I like Sam Shields the most from this CB FA class. 2nd would be Peanut Tillman. Here are some other top CBs from this FA class.Aqib TalibDeAngelo Hall Alterraun VernerBrandon BrownerWalter ThurmondAaron RossBrent GrimesVontae DavisChris HarrisCaptain MunnerlynDrayton FlorenceRichard MarshallChris CarrNolan CarrollAntoine CasonKelvin HaydenJavier ArenasBrandon GheeThere are more less known but promising guys too. We should be able to definitely upgrade our CB depth over guys like Gorer, L. Johnson, Mike Adams, and Anthony Gaitor.
Jets may release Cromartie too.
Cortland Finnegan & Asante Samuel too
I want a couple DEs, a couple CBs, a DT, and a C/OG in fee agency. We have the cap room. I hope we stay aggressive. Need to make the best of not having a franchise QB and his big contract while it lasts. Spend big money at other positions while we can.
We are projected to have about $17M in cap space. Cutting Bowers, Koenen, Joseph, and Carimi would give us an additional $12M. So $29M. McCoy is in the final year of his contract and is making a ridiculous $13.5M. We should extend and restructure him. He should be making around $10M per year....so we could potentially gain another $4M to $5M by doing this. PR did a story on our cap a few weeks ago and claimed we would gain an additional $7M for Nicks if he doesn't come back....but that whole situation is confusing and I don't get the contract. It looks to me like if he is one the roster he will cost $9M. If we cut him, he will still count as $7M vs the cap....so it's only a $2M savings. Maybe if he retires we are off the hook. I don't know, but I'm not gonna count on that money.There are a lot of teams with big time money this year though. BIG TIME money. The Raiders are projected to have almost $70M in cap space and the Jags are right behind them with $55M. Browns have $47M and the Bears have $41M. The the Colts, Bills, Bengals, Dolphins, Packers and Redskins all have about $30M.So even if we cut those guys and extend/restructure McCoy to get our cap space up to around $33M.....we'll have lots of other teams to contend with. Hopefully Lovie and the staff he is putting together draws the interest of some top guys.
There will definitely be some cap casualties and restructures, names to look out for are Koenen, Davin, Nicks. Koenen got worse as the year went on and I can't see us paying that much for a punter where we can get a much better cheaper option. I do think we will still be aggressive in FA after hearing Lovie say they will do whatever it takes to get better through FA and the draft, saying you have to spend the money to get those good players, cant wait! (Bart Scott voice)
Alterraun Verner is a FA? If the Titans don't bring him back (I doubt they won't), that would be a great pickup. Pretty sure he made the All Pro team this year.
Alterraun Verner is a FA? If the Titans don't bring him back (I doubt they won't), that would be a great pickup. Pretty sure he made the All Pro team this year.
http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2013/12/29/5254462/alterraun-verner-says-he-will-definitely-test-the-free-agent-market Unfortunately when you are paying a CB $16M per year, you can't really afford to grab up a kid like this. Otherwise I'd be all over it. 25 year old Pro Bowl CB up for grabs? Sh1t.
Seriously....I love Revis, and for $12M a year I'd want him to be a Buc until he retires, but at $16M he can kick rocks. You guys realize the next highest paid CBs are Bailey and Finnegan and they both average $10M per year? There is no justification for $16M/yr and I don't think we could even find a trade partner because nobody else is going to pay that. Maybe the Raiders...they have like $70M in cap space.Anyways, it bothers me because we could probably sign two great young CBs like Verner and Shields and their salary combined would be less than Revis'. I know he is good, but no one great CB is better than two very good CBs imo. I'd take Shields and Verner together over Revis any day. $16M is just too much and it's gonna bite us.
Some under the radar O-line prospects I'd like to see us take a look at:Geoff Schwartz KC - He took over the starting G spot this season, and has played great. Likely will be re-signed by KC, but you never know.Anthony Collins Cin - Currently a swing OT, but has played very well when given the chance to start. Could be brought in to compete with Dotson and Penn for LT, and at the very least is a better back-up than Carimi. He's also good friends with Michael Johnson, so it could fill a need if we get a package deal.
