Why the Bucs felt confident commiting to Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks

[michael89156]

JANUARY 08, 2013


Why the Bucs felt confident commiting to Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks



You might recall learning recently that the Bucs restructured the contracts of receiver Vincent Jackson and guard Carl Nicks, converting their guaranteed 2013 base salaries into roster bonuses paid on the 2012 league calendar.
 
The move frees up considerable salary-cap space next season, allowing the Bucs to go shopping again, if they choose. However, it might make the Bucs less flexible in the future.
 
But there’s a back story that explains why the Bucs saw this as a smart calculation, and it goes beyond just the 2013 salary-cap space it created.
 
The Bucs signed Jackson and Nicks to contracts that essentially avoided paying guaranteed money beyond the second year of the deals. This continued a trend we’ve seen with many of the long-term deals the Bucs have executed in recent seasons (i.e. Donald Penn, Quincy Black, Eric Wright).
 
But after the restructures, there now are salary-cap ramifications for the next four years on each player because the money was paid in the form of bonuses. But the Bucs are okay with that.
 
They feel that after having each player on the roster for a whole season, they have a better sense of their coachability and character. Liking what they’ve seen, the Bucs were willing to make a longer-term commitment to Jackson and Nicks.
 
The lump sums recently paid to Jackson and Nicks – a combined $25 million – will be prorated over the final four years of their respective contracts. But if the Bucs are right about both players, they won’t have to worry about the financial concerns involved with releasing them before they fulfill their contracts.
 
The Bucs have taken a cautious approach in the way they structure free-agent contracts for a reason. Because they have the space to absorb high salary-cap figures, they’ve chosen to frontload contracts so they’re not married to players for years on end.
 
One of the biggest risks with signing outside free agents is the leap of faith you take because of the unfamiliarity with them. You don’t know what kind of locker-room presence they'll have, how they respond to coaching or whether they’re simply players of strong character.
 
But the Bucs have made that determination with Jackson and Nicks, and the handling of their contracts suggests they’ll be Bucs for years to come.
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Posted by Stephen Holder at 12:32:12 am on January 08, 2013

[Buc on the Move]

These kind of moves really score good points for Dominik in my book.  When you consider not only the players he brought in, but the way in which he was able to manipulate all three contracts (including cutting E. Wright at no cost), I really do have to give the guy props for this past season.  Let's do it again and get back to the damned playoffs.

[bradentonian]

One of the biggest risks with signing outside free agents is the leap of faith you take because of the unfamiliarity with them. You don’t know what kind of locker-room presence they'll have, how they respond to coaching or whether they’re simply players of strong character.

We've been re-signing our own guys to those same kinds of contracts

[The Anti-Java]

In other words......Eric Wright GTFO.

[Benchwarmer#1]

I still worry that Nicks might not be a solid investment.

So far, he's been hurt, and for what it's worth, has stated publically that he won't give the bucs hints about the saints offense. Then there is always the scary part, brees only takes three seconds tops to throw. It makes any lineman look a lot better on paper.

Not trying to take anything away from the guy, but I do have concerns.

[The Anti-Java]

I still worry that Nicks might not be a solid investment.

So far, he's been hurt, and for what it's worth, has stated publically that he won't give the bucs hints about the saints offense. Then there is always the scary part, brees only takes three seconds tops to throw. It makes any lineman look a lot better on paper.

Not trying to take anything away from the guy, but I do have concerns.

Naw he is the real deal man.  As long as that toe heals up well.

He just got some award the other day, for being a sound fundamental player..   That thread is here somewhere.

[JavaRay]

I still worry that Nicks might not be a solid investment.

So far, he's been hurt, and for what it's worth, has stated publically that he won't give the bucs hints about the saints offense. Then there is always the scary part, brees only takes three seconds tops to throw. It makes any lineman look a lot better on paper.

Not trying to take anything away from the guy, but I do have concerns.

Traitor!

[DonkeyHunter]

I still worry that Nicks might not be a solid investment.

So far, he's been hurt, and for what it's worth, has stated publically that he won't give the bucs hints about the saints offense. Then there is always the scary part, brees only takes three seconds tops to throw. It makes any lineman look a lot better on paper.

Not trying to take anything away from the guy, but I do have concerns.

Traitor!

Coming from the thing that lives under the bridge....

[BucNY]

I loved the Nicks signing and I really thought we would get an underwhelming VJ. He had his best season ever and seems worth every penny we spent on him. I really didn't think we would get so much out of him.

I didn't know much about Eric Wright, I liked what I saw early in the year, he seemed to be a play maker, he got hurt, he got suspended and it's hard to know what would have happened.

[Buc on the Move]

I agree with pretty much all of that NY.

I really didn't think Vjax was going to adjust to Tampa that well or that quickly.  He turned out to be the best of the three, simply by merit of being on the field to do what he does.  I am glad that the team saw enough out of Nicks this season to throw down the adjusted contract money as bonus.  Hope that toe is getting plenty of pampering this off-season.

[The Anti-Java]

I loved the Nicks signing and I really thought we would get an underwhelming VJ. He had his best season ever and seems worth every penny we spent on him. I really didn't think we would get so much out of him.

I didn't know much about Eric Wright, I liked what I saw early in the year, he seemed to be a play maker, he got hurt, he got suspended and it's hard to know what would have happened.

Wright has been a screwup his whole life.  He went to USC and got thrown off  the team for bad conduct.  Transferred to UNLV in the lowly Mountain West Conference.  Seems like trouble follows him everywhere.