FAB 5. SR’s BUC SHOTS
• The Bucs were smart to have guard J.R. Sweezy come to One Buccaneer Place for a complete physical workout the first week of March. That’s because Sweezy’s $2.5 million base salary was going to be guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year. Even though he was medically cleared to participate in offseason workouts in January, the Bucs wanted to see for themselves if Sweezy was completely healthy before his salary became guaranteed.

Bucs G J.R. Sweezy – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs put Sweezy through a pre-training camp physical, which included him hitting and driving a blocking sled and he passed the tests without any impairment or pain. The team is counting on Sweezy to be a starting guard this season and help in the game run – likely at right guard, which is where he played with the Seahawks. The Bucs plan to move right guard Ali Marpet to center this offseason to create a slot for Sweezy to start, and because the team feels Marpet can become a great center in time.

• So what does moving Ali Marpet to center mean for Evan Smith and the recently re-signed Joe Hawley if Marpet’s move to center is permanent? It means the Bucs have three starting-caliber centers, which is a good thing considering Tampa Bay played three players at center – Hawley, Smith and Ben Gottschalk – at center last year.

Hawley signed a two-year deal worth $5.5 million with his $1 million roster bonus in 2017 guaranteed. He’s set to have a $2.875 million cap value this year. If for some reason Hawley doesn’t make the team this year it will result in $1.25 million worth of dead cap money, but will free up $1.65 million in cap room.

Hawley is a bit vulnerable because he’s strictly a center. Evan Smith has played guard and center and is more versatile. He’s already received a $1 million roster bonus this year, and his cap charge in 2017 will be $4.5 million, including Smith’s $3.5 million base salary.

• General managers are in charge of acquiring a team’s players through free agency and the NFL Draft. But one of the keys to being a good general manager is making sure that the team’s own free agents don’t leave in free agency – the players the team actually wants back.

In four offseasons in Tampa Bay, Jason Licht has been to re-sign every free agent he wanted the Bucs to keep with one exception. The Bucs were really hoping to retain wide receiver and special teams captain Russell Shepard this offseason, but were only willing to go so far financially.

Bucs WRs Russell Shepard, Adam Humphries and Mike Evans – Photo by: Getty Images

Division rival Carolina offered Shepard a three-year deal worth $10 million, including a $2.1 million signing bonus. That’s slightly more than the Bucs offered, but the team held to their budgetary number because while they lost a receiver in Shepard, they gained one in free agency as an offset – and an upgrade – in DeSean Jackson.

More importantly for Shepard, the Panthers are viewing him as their number three receiver behind Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess. He was viewed as a No. 4 receiver in Tampa Bay behind Mike Evans, Jackson and Adam Humphries. The Bucs plan on drafting at least one receiver in April no later than the fourth round.

The most important thing is that Licht has been able to re-sign all of the Bucs’ star players over the year – Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, linebacker Lavonte David, running back Doug Martin and right tackle Demar Dotson – and has not let any of the big ones get away.

What about safety Bradley McDougald, you say? He was no higher than third on the Bucs’ free agent wish list at safety where J.J. Wilcox and Chris Conte were priorities ahead of McDougald.

• Barring a fluke on draft day, the Bucs do not believe that Florida State running back Dalvin Cook, Alabama tight end O.J. Howard nor Washington wide receiver John Ross will be available at No. 19 when the Bucs are on the clock in the first round. The team is intrigued by Stanford’s do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey, but there are some concerns that he could be drafted by Philadelphia at No. 14.

The Bucs will draft a running back within the first four rounds. I can assure you of that. But the Bucs will not even consider signing free agent Adrian Peterson unless it’s for a bargain price, and I don’t see that happening. Peterson can pose for pictures with Jameis Winston and work out with him, but that’s as close as he’s going to come to becoming a Buc.

• I wanted to let you know that the new Wesley Chapel Ford’s Garage will be opening on Monday, April 3 right across from the Tampa Premier Outlets mall on SR 56 off I-75. I’ll be attending the V.I.P. party on Sunday – and I promise not to drink all the beer and eat all of the delicious burgers. If you haven’t been to the Brandon location, check out the one in Wesley Chapel next week.

This fast-growing chain offers up some of the tastiest burgers you’ll eat and has a tantalizing beer and cocktail menu to pair with your entreé. The food is amazing and the PewterReport.com staff frequents the Brandon location for our staff meetings and lunches. Ford’s Garage has two new locations opening soon in Countryside, Citrus Park, in addition to Wesley Chapel, which is in my neck of the woods.

I encourage you to visit FordsGarageUSA.com or click on the Ford’s Garage banner for their menu, locations and hours of operation. It’s a great place for lunch or dinner with the kids or on a date night. Ford’s Garage has signed on to be a major sponsor of PewterReport.com and will soon be sponsoring our Pewter Poll question. Please support the businesses that support PewterReport.com as our advertising partners allow us to provide you with all of this great Bucs content on a daily basis.

• Sorry for the lack of notice about the missing SR’s Fab 5 from last week. My family took an impromptu spring break vacation to Orlando last week and there just wasn’t time to craft a new edition as each SR’s Fab 5 takes between 8-10 hours. I don’t foresee a Friday without a new SR’s Fab 5 between now and my summer vacation in July, though.

• Be sure to visit PewterReport.com on Saturday for a NEW 2017 Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft and a NEW Pewter Nation Podcast. Mark Cook, Trevor Sikkema and yours truly will be taping the podcast on Friday and we’ll be discussing my widely read Kaepernick And The Buccaneers? hot topic story in addition to Bucs draft news.

• And finally, thank you for following @PewterReport on Twitter. The official PewterReport.com Twitter account has the largest Twitter following of any Bucs-related media entity outside of the Bucs organization itself and is approaching 25,000 followers. Join the rest of Pewter Nation! If you’re not following us on Facebook click here to do so, and if you’re not following us on Twitter click here to do so.  Thank you and we appreciate your support!