I participated in a mock off-season (including draft, free agency, and post-draft) over on the For The Sports forum where I was lucky enough to manage our Bucs. Thought I'd share the results here. All teams were bound by cap numbers on Spotrac when cutting/adding players. I also guessed we'd be transitioning to a 3-4.
Pre-Draft Cuts:
- Desean Jackson (No trade partners)
- Vinny Curry
- Beau Allen
- Mitch Unrein
- Bryan Anger
- Ryan Smith
- Evan Smith
Restructures
- Gerald McCoy
- Lavonte David
- William Gholston
Tenders
- ERFA Tender for Isaiah Johnson and Michael Liedtke
- Transition Tag for Donovan Smith (nobody made an offer so he was retained for less than the franchise tag)
Free Agency
- Sheldon Richardson: 4yrs $26 million
- Deone Bucannon: 2yrs $10 million
- Adam Humphries: 4yrs $32 million
- Eric Berry: 3yrs $18 million
- Markus Golden: 1yr $2 million
- Spencer Ware: 1yr $2 million
- Jason Myers: 1yr $3 million
- Ryan Hewitt: 1yr Vet Min
- Kwon went to the Raiders for 9 million a year
Draft Trades
- TB #5 for DEN #10/72/114/150 (Allen, Williams, Bosa all unavailable at #5).
- TB #147 for OAK #151/222/239
Draft
- 1.10 CB Greedy Williams, LSU I was hoping either Ferrell, Oliver, or J Williams would fall but they didn't so I opted for Williams who I considered BPA.
- 2.39 OG Chris Lindstrom, We have a huge hole at RG and Lindstrom should be able to step in from Day 1.
- 3.70 RB Damien Harris, I wasn't comfortable with RoJo being the only back in town so picked up someone to compete with him (signed Spencer Ware post draft on the cheap as depth).
- 3.72 OT David Edwards, Probably not a Day 1 starter at either LT or RT, but a bit of an insurance policy for the oft injured Dotson and the inconsistent/overpriced Smith.
- 4.108 EDGE Carl Granderson, Intriguing pass rusher with good length who might have some potential as an outside linebacker in a 3-4
- 4.114 QB Tyree Jackson, purely a potential pick and back-up to Winston. I don't think he'll pan out as a professional, but his tools make him worth a gamble for sure at this point in the draft. Dallas' GM was super keen to grab him so had to snag him here.
- 5.150 EDGE Sutton Smith, highly productive but undersized rusher in the NCAA. May have some potential as a developmental pass rusher. Reminds me of Elvis Dumervil.
- 5.151 DT Daylon Mack, stout at the point nose tackle for depth.
- 7.219 CB Jordan Wyatt, copied the PR guys with this one. Worth a flyer in the 7th.
- 7.222 EDGE Ronheen Bingham, productive at the college level but longshot to make the roster. An extra body should we move to a 3-4.
- 7.239 OT Joe Lowery, Depth behind Smith/Dotson/Edwards or practice squad developmental type.
- UDFA P Jack Fox (I cut Anger so we need someone to compete in camp)
- UDFA DT Albert Huggins (Behind 2 first rounders at Clemson, potential)
- UDFA ST Valentine Holmes (Australian rugby player training as part of the international player program)
Projected Depth Chart
- QB Jameis Winston | Tyree Jackson
- RB Spencer Ware | Damien Harris | Ronald Jones
- FB/TE Ryan Hewitt
- WR Mike Evans | Justin Watson
- WR Chris Godwin | Bobo Wilson
- WR Adam Humphries
- TE OJ Howard | Cameron Brate | Antony Auclair
- LT Donovan Smith | Joe Lowery | Michael Liedtke
- LG Ali Marpet | Cole Boozer
- C Ryan Jensen
- RG Chris Lindstrom | Alex Cappa
- RT Demar Dotson | David Edwards | Caleb Benenoch
- DL Sheldon Richardson | William Gholston
- DL Vita Vea | Daylon Mack | Stevie Tu'ikolovatu
- DL Gerald McCoy | Carl Nassib | Albert Huggins
- DE/OLB Jason Pierre-Paul | Noah Spence | Sutton Smith
- ILB Deone Bucannon | Jack Cichy | Riley Bullough
- ILB Lavonte David | Kendell Beckwith
- OLB Markus Golden | Carl Granderson | Ronheen Bingham
- CB Carlton Davis | MJ Stewart
- CB Greedy Williams | Jordan Wyatt | David Rivers
- CB Vernon Hargreaves
- S Justin Evans | Isaiah Johnson
- S Eric Berry | Jordan Whitehead
- PK Jason Myers
- PN Jack Fox
- LS Zach Triner
- ST Valentine Holmes | Shaun Wilson
Obviously in the real off-season we will have loads more players on the roster, but this is the core group I had by the end.
How would you feel if this was our actual off-season? One thing I learned is that trying to organise free agency and the draft is pretty damn tough, but I had a lot of fun and it's interesting to see the type of roster you can put together, albeit unrealistically in some cases.
