Tampa Bay Buccaneers Official 2023 Off Season Thread

[Doctor]

I mean, what's wrong with Dungyball? It's more a culture than a scheme.

Dungy was a good DC turned good HC. But he could never find his Yang on offense. Wasted four years on Mike Shula. Les and Clyde couldn't save his job. It's not hard to draw comparisons to our current situation. Is Canales a Shula or Les? Could be. I really hope not.

But to equate ineffective offense to Dungyball seems jaded. I promise you that wasn't what Dungy was going for at any point.

[Doctor]

One guy I don't think we are talking enough about is Shaq Barrett.

I love Shaq. He came to the right place, at the right time, with the right coaches and flourished. He earned every penny of that deal, which he restructured to help us out with the cap. He's been incredible in the community. Was handing out shoes to foster kids last month. Love the guy.

And while I think he would've totally paid off his deal had he not gotten hurt, he did get hurt. Tore an Achilles. That is not an easy return. 1/3 of NFL players never return to playing at the pro level again. Those that did return saw a clear decrease in play and playtime. Even if he does make it back in time for week 1, which isn't a lock either, it's likely a mulligan season for him. So best case we're looking at a 2024 resurgence at 32 years old.

Designating him Post June would save about $15M.

[mdb1958]

Designating him Post June would save about $15M.

Request furtherance

[acmillis]

Designating him Post June would save about $15M.

Request furtherance

Yeah, unless I'm misunderstanding (which is entirely possible), we ain't saving 15M by cutting Shaq.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/tampa-bay-b ... C154%2C000.

[Cheb]

Cutting Shaq Barrett after June 1st would save the Bucs $14.6 million against the cap. However, the Bucs have to be under the salary cap by the start of the league new year which is on March 15th, so waiting that long does nothing to help us at the moment. Cutting Barrett now would net us virtually nothing, not to mention it would be a really shitty way to treat him as a person.

[Bootz]

Cutting Shaq would be another reference point for there being a very valid argument for fully guaranteed contracts for players.

[These Are The Days]

If we go after anyone it needs to be Donovan Smith. Let's see how Wirfs does at LT. Yes I am acutely aware of how much of a difference this is. I think he has the talent and tenacity necessary to do it

[Doctor]

Cutting Shaq Barrett after June 1st would save the Bucs $14.6 million against the cap. However, the Bucs have to be under the salary cap by the start of the league new year which is on March 15th, so waiting that long does nothing to help us at the moment. Cutting Barrett now would net us virtually nothing, not to mention it would be a really shitty way to treat him as a person.

I don't think you actually have to "wait".I think you can still cut them to get under the cap for March but just designate them as June cuts for cap reasons on paper. As I understand it it's an intentionally built-in loophole for exactly this reason as well as also allowing players to hit a much hotter March market than the cooler, second-wave June market. Though my understanding could be wrong.

[GreatTimes]

Cutting Shaq Barrett after June 1st would save the Bucs $14.6 million against the cap. However, the Bucs have to be under the salary cap by the start of the league new year which is on March 15th, so waiting that long does nothing to help us at the moment. Cutting Barrett now would net us virtually nothing, not to mention it would be a really shitty way to treat him as a person.

I don't think you actually have to "wait".I think you can still cut them to get under the cap for March but just designate them as June cuts for cap reasons on paper. As I understand it it's an intentionally built-in loophole for exactly this reason as well as also allowing players to hit a much hotter March market than the cooler, second-wave June market. Though my understanding could be wrong.

Doctor, I hope you are right, otherwise eh Bucs are in really bad shape salary cap wise.

[Doctor]

I mean I could be totally wrong.

Even so. It's really not as bad as you think. Remember, most contracts are not to be taken at face value, especially the back years which are really more set-ups for future leverage/negotiations. Prime example is Mike Evans who seemingly restructures every other year.

And we have one of the best trios in Greenberg, Spytek, and Licht.