Its gonna bite us? It isn't preventing us from signing anyone (reasonably) and we have a nice, promising young corner in Banks. He's signed through 2019 and is currently 28. In three years, if his play has dropped, we can cut him with no dead moneyWe could easily afford signing a really good DE, good C/G and a professional level corner and not even get too tight. Even if somehow, whoever our QB is proves to be a franchise guy, we're looking at 3+ years before we have to pay him.
Seriously....I love Revis, and for $12M a year I'd want him to be a Buc until he retires, but at $16M he can kick rocks. You guys realize the next highest paid CBs are Bailey and Finnegan and they both average $10M per year? There is no justification for $16M/yr and I don't think we could even find a trade partner because nobody else is going to pay that. Maybe the Raiders...they have like $70M in cap space.Anyways, it bothers me because we could probably sign two great young CBs like Verner and Shields and their salary combined would be less than Revis'. I know he is good, but no one great CB is better than two very good CBs imo. I'd take Shields and Verner together over Revis any day. $16M is just too much and it's gonna bite us.
You realize Finnegan is nowhere near Revis level right? That dude is trash. Lets see what Sherman gets and then we can compare.
Seriously....I love Revis, and for $12M a year I'd want him to be a Buc until he retires, but at $16M he can kick rocks. You guys realize the next highest paid CBs are Bailey and Finnegan and they both average $10M per year? There is no justification for $16M/yr and I don't think we could even find a trade partner because nobody else is going to pay that. Maybe the Raiders...they have like $70M in cap space.Anyways, it bothers me because we could probably sign two great young CBs like Verner and Shields and their salary combined would be less than Revis'. I know he is good, but no one great CB is better than two very good CBs imo. I'd take Shields and Verner together over Revis any day. $16M is just too much and it's gonna bite us.
You realize Finnegan is nowhere near Revis level right? That dude is trash. Lets see what Sherman gets and then we can compare.
Yeah. Finnegan sucks. Not the point. The point is that the 3 or 4 other highest paid CBs in the league make $10M per year. There was no reason for Revis to make the jump to $16M per year. That is a 60% jump from the other top CBs. The Market dictates that Revis should be making about $12M a year....well, when he is healthy and head & shoulders above every other CB in the league....which he wasn't this year. Right now the top 5 QBs are getting $20M per year. Revis' contract is the equivalent of Tom Brady getting a new contract that pays $32M per year. It's ridiculous and Dom was stupid for setting such a irresponsible precedent. The deal should be redone to include guaranteed money and it should average about $12.5M per year. That is just the truth. If Revis won't except that, then we should do everything in our power to trade his ass and recoup that 1st round pick we gave up. Unfortunately I don't think there is a single team in this league that would take his $16M/yr contract.
And I suspect that $16M is why he agreed to come to the Bucs. Drove off any potential competitors for his services... I like the idea of adding FA's on both sides of the LOS as a priority. C, G, T, DT, DE would all help greatly. I expect us to FINALLY drop Koenan and get another cheaper punter. Dang, I really wanted Forbath from 2 years ago, who punts AND PKs... Could get another CB if the price is reasonable. And maybe a vet QB.
After Lovie finishes watching film I think he will make it a priority to address these areas:QBWRKR/PROLDECBI don't see the Bucs on a big spending spree given Dominik left the Bucs in a moderate cap situation (not great). $17 mil was a great cap situation in 2007 but it is the year 2014 and $17 mil is peanuts compared to what other teams have (eg Raiders). So I think the Bucs go low key this free agency period and go bargain basement hunting.
Last offseason we invested a 1st rd pick and a lot of $$ to Revis and a 2nd round pick on Banks. JDub, "a couple" of corners in FA, seriously? I think you're setting yourself up for disappoinment there.I think they will roll with Melvin, Gorrer, Johnson, Gaitor and company again. If anything, maybe a later round draft pick, but not anyone I'd expect to contribute much in the near future
