2. We have 27 year old Diaby locked in at 1 year, 3.9M. You can’t lump it in with 28-31 year old at $23M+. This is likely going to be Diaby’s best year. If you extend him now you throw away that value. And what are we really paying for? He’s not that good of a pass rusher. Hes a slightly better version of Greg Spires. We can replace his production fairly easily.
Agreed.
Let him play out the year, and get a pay day somewhere else if he "pops".
@jc5100 - we agree on Yaya. But that doesn’t mean Licht does. He paid Winfield so much that he was the highest paid defensive back for 2 seasons. Ridiculous. He’s a fine player, but he’s not even a top 5 safety now.
And Licht re-upped McCullom early for too much money. Like I’ve said a hundred times, keeping your own guys for too much money is just as bad as bad free agency signings.
On this point, do we really feel Licht won’t pay Yaya $20M+ a year even if he gets 7 sacks this year? I think he does. He’s all about continuity. And those choices have been hurting this team. He plays things way too safe.
@jc5100 - we agree on Yaya. But that doesn’t mean Licht does. He paid Winfield so much that he was the highest paid defensive back for 2 seasons. Ridiculous. He’s a fine player, but he’s not even a top 5 safety now.
And Licht re-upped McCullom early for too much money. Like I’ve said a hundred times, keeping your own guys for too much money is just as bad as bad free agency signings.
On this point, do we really feel Licht won’t pay Yaya $20M+ a year even if he gets 7 sacks this year? I think he does. He’s all about continuity. And those choices have been hurting this team. He plays things way too safe.
I hope he doesn’t. The Edge market is out of control because of positional importance but I think there’s enough of a supply that the market is way too high. I’d rather a room full of guys on rookie contracts and young vets on 1 year prove it deals.
Nice choice of words. "Developed elsewhere". You know Shaq Barrett is the problem with your theory on Bowles. He had 14 sacks in 4 years with Denver then exploded under Bowles. So you throw that little "doesn't count!" caveat in there.
So, he developed for four years in Denver and was never a starter. That was because of who was playing ahead of him.
- Von Miller (Super Bowl MVP, franchise cornerstone)
- DeMarcus Ware (future Hall of Famer)
It would be fair to say that Barret learned how to play in Denver as an understudy to both of those players. When he got here, he exploded not because Bowles is great, but because he was well coached in Denver and got the chance to play in Tampa.
Name ONE other player that Bowles coached up, and I will give your theory a second thought.
Name ONE other player that Bowles coached up,
I am not sure what people mean by developed? I think of developed as taking a player with relatively modest expectations and turning him into something more? Either way though, Bowles has both positives and negatives because of the length of his tenure.
For example, he got the best out of White and AWJ when they had zero NFL experience. So, he coached them up. White also regressed under Bowles, but to me that is on White. AWJ has arguably regressed. Maybe that is on Bowles and his system. SMB played well. Maybe the other safety Whitehead played his best overall in stint 1 but then sucked in stint 2.
Carlton Davis best years were with Bucs? Hall talks like he feels liberated by joining the Texans, so will Hall's play improve now (Bowles held him back) or will he regress (Bowles got more out of him)?
Hard to say because its a team sport. but in this example, people are saying that Barreet was developed at Denver, but because of playing behind two all time greats. Who has Hall been playing behind? Or who was the Denver coach who "developed" Barrett? They changed DCs right in the middle of his time there.
I am not sure what people mean by developed?
I should have been more specific. That is on me.
Bowles does well with DBs. He has been shit with Edge rushers. I should have said name one other edge rusher that developed under Bowles.
Hard to say because its a team sport. but in this example, people are saying that Barreet was developed at Denver, but because of playing behind two all time greats. Who has Hall been playing behind? Or who was the Denver coach who "developed" Barrett? They changed DCs right in the middle of his time there.
Who Hall was playing behind does not matter. The subject was Bowles' ability to develop an edge rusher.
The coaches for Barret were:
- Jack Del Rio (2014)
- Wade Phillips (2015–2016)
- Joe Woods (2017–2018)
Position Coach:
- Fred Pagac (Outside Linebackers)
I would place Del Rio and Phillips above Bowles.
4th Round: Devin Moore – CB, Florida
If he lasts until the 4th round that will be a very good pick.
But for our defense to succeed under Bowles, we need stars. His scheme won’t carry his players. The players carry his scheme.
Perfectly stated.
Edge rushers don't develop in Tampa not because of coaching. Because the scheme doesn't ask them to rush the passer the majority of the time. Licht is drafting plodders to play edge because Bowles want to stuff the run. But the Bucs need to look at what the Steelers of the 90s did and draft some nimble OLBs. And having a nimble ILBs like a Nickerson doesn't hurt either.
To make a fire zone blitz scheme work for Bowles he needs to give up the idea of big OLB to hold contain on the edges for run defense. Bucs need to go smaller, faster and more agile. More Shaq Barrett sized OLBs and less of the plodders like Nelson and Braswell.
Thanks, Kermit. I have my doubts he will be there. I suspect he and most of the top CBs to be gone by the 3rd but the mock let me have him in the 4th, so I took him. :)4th Round: Devin Moore – CB, Florida
If he lasts until the 4th round that will be a very good pick.
Nice choice of words. "Developed elsewhere". You know Shaq Barrett is the problem with your theory on Bowles. He had 14 sacks in 4 years with Denver then exploded under Bowles. So you throw that little "doesn't count!" caveat in there.
So, he developed for four years in Denver and was never a starter. That was because of who was playing ahead of him.
- Von Miller (Super Bowl MVP, franchise cornerstone)
- DeMarcus Ware (future Hall of Famer)
It would be fair to say that Barret learned how to play in Denver as an understudy to both of those players. When he got here, he exploded not because Bowles is great, but because he was well coached in Denver and got the chance to play in Tampa.
Name ONE other player that Bowles coached up, and I will give your theory a second thought.
Not my theory. Was just disproving ehinote's theory that Bowles needs stars. Barrett was a JAG with traits. That's actually good news. You can replicate the Shaq Barrett signing by acquiring pass rushers with plus traits. I don't know why we didn't sign Chasson last year. We couldn't block him in 2024. He had traits. Braswell doesn't have traits. Diaby doesn't really have traits, that's why he just bullrushes.
I agree the Bucs don't need stars to make Bowles scheme to work. Bucs need more players to rotate with at edge which is why I suspect once Diaby has more help he will generate more sacks and earn that 2nd contracts from the Bucs.
But that is the problem because the Bucs relied on Walker to be that third guy off the bench and he went down with an injury. Relying on the draft again is fools gold because even if you land a Verse home run from the 2026 draft you have Diaby and Muhammad. Who is your fourth? Walker coming off an injury?
Bucs need to find two edge rushers or 1 edge rusher and 3 tech from this draft if they are serious. And sign some more vets too. Anything less indicates more of the same.