biggest need and I can’t imagine Trufant or Rhodes being unavailable for us. As nice as a D Lineman would be, I go CB with the 1st Rd unless Revis is acquired.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:33 pm
Good move , I thought Eric played well last season.. I think DOm wants to keep the 13th pick and don’t be surprised to see him trade pick 2 to jump back into first round again.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
Yeah, we retained our best cornerback. I want to see him succeed with us.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:42 pm
He played well, but not all that great last year when he was on the field. I’d feel comfortable having him in the starting lineup over Johnson or Gorrer for sure. As others pointed out, the post season is a long process prior to week 1, let’s not pass judgment until we see the starting lineups for the first game. Things will change, it’s a process.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:48 pm
…..so we’ll have Revis and Butthead. Lol.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Sweet deal now Dom can back off on Revis.Simply tell the Jet’s your moving on.Just wait till closer to the draft.The Jet’s will call and take a 2nd and 4th.Keep playing the game Dom.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:55 pm
well… we finally made a move at the CB position, albeit with a player we already had, but at least its better than nothing.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
It’s a prove it deal. That’s an even smaller contract than what I thought he would agree to. Wright gets to try and play this season healthy and trouble free and re-establish some value to himself. If he turns things back around he cashes in again next year and in the time being the Bucs get a motivated veteran at a huge position of need.
This also alows us to be a little more flexible at the top of this draft. Obviously we need to draft a corner in the first two rounds but I don’t think we need to draft two in the first four rounds.
I’m actually looking forward to what Wright can do if his back and foot are healthy. If Barber resigns it makes us flexible covering inside WR’s and we can mix up coverages in the middle of the field with Barber able to shift between CB/FS.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
I think Wright is a keeper and may surprise us. I like Leonard Johnson too. The defense was much improved in the final game against the Falcons. I think the Bucs are a lot closer to being tops in the NFC than most think. I’m more concerned about Freeman’s play than anyone else on the team. If Freeman can’t make it happen, he will bring the rest of the team down. I hope he brings them up.
April 9th, 2013 at 10:00 pm
Amen Big Mac! We will only go as far as #5 takes us.
April 9th, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Im glad Wright was willing to restructure….shows he’s a team player and wants to be here. Signing Goldson probably helped too. Now we need to trade up for Milliner. We’ll try for Revis next year if we even need him (and as long as he’s healthy and playing beastly).
April 9th, 2013 at 10:02 pm
@ Joe
was this really the “pleasant surprise” Donald Penn was taking about or is there still something else to come. because if this is what he was taking about then thats pretty weak.
April 9th, 2013 at 10:08 pm
Andrew 1:
Joe cannot speak for Penn, but given the timing, Joe would guess it would be correct.
Pretty interesting the players and the Bucs front office think more of Wright than the fans. Hhhmmm.
April 9th, 2013 at 10:13 pm
I am pleased with this one. Obviously the Bucs are more impressed with Wright than the other FA corners. Bring Ronde back, draft one corner and look for the QB to replace The Moron
April 9th, 2013 at 10:13 pm
@ Joe
thanks. kinda disappointed… like when you open a Christmas present and it turns out to be a sweater. but since we are so desperate at the CB position im willing to look the other way when it comes to Wright.
April 9th, 2013 at 10:20 pm
This is a very interesting article relating to E. Wright, D. Revis, and others.. http://overthecap.com/the-buccaneers-eric-wright-revis-jets/
April 9th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
An above average CB and better than any on the team for 1.5 + a little more – – DEAL. THey obviously feel comfortable with him, so I am.
I want the Revis deal done for next years 1st and a mid and late this year. If not, I hope it falls through and they trade and get DEE.
April 9th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
I like him a lot better at $1.5 Mil. Now move on from Revis and go draft us a starter. Next year FA’s will be like plucking blueberries off bushes. They’ll be everywhere. Super Bowl contender in 2 years.
April 9th, 2013 at 11:47 pm
@ BigMacAttack
Right On!
April 10th, 2013 at 12:22 am
ha there we go, trade Wright, Blount and i suppose next years 2nd rounder. that is all, for Revis
April 10th, 2013 at 12:24 am
M. Lewis will shine along with L. Johnson. dont believe me just watch!
April 10th, 2013 at 12:38 am
Ps. Draft best Defensive Line man available in the first round. and the 6-3 CB(Amerson) in 2nd round, Strong Side LB in 3rd round and that man beast 6-8 TE from Standford or the 6-7 TE out of UCLA(we need sizes!)
April 10th, 2013 at 1:02 am
Watching Sapp with Mooch and these D linemen makes me wish we could draft Sapp all over again. He is still lightning quick and would take O linemen to school, even to this day. I want the best DT available in the draft at 13.
April 10th, 2013 at 1:17 am
If star is there we take him otherwise its Rhodes or trufant…wright will be back to #1 corner form but will be #2
April 10th, 2013 at 3:07 am
Well Joe, unless you wanna play some CB, or we draft Leon Sandcastle, we’re pretty much starting chafe right now. We can’t guarantee we’re gonna get Revis or any of the CBs in a weak draft, so if Wright can lay off the Adderall (or whatever he did), we have a decent #2 or #3 we’ve already paid a huge bonus to.
April 10th, 2013 at 3:22 am
Rock star is just getting started ….just wait..
April 10th, 2013 at 4:27 am
Leon Sandcastle will never make it to #13.
April 10th, 2013 at 8:31 am
Well Wright certainly earned a new contract! Drug user, spa visitor, suspended, and one of the worst cornerbacks in the league.
I’ve heard that , in decades past, incarcerated men were allowed no personal possessions. They would accumulate pebbles and random debris. If another inmate tried to take these totally worthless items. The inmate would defend them to the death
It was trash. But it was all he had, so he placed great value on it
That is what some of you are doing. Stop being rediculous.
Wright was horrible. And part of the worst Pass defense in the NFL. Damn near worst ever!!
You don’t resign him. You replace him with an upgrade. He is not talented enough to be a starter. Not even a dime back on a contending team.
If he’s so great- why pursue any CBs. Lets just keep those great guys we had last year. The ones that were 32nd in pass defense?
What are you thinking?
April 10th, 2013 at 6:52 pm
OH NO – not a spa visitor!!!!!!!!! Holy sh!t, if that’s the case, get rid of him!!!!!! I don’t want no damn spa visitors on this team. That could potentially be catostrophic. Imagine if he somehow got other players on the team to go to the spa!! I am signing a petition to immediately get rid of this spa visitor.
I sure do wish Capt. Tim was our GM. He is obviously much better at talent evaluation than any of us, and more importantly than Mark Dominik. He would have us in the Super Bowl immediately. With his access to game film, his knowledge of schemes, and his morals, how could we go wrong? What he says is law, and for any of us to disagree is downright stupid. I sure do hope the Captain puts in his resume at One Buc Place soon, because that just may be the only way for us to get out of this rut.
Captain Tim for GM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!