Glennon Is The Right Price For Lovie’s Defense

February 1st, 2014
lovie smith 0106b

John Lynch explains

Bucs icon John Lynch was on New York sports radio this week talking about the Monte Kiffin/Rod Marinelli Cowboys defense, which is Lovie Smith’s defense — the one Tampa Bay hopes will return it to the promised land.

It’s an expensive defense, Lynch explained.

Lynch made the telling point on WFAN-AM 660, and Joe’s confident the Mike Glennon Mob — and Glennon himself — will be happy to hear it.

“The hard part in that system, we’ve seen it with the New York Giants, when you start paying your quarterback big-time, it’s hard to go pay five, six, seven pass rushers, and that’s what you need in that system. And they’re expensive. It does hamstring you. When you do play that 4-3, you need multiple [pass rushers]. That’s what [Rod and Lovie] had in Chicago,” Lynch said.

Jiminy Christmas!! “Five, six, seven pass rushers?” The Bucs maybe have two in the house right now.

As Joe’s written several times, there’s no way Lovie doesn’t make a bold move to improve the Bucs’ defensive end play. No head coach worth a darn is going to review game film of Adrian Clayborn, Da’Quan Bowers, Daniel Te’O-Nesheim and Will Gholston and walk away grinning. And Lovie’s the same guy who coughed up a second round pick to the Bucs for Gaines Adams, and he bought Julius Peppers for record cash when Adams didn’t produce.

If the Bucs stick with Glennon at quarterback, then they are guaranteed plenty of financial flexibility, money to buy pass rushers now and give Gerald McCoy a new contract next offseason. 

Glennon is set to earn less than $600,000 in 2014, and less than $700,000 in 2015 and 2016. His salary is a factor worth considering. Glennon comes cheap, but so would a rookie first-round pick, thanks to the rookie salary cap.

Keep in mind that Lovie already told fans that you don’t need offense to win 10 games. Lovie may very well choose to invest heavily now in his defense and build the rest of the empire from there.

49 Responses to “Glennon Is The Right Price For Lovie’s Defense”

  1. Trox Says:

    I understand the statement about 10 games. However, I believe Lovie is smart enough to realize when self-evaluating his time in Chicago, mediocre QB play will probably not get you to win the Super Bowl.

    Odds are this is Lovie’s last head coaching job in the NFL, he knows he has to get the QB right. I would assume he was on board with giving up two first rounders for Cutler. I don’t think he would hesistate to give up significant assests to get the QB position right in his first year in Tampa.

  2. Captain Stagger Says:

    Top rated defenses beat too rated offenses in the majority of Super Bowls….just sayin…

  3. Architek Says:

    You may not need offense to win 10 games but you will need a QB if you plan to advance in the playoffs.

    Logically it makes sense, however, Sapp said it best – defense doesn’t win rings it gives you a chance and the qb wins!

    Let’s see how this unfolds but I would offer the opposite approach to Glennon salary in that it’s low enough to where you don’t have to play him. If you draft a qb early he’s the starter by way of contract.

  4. Justin Says:

    That makes it sound like no one should be suprised if they make a run at Jared Allen…

  5. BucfaninMO Says:

    @Trox
    Two first round picks for Cutler? I rather beer bong Drano then pull that move. If the Bucs are going to give up that price then it’s way better we do that in 2015 when the QB class will be much deeper.

  6. Glennon Mob Says:

    So your telling me that poeple other than the QB have to perform to win games in the NFL. This novel idea may just work

  7. Harry Says:

    Ok, so under this scenario, we don’t draft my preferred franchise QB (even though he costs peanuts for several years). So maybe we move up to get Clowney? That would also be exciting and since Lovie gave up a 2nd rd pk for Adams, there is a fair chance.

    If we do not move up for either a DE or a QB, I say we trade down. There will nothing at #7 that is a “priority need” for the Bucs to justify using the pick there and we need more picks. Sure, Watkins would be nice; we would have maybe the best 3 receivers in the NFL. But that is not a priority. We desperately need a DE, then OL and with Tedford, probably a TE or slot WR (or both).

    Wouldn’t a D line of McCoy, Clowney and Allen look sweet?!