[Cheb]

If we go after anyone it needs to be Donovan Smith. Let's see how Wirfs does at LT. Yes I am acutely aware of how much of a difference this is. I think he has the talent and tenacity necessary to do it

I don't see how Licht and friends DON'T cut Donovan Smith at this point. Cutting him is the biggest money-saving move this franchise could make, and he got dogwalked for long stretches last season.

I say move Wirfs to LT and workshop both Hainsey and Goedeke at RT this offseason. Assuming we keep Shaq Mason, we could have a decent starting five even without adding a shiny new rookie to the mix.

LT - Wirfs
LG - Hainsey?
C - Jensen
RG - Mason
RT - Goedeke?

Not horrible. You can win with that.

[These Are The Days]

If we go after anyone it needs to be Donovan Smith. Let's see how Wirfs does at LT. Yes I am acutely aware of how much of a difference this is. I think he has the talent and tenacity necessary to do it

I don't see how Licht and friends DON'T cut Donovan Smith at this point. Cutting him is the biggest money-saving move this franchise could make, and he got dogwalked for long stretches last season.

I say move Wirfs to LT and workshop both Hainsey and Goedeke at RT this offseason. Assuming we keep Shaq Mason, we could have a decent starting five even without adding a shiny new rookie to the mix.

LT - Wirfs
LG - Hainsey?
C - Jensen
RG - Mason
RT - Goedeke?

Not horrible. You can win with that.

Yeah, you can do worse than that. We desperately need to bolster the rest of the depth though. I would almost prefer a guard or a tackle with our first pick so last season's issues don't arise again.

It's all going to hinge on Trask anyway if we're making him the guy

[Doctor]

Brady was directly or indirectly one of Smith's biggest allies. As long as Brady was here there was absolutely no way you could leave LT open.

[mdb1958]

I was just checking out the 72 players drafted by the USFL. First thing I wondered was who dictated what players they were allowed to pick.

[Sdbucs]

Why would we give up our best pass rusher for cap space?

Surely Shaq Barrett should be one of the last players we’d think about parting ways with?

Our defense was completely different without him

[mdb1958]

Why would we give up our best pass rusher for cap space?

Surely Shaq Barrett should be one of the last players we’d think about parting ways with?

Our defense was completely different without him

You need to figure out if he is our best pass rusher. For 2022 it was a nose guard.

[mdb1958]

Who was the DL1T next to Jalen Carter, I want to check out his stats.

[MJW]

Who was the DL1T next to Jalen Carter, I want to check out his stats.

The consensus #2 is Bresee from Clemson. His one red flag is injuries.

[mdb1958]

@MJW No you must of missed my question, at Georgia who did Carter play next to the most?

Even though unreachable, I'm thinking Carter may have been perfect for Vea. Missing that, I'm immediately thinking four man rush in order to see if we can put a 4-2-5 out there that works.

[mdb1958]

Draft nation says the three hot positions will be OT, CB, and ILB. That will be tough, you might draft one of them and have the other two not as hot as you'd like.
Willing to watch how in the heck Licht can perform some kind of magic that gets us a fourth rounder.

I also think it's wishful thinking that we can maintain or improve the defensive backfield without improving the front three or four on our defense. I'd be surprised if they looked good.

[mdb1958]

Open invitation!

We need late night posters from different time zones..

[MJW]

Draft nation says the three hot positions will be OT, CB, and ILB. That will be tough, you might draft one of them and have the other two not as hot as you'd like.
Willing to watch how in the heck Licht can perform some kind of magic that gets us a fourth rounder.

I also think it's wishful thinking that we can maintain or improve the defensive backfield without improving the front three or four on our defense. I'd be surprised if they looked good.

Those are three spots with excellent depth in this class.

Much of our center position needs depend on how OBP sees Hainsey. He got progressively better at the center spot last year, but I still think his athletic profile projects better to right tackle, which could become a need if Wirfs gets moved over.

