While I think the praise is good I like to believe that when Licht and the Bucs start brining in talent to address key areas of need is when the praise should be codified for this off season.
well, this is the weird thing about keeping your own because they did "bring in" talent to address key areas of need already, maybe the MOST important being QB.
Stated differently, they KEPT significant areas of need from opening up
My point is that I don't think they should just stand pat and wait for the draft like they did last year for the most part (which was largely because of cap constraints).
dont they have similar constraints this time around?
Somewhat, extending Wirffs, re-working Vita Vea’s deal/extending, can open up some room. That will kick the can down the road a bit, but the cap will likely open up, too.
I’m guessing we can sign one, maybe two FA’s, but most of what’s opened will likely be set aside for the draft, right?
Sort of what i was thinking. The Bucs will not make any big FA deals, mostly draft and maybe a value vet here and there
It seems like they should have more flexibility.My point is that I don't think they should just stand pat and wait for the draft like they did last year for the most part (which was largely because of cap constraints).
dont they have similar constraints this time around?
Cap increase $30 mil
2023 dead money $81 mil vs 2024 dead $36 mil = 45 mil
White off the books $11 mil.
Gage cut saves $10 mil. He's still there on Spotrac.
That's over $95 mil in extra cap room.
Evans cap hit goes from $23 mil to $7 mil plus previous dead money of $12 mil. Thats a savings.
To the negative Wirfs is earning more, Godwin has a big cap hit this year. Winfield has a big hit. Barrett's cut was a cap hit. Jensen's hit is $6 mil this year. Baker's deal pays him $11 mil plus incentives compared to $7 mil last year. Extra money for David and Mcphl... the kicker. So the negatives are maybe $60 mil or therabouts compared to last year? But not $100 mil.
All in all it seems like there should be plenty of cap room this year compared to last year. Spotrac shows only $13 mil cap space and Gage is still showing, so that's $23 mil in cap space as reported by Spotrac. I find it hard to believe that all that cap space was taken up by Godwin, Vea, Wirfs, Winfield and Dean. Those five plus Barrett and Gage are the only people hitting the cap higher than Baker's $10.7 mil. There's a lot of room for restructuring there.
That’s a good assessment - but only for 2024 cap. If you sign a splash player, it’s going to be for multiple years…so all the cap re-structuring starts to work against you.
We’ll see, but I don’t really look for a big name.
Licht deserves major credit and has been kicking a$$ these last few years. As he mentioned in the Mike Evans press conference, he made some draft and free agency mistakes early on as a first-time GM, but he's learned from those mistakes and has been a really good GM for us.
Especially with his recent calling people out for predicting doom and gloom after Brady, you wonder how much the Bucs really reflect Licht's personality
Bucs general manager Jason Licht on Baker Mayfield: “He sets the tone for this team with his… well, for lack of a better word – on a [scale] of one [to] 10, he’s a 10 on the [prickly] scale. … That’s what you want in your offensive linemen. Baker is kind of an offensive lineman in a quarterback’s body.”
It is amazing how much difference a year makes. Doom and gloom last offseason. This offseason you'd think we're getting ready to run it back after winning the Superbowl with all the back slapping and glad handing going on after going 9-8. You take much the same team with the same head coach. Last offseason we sucked and everybody wanted to fire the coach and this offseason we're the greatest thing since they combined chicken with waffles and everybody is pumped. It's just interesting that's all.Especially with his recent calling people out for predicting doom and gloom after Brady, you wonder how much the Bucs really reflect Licht's personality
Bucs general manager Jason Licht on Baker Mayfield: “He sets the tone for this team with his… well, for lack of a better word – on a [scale] of one [to] 10, he’s a 10 on the [prickly] scale. … That’s what you want in your offensive linemen. Baker is kind of an offensive lineman in a quarterback’s body.”
You take much the same team with the same head coach
I certainly understand this point, but let me offer another way to look at it.
Many FANS UNDERESTIMATE all of the human components of a team and instead sort of look at an NFL team's success as an aggregation of stats (RB with 1000 yds, QB 4000 yards, CBs 5 interceptions, Pro Bowls etc).