  8. Harry Says:

    @Trox Says:
    “…he knows he has to get the QB right. I would assume he was on board with giving up two first rounders for Cutler. I don’t think he would hesistate to give up significant assests to get the QB position right in his first year in Tampa.”

    I like your point. It will be VERY interesting to see what they do in the next 4 months.

  9. Trox Says:

    @BucfaninMO

    I believe you are forgetting history. On April 3 2009 the Bears traded 1st round picks in ’09,’10, 3rd round pick in ’09 along with Kyle Orton to the Broncos for Jay Cutler and a 5th rounder in ’09.

    Lovie was the head coach of the Bears at the time. My basic point is I don’t under estimate Lovie’s desire to try and find a franchise QB, no matter the cost. For me, history proves that point.

  10. Chris Says:

    Yeah great defenses can win championships. Still need a qb that can make plays and win games. Do you think glennon is that guy that can bring you back from a deficit? Heck bucs defense was top 7 in TOs yet we never capitalized. Is it the scheme of schiano and sully? Possibly but not all of it lies on coaching. Sully was a pretty good qbs tutor. So I’m sure he knew the limitations of glennon.

    I don’t think glennon is the guy to be honest. I have 7 qbs rated higher than glennon if he were a prospect in this draft at qb. So I thin value in round two of a Brett smith is fine. I’m not willing to trade the farm to the rams for Manziel. Good player but he’s not anywhere near this rare elite qb prospect. If he fell to 7 yes I’d get him.

  11. StPeteBucsFan Says:

    Again, I could link or list the dozens of high draft picks that were a complete failure at Q.B. Conversely I could list the low round picks who were/are huge successes in the NFL. Tom Brady, and as a kid growing up in Cincinnati I used to love hearing the national announcers talk about Kenny Anderson from tiny Augustana College. A 3rd round pick btw.

    And so I hope Joe is correct in this post. Pick up Jared Allen, maybe a high draft pick for a good rusher, and another good linebacker, preferably middle so Foster can move over and we’d have tons of depth at the position.

    Add another Cornerback for some depth and competition for Banks.

    Select a Q.B. in the 3rd round or lower to provide competition for Glennon.

    No matter how you feel about Glennon, an unmobile slug who lacks the dynamic play making ability with his feet..IE you don’t like him….you still have to concede he was very, very, poised last year. He’s incredibly smart and knows how to protect the football!

    Build the defense and keep looking for the Q.B. but no more than a 3rd round gamble.

  12. SeanyMac in SC Says:

    Was Brad Johnson a better QB than Mike Glennon? Just putting that question out there. IMHO, Brad was the “game manager” and made plays when needed, but he was not the Brees/Newton/Ryan “put the game on my back to win it” type player. The amazing D that year made up for other short comings, and it worked.

    Based on Lovie’s history and recent statements, it suggests to me that the focus would be on the defense as there is no real stud/big impact QB that the Bucs can get this off season.

    Very intrigued how this off season is going to play out. Imagine if the NSO was still in charged, would any of us be this excited about the off season. Good job Glazers.

  13. Cannuckbuc Says:

    That sounds like old time Buc ball to me !

  14. Josh P Says:

    Remember he took the bears to the Super Bowl with Rex not cutler.

  15. Chris Says:

    Josh P Says:
    February 1st, 2014 at 12:06 pm
    Remember he took the bears to the Super Bowl with Rex not cutler.

    That will not happen in this day in age.

  16. Bobby Says:

    Here’s the thing about Glennon. He has to have someone to throw the ball to. I know it’s easy to say he wasn’t putting the team on his shoulders and winning games but let’s be real here….just exactly who was he going to do that with?? Bobby Rainey, V-Jax and Tim Wright? All this while the O-line opens up running lanes a gecko couldn’t fit through and V-jax is double teamed. Who do you know that can win with that? I don’t care who you have at QB, they are going to struggle and especially if they are a rookie and concerned about protecting the football and not throwing into tight windows. You give Glennon some weapons and protection and I think he will surprise you. He can make all the throws and he’s only going to get better. I think we need competition but I think we can win with Glennon and a top 5 defense.

  17. Josh P Says:

    We’re seeing it with Russell Wilson as we speak. Don’t get me wrong I like Wilson a lot but he is not the reason the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl.