We absolutely need an inside linebacker. I'm going to go out on a limb and say neither LVD nor White will be on our roster in 2024. One of my top targets at #19 if Trenton Simpson.

Corner depends on Dean. If he's back, we can probably wait until mid-rounds to draft someone to compete with McCollum and add depth. If Dean is gone corner moves to the top of our "needs," if we choose to draft that way. In that case I have a feeling OBP will be looking very hard at this group at the top of the draft.

[mdb1958]

Trenton Simpson has that gay flower look.

[mdb1958]

If you folks do see a OT,CB,ILB scenario please do share. I also mentioned the USFL draft - it was full of o-linemen and I think it was for the specific purpose of giving all of them what they need - repetition of plenty of plays.

[mdb1958]

Want to add that the PFF draft sim sucks with only 322 prospects.

[Jonny]

For three years, since Brady signed with the Bucs, I posted very little on this board. Because there was nothing to complain about. Big bro was going to take care of everything. Now I'm back posting at a rate I used to during Lovie's tenure. As much as I am interested in seeing Trask play, I can't shake off the vibe that we will suck bad in 2023 and there's nothing that can be done to change that.

So you only post to complain?

Absolutely!

[Buc2]

So you only post to complain?

Absolutely!

In that case, I’m surprised I don’t see you in the politics forum more often considering there is so much to complain about. lol

[mdb1958]

The NFL free agency period kicks off March 15

[Jonny]

Absolutely!

In that case, I’m surprised I don’t see you in the politics forum more often considering there is so much to complain about. lol

As far as Bucs are concerned, I entertain myself by running simulations in my brain about how Trask will throw a beautiful teardrop pass for a TD to Evans. Call it a puncher's chance. With politics I'm a fully defeated man. No favorable simulations until 2028.

[mdb1958]

The NFL free agency period kicks off March 15

[Bootz]

The NFL Combine period kicks off Tuesday

[mdb1958]

If we go after anyone it needs to be Donovan Smith. Let's see how Wirfs does at LT. Yes I am acutely aware of how much of a difference this is. I think he has the talent and tenacity necessary to do it

I don't see how Licht and friends DON'T cut Donovan Smith at this point. Cutting him is the biggest money-saving move this franchise could make, and he got dogwalked for long stretches last season.

I say move Wirfs to LT and workshop both Hainsey and Goedeke at RT this offseason. Assuming we keep Shaq Mason, we could have a decent starting five even without adding a shiny new rookie to the mix.

LT - Wirfs
LG - Hainsey?
C - Jensen
RG - Mason
RT - Goedeke?

Not horrible. You can win with that.

Wouldnt cutting Mason save us some money?

[mdb1958]

Cutting Shaq would be another reference point for there being a very valid argument for fully guaranteed contracts for players.

He's had his time and now drifting into not worth it. Right now - could we even trade him for a 7th rounder?

[mdb1958]

I don't see how Licht and friends DON'T cut Donovan Smith at this point. Cutting him is the biggest money-saving move this franchise could make, and he got dogwalked for long stretches last season.

I say move Wirfs to LT and workshop both Hainsey and Goedeke at RT this offseason. Assuming we keep Shaq Mason, we could have a decent starting five even without adding a shiny new rookie to the mix.

LT - Wirfs
LG - Hainsey?
C - Jensen
RG - Mason
RT - Goedeke?

Not horrible. You can win with that.

Wouldnt cutting Mason save us some money?

Also, did anyone think Wirfs no longer looked invincible since his injury?

[mdb1958]

NFL positional spending.

WR - we spent the most. (we struggled)
OL - we spent the 4th most (we struggled)
LB - we spent the 4th most (didnt seem like our usual strength)

All three positions have no high and up and coming prospect on our roster. My one hope is the o-line went into the offseason dedicated to showing improvement, that would be a huge positive for us.