CB Sean Smith is likely to reach free agency

[rpc1978]

Give him Wright's contract. Done.

Jeez FA corners make too much money.  7+ mill per year for an "above avg" CB like Smith.  That being said, if thats the going rate what can we do?  We have big holes at CB and money to spend.

[TampaBucks05]

60 million for one 43 million for another.... I don't know man these guys are asking teams to tie up a whole lotta money. It seems like the draft is a better option, or maybe lower level FAs??

No. Going the cheap route is not going to be productive. We've seen that too many times as buc fans.

People didn't like how much vj got in his contract, now they're glad to have him. Same with Penn, Barth, koenen,and even nicks to some extent. And all this talk about money is silly. Dom will restructure revis or smith the same way they did with nicks and vj. Money as bonus, and up-front, so they have less cap penalty. So when people say, "revis will cost X amount, it's actually going to count quite a few million less than they think. The hefty part of their contract will be the first portion as well, so later the cap won't have problems. Most players would take that in a heartbeat.

You get what you pay for, and dom and schiano thought they could spend nothing on cb's and make it work. Hopefully that was a hard lesson learned. Plus, with revis anyway, he would put some extra butts in seats. That should be taken into account as well.

That's very true and a good point. Fifty to sixty million dollars just  seems like a staggering figure, but I guess it's the market rate for good CBs these days. I would still shy away from the whole Revis situation, however. There's just too many costs and ifs. I think the team would benefit more from exploring other options this off season.

[JDouble]

The prices for pass rushers and cornerbacks gets pushed up every year by stupid desperate teams....kinda like how we gave Eric Wrong a 5 year deal that paid $7.5M a year last year. Those kind of desperate over payments just makes it worse. But it is what it is and if you are going to acquire those players through FA, you just have to overpay. That is why it is best to draft those positions early and often.

[The Anti-Java]

Has anyone actually seen Smith play? At most right now he is a good number 2 starter. He is wildly inconsistent and has not lived up to his "potential" yet.  For the right money I could see it, but there is a reason a team with all the money in the world would let him walk.

ProFootballFocus has Smith rated higher than all these free agent CB's






Rashean Mathis

Jerraud Powers

William Middleton

Drayton Florence

Stanford Routt

Brandon McDonald

Mike Jenkins

Ryan Mouton

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

Brice McCain

Antoine Cason

Quentin Jammer

Cassius Vaughn

[JDouble]

He's not Derrel Revis, but he sure as hell is better than Wright. He is a very good #2. You aren't going to find a true #1 in free agency. You have to draft those. Otherwise you end up paying $16M a year to buy one in free agency.

Give Wright's contract to Smith, and draft Rhodes. With an improved pass rush that secondary will be just fine, perhaps even very good depending on how well Rhodes turns out.

[rpc1978]

i liked Cason coming out of college.  IIRC, the bucs did too.  Hasnt he been a solid starter in SD opposite Jammer? Why isn't he getting more attention here?

[PassThePigSkin]

i liked Cason coming out of college.  IIRC, the bucs did too.  Hasnt he been a solid starter in SD opposite Jammer? Why isn't he getting more attention here?

Not a big name. I thought he was a solid #2.

[big_JLB]

i liked Cason coming out of college.  IIRC, the bucs did too.  Hasnt he been a solid starter in SD opposite Jammer? Why isn't he getting more attention here?

Not a big name. I thought he was a solid #2.

if they're going to draft a #1 corner then cason is exactly the type of player they should target as a #2

[rpc1978]

i liked Cason coming out of college.  IIRC, the bucs did too.  Hasnt he been a solid starter in SD opposite Jammer? Why isn't he getting more attention here?

Not a big name. I thought he was a solid #2.

but thats the type of guy we should be looking at.   why pay pro bowl money for guys like Smith or DRC when they dont warrant that?  sign cason at an affordable rate.  he has that rangy frame that seems to be the new trend for NFL CBs, not to mention he is experienced, productive and still in his twenties.  i bet you could get him for a few mill cheaper each year than Smith or DRC and you still have the ability to make other moves in FA.  Then you still spend an early pick on the CB position(top 2 rds). to pair with Cason.

[Pepsi]

Please please please

I'm sold.

Get Smith and draft Milliner, Banks or Rhodes in the first. Boom.

Talk about major upgrade to the weakness. We would know for sure if Freeman is holding the team back midway through the season.

[1Va bucsfan]

i liked Cason coming out of college.  IIRC, the bucs did too.  Hasnt he been a solid starter in SD opposite Jammer? Why isn't he getting more attention here?

Yep they did. He's been inconsistent, he's solid but inconsistent he'd be a solid #2.

[GameTime]

id be fine signing smith and cason.

[The Anti-Java]

id be fine signing smith and cason.

And still draft a CB?

[GameTime]

And still draft a CB?

if he's the best available sure.  but we definitely wouldnt need to reach/force a pick.

[The Anti-Java]

And still draft a CB?

if he's the best available sure.  but we definitely wouldnt need to reach/force a pick.

I hear ya, but if all that happens, it wouldn't be good news for Leonard, Biggers and Gaiter.