It doesnt work that way really and that is because almost ALL NFL players and most coaches are capable of winning a Super Bowl UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES and also capable of a losing season with immense talent on the team, AGAIN OWWING TO ALL THOSE CIRCUMSTANCE . . . most of which are HUMAN issues.
2022 - Brady is the GOAT, he comes back "with much the same team" (even though it is not) BUT he's only half back and some players resent him and the coaching staff is FRACTURED . . so even though expectations are high, the team MISERABLY underperforms on both sides of the ball (the defense was manhandled in the playoff game)
2023 - Bras. gone, expectations are low. Those low expectation PISS OFF former Super bowl players who remain and then an OC and a QB comes in who AMPLIFY that "us versus them" and the HC . . . now totally in control . . also amplifies that "us versus them" and "underdog" theme.
The human component is why it is so difficult - particularly in the NFL -- to repeat a championship season.
The 2002 Bucs were lifted by Gruden and disappointment over tough prior losses, so they win the Super Bowl. They had a SINGULAR focus.
The 2003 team was "much the same team" but there was a front office fight, Keyshawn Johns etc. . .the team didn't even make the payoffs.
today there is a report on JBF about the difference in expectations entitled . .
Easy For The Bucs To Stay Angry
. . and what did Bowles say (reportedly):
"Bowles said he’d rather be the underdog."
I am an optimist, and I'm excited about all these moves by Licht and the FO to improve the team for the upcoming 2024 season. However, my optimism is tempered somewhat by the fact the 2024 schedule is set and quite foreboding. But at least it's clear the Bucs will be competitive no matter which teams are on the schedule.
I am an optimist, and I'm excited about all these moves by Licht and the FO to improve the team for the upcoming 2024 season. However, my optimism is tempered somewhat by the fact the 2024 schedule is set and quite foreboding. But at least it's clear the Bucs will be competitive no matter which teams are on the schedule.
really depends. this team was 4-7. it was at a point that 98% of us were calling for Bowles head.
the team then went 6-2 in it's last 8 games including playoffs. The offense averaged significantly more in points per game.
if we resemble more of the 6-2 squad which one can hope that the team jelled better...then great. Losing the offensive coordinator likely sets us back to learn a new scheme.
schedule looks brutal
best we can hope for in division is likely 4-2 with the falcons and Saints. We went 4-2 in each of the last 4 years.
Home games that look pretty winnable include Washington, Las Vegas, and Denver. The Eagles being a coin flip with 49ers and Baltimore looking like Ls.
road games that look pretty winnable include the Giants. Dallas, Chiefs, Detroit, and Chargers looking pretty tough.
so at this stage, i got us 9-8 with a win over Eagles because quite frankly that's what we've been the last 2 years, a .500 squad.
let's see what the draft brings and any surprise moves or two. Because remember as impressive as the off-season has been, we simply brought back players we had last year which was good enough for .500 ball. Whitehead is good addition but losing Davis hurts so until we see the complete picture hard to say we are an "improved" squad from 2023.
What does Vegas say?
it should be a tough season. Tough schedule and lots of Mayfield film, although the offense is changing some.
The same Vegas that predicted 11 wins and got 8 in 2022. The over under was 6.5 in 2023 and we got 9. And the Bucs weren't the only team Vegas was not close on in 2023. They put the Panthers at 7.5 games... just a bit off. Houston was at 6.5 and won 10. But It's not just a couple teams. Vegas came close on about 8 or 9 teams out of 32. That's "blind squirrel" territory IMO. If you go by last year's team over under predictions Vegas sucks!What does Vegas say
it should be a tough season. Tough schedule and lots of Mayfield film, although the offense is changing some.
This year I'm guessing they'll put the Bucs at 10 wins. But when that comes out I don't want to hear that Vegas knows what they are doing. Apparently not!
It’s going to be a tough schedule. We’ve got to get an Edge, C/G, CB to be better. Coen has to be able to build off Canales. Defense needs an Edge AND a stud CB…
Agree, this team will need to have some key pieces in order to show improvement against this schedule - we have bigger expectations than last year.
So far, I still think we’re just treading water.
