FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• EVANS AND GODWIN COULD BE HIGHEST PAID WR DUO: When Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin gets his contract extension and the pay raise that comes with it, Tampa Bay could have the highest paid receiver duo in the league. Right now that distinction belongs to Cleveland where Odell Beckham, Jr. makes an average of $18 million per season and Browns teammate Jarvis Landry makes an average of $15.1 million.

Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It will be interesting to see how much money Godwin can wrangle from the Buccaneers, and it’s expected to be somewhere between $14 – $16.5 million per season. Mike Evans currently makes an average of $16.5 million, so if Godwin gets paid a similar amount the Bucs’ duo would combine for $33 million per year. That would fall a bit short of the combined earnings of Beckham and Landry, whose average salaries total $33.1 million.

If Godwin gets paid more than Evans at around $17 million per year, and that can’t be ruled out, then Tampa Bay would have the richest receiving duo in the NFL.

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• DAVID MOVING UP BUCS’ ALL-TIME TACKLE LIST: Bucs linebacker Lavonte David hit a career milestone in Tampa Bay’s season finale last year against Atlanta. David topped the 1,000-tackle mark and now has 1,008 career tackles. That puts him in select company in team history, as only three other Buccaneers have recorded 1,000 tackles or more.

David passed Shelton Quarles’ 985 career tackles last year and is now in fourth place behind Bucs legend Hardy Nickerson, who had 1,028 stops in his time in Tampa Bay. David will likely pass Nickerson by the Bucs’ third or fourth game this season, and then it’s on to chasing another legend, Ronde Barber, who had 1,428 tackles in his illustrious 16-year career.

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by the Buccaneers

David posted 123 tackles last year to lead the team, so he likely won’t come close to threatening Barber’s tackle total for another four years when David is 34. The best David could hope for is to finish second behind Derrick Brooks, whose 2,198 career tackles is atop the team record book. Brooks played for the Bucs for 14 years and teams kept their own tackle totals during the 1990s and early 2000s, often inflating those numbers a bit.

Brooks posted 145 tackles in 1997, 158 tackles in 1998, 153 tackles in 1999 and 146 tackles in 2000. David had 139 tackles as a rookie in 2012, 145 stops in 2013, 146 tackles in 2014 and 147 tackles in 2015, but hasn’t come anywhere close to those numbers since the 2015 season.

• NEW PEWTER NATION PODCAST COMING ON MONDAY: Bucs training camp is slated to start on July 28 with rookies and quarterbacks expected to report to the AdventHealth Training Center a week prior. The Pewter Report staff will be recording a new Pewter Nation Podcast on Monday morning on July 13 to help you kick off the work week. Don’t miss it!

Here is a link to last week’s episode that featured yours truly, Mark Cook, Matt Matera and Jon Ledyard talking about how the COVID-19 virus will affect Bucs training camp.

Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 198: What We’re Missing With Limited Training Camp

In case you missed our previous episode, I was joined by Pewter Reporters Matt Matera and Taylor Jenkins to record a new Pewter Nation Podcast on Thursday, June 25 where we discussed the most recent Bucs news, including Shaquil Barrett not signing his franchise contract, and the latest Tom Brady-led Bucs practice. If you are jonesing for some football, don’t miss this new podcast!

Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 197: Barrett’s Franchise Tag Dilemma, Practice Update

There is no better time to listen to a new Pewter Nation Podcast than right now or early Saturday morning during your workout or while running errands. The next Pewter Nation Podcast will be recorded next week. Stay tuned!

The popularity of the Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here. And of course the Pewter Nation Podcast is also available on iTunes. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

• MURPHY-BUNTING ADDING SIZE, MUSCLE THIS OFFSEASON: Tampa Bay cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting is entering his second season in the league with some added size. During the COVID-19 quarantine, Murphy-Bunting hit the weights hard and recently announced on Twitter that he’s put on 12 pounds this offseason.

Up 12 pounds since the end of the season 😌

— Sean Murphy-Bunting (@MrSeanyB1) July 8, 2020

Murphy-Bunting’s listed weight last year was 195 pounds on the Bucs roster. That’s the same weight he weighed in at during the NFL Scouting Combine last February. Yet it’s not uncommon for players to shed a few pounds during training camp and the regular season due to the rigors of nearly practicing every day and playing on Sundays.

Bucs CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A dozen extra pounds would put Murphy-Bunting at 207 pounds if you go off his 195 pounds listed on the roster. That would make Murphy-Bunting the heaviest Tampa Bay cornerback, as Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean are both listed at 206 pounds. Murphy-Bunting would also be the second-heaviest defensive back on the roster, behind safety Javon Hagan, who is 6-foot, 215 pounds.

If Murphy-Bunting weighed 190 pounds at the start of the offseason and gained 12 pounds he would be at 202 pounds, joining M.J. Stewart (200), Davis and Dean as Tampa Bay cornerbacks weighing 200 pounds or more.

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Here is a list of all of the PewterReport.com social media platforms. Make sure to follow us this offseason as we cover the team’s training camp in July, plus any breaking Bucs news or press conferences.

Twitter: @PewterReport

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• ARIANS, OTHER OLDER COACHES MUST BE CAREFUL IN CAMP: While the number of reported COVID-19 have risen with more testing, the death rate has actually plummeted by over 90 percent with just 177 deaths nationwide the week of July 4. The week of April 18 was the spike, and saw 16,394 Americans die with deaths labeled as COVID-19 at that time.

Bucs LB Lavonte David and HC Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Still, the elderly aged 65 and older make up the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths in America, and head coach Bruce Arians, who is 68, falls into that age bracket risk, as does offensive assistant Tom Moore, who is 81. Bucs safeties coach Nick Rapone and quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen are also over the age of 60 and are more at risk than some of Tampa Bay’s other coaches.

Expect Arians to continue riding around on his golf cart and observing training camp practices from afar to minimize the chances of him contracting COVID-19. The team plans to hold team meetings in the indoor practice facility with monitors and a P.A. system so that the players can maintain social distancing rather than the auditorium in the AdventHealth Training Center. That’s a good call by Arians and the team from a safety protocol.

There could even be some practices where Arians and Moore don’t attend this year and just watch the film review of the practice at its conclusion, opting instead to study film on Tampa Bay’s upcoming opponents while the team gets after it on the practice field.

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