  18. Harry Says:

    @Josh P Says:
    “We’re seeing it with Russell Wilson as we speak. Don’t get me wrong I like Wilson a lot but he is not the reason the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl.”

    I respectfully disagree. Sure the defense is very good, even great. But Wilson won that game against SF at the last minute. Yes, the D kept them in the game, but if the Seahawks don’t have a QB who can make that winning throw, then it is SF who is in the SB.

    And that is exactly (I hope) what Lovie was explaining with his 10 win theory. In today’s NFL, a team cannot get to, or win a SB without a top end QB. Not necessarily a Manninng, but at least a Wilson.

  19. BucfaninMO Says:

    @Trox
    Ok let’s look back at the history of that trade:
    1) Cutler asked to be traded when Denver hired McDaniels to be there OC and then tried to bring in Matt Cassell
    2) In the 5 years Cutler has been in Chicago he has been to the playoffs once while Denver has gone 3 times.
    3) With the extra picks received from Chicago with a lot of trading and moving back in the draft, Denver was able to land Ayers, Thomas, and Decker. Yes you can throw Tebow in as well.
    Who really made out in that trade?

  20. stanglassman Says:

    Lovie will get the most out of Dekota Watson’s pass rushing skills and overall skill-set. Dude can block punts, sack the QB and play special teams.

  21. DavidM Says:

    We need to spend the bulk of our free agency money and draft picks on getting our DEF front 7 right.

  22. Barry Says:

    It is old time Buc football, the kind fans and media ran Dungy out for. Wait til Seattle has to pay Wilson and see how far their Defense falls.

  23. BucoBruce Says:

    Tampaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!

  24. big jake Says:

    They could also sign McCown for a year to have Glennon backup up and learn from. Glennon then learns from him, if McCown doesn’t do well, Glennon comes in. Then next year you draft a qb, and use Glennon as trade bait. This allows the Bucs to draft either Mack or Clowney and not to lose any picks. I believe they have a lot of cap room, so they can also go after Jared Allen and a team or we in free agency.

  25. BucoBruce Says:

    Glennon is the next Brady.Everything you people say is wrong with him people said the same crap about Brady.On that note Manning is the best ever and sunday he will prove it.

  26. Buc1987 Says:

    When you clean your house, the best way to do it is one room at a time.

    Defense baby. In the beginning all you need to do is build a strong defense.

    Priorities baby.

    Let Lovie build up the D for a few years, then maybe let him go and rehire Gruden to finish the job.lol

  27. Buc1987 Says:

    Yes I know the O needs lots of help, but I don’t think Lovie and Tedford can make it any worse than what we saw this past season.

    Build the defense first.

  28. Eric Says:

    Clowney would look awfully good in pewter.

    He’s got potential defensive league MVP type talent. Couldn’t fault Lovie for trading up for him.

  29. biff barker Says:

    Might as well put it out there that Revis, Nicks and Joseph all get fat checks.
    Yeah, for various reasons that are well understood, none are a good value right now.
    Spend heavily on the DL and be willing to invest in a QB. Skimping on either is just plain foolish.

  30. WalkdaPlank Says:

    The names Greg Hardy and Jared Allen are starting to sound really good to the ears of Bucs fans. Imagine either one of those guys next to GMC.

  31. Bucfan66 Says:

    I’m all for signing Jared Allen. As long as we draft either Matthews or Robinson with our first pick and sign Alex Mack.

    With Allen, GMAC, Clayborne, Bowers, Gholston, Dekota, Means, etc…we’ve got a decent group of players with passrush potential for Lovie to work with.

    We need to focus on the O-line, something that Lovie never got right in Chicago.

  32. Trubucfan22 Says:

    Do people not understand that our defense isn’t all that bad right now? We do have a ton of talent on defense already. The only work we really need is defensive end, and after that just depth, and methodical upgrades. If we signed 2 elite defensive ends our defense would be top 5 in the league. With no other improvements.

    The glennon mob is always talking about how glennon has nobody to throw to and nobody to block for him… Wouldn’t you all think instead of spending the house to upgrade the entire offense wih high priced free agents you could just draft a better qb, instead of fixing everything on offense to accommodate the talentless glennon?

    Let’s see, draft a qb who can make the rest of the offense better or rebuild an entire offense to make the qb look competent.and it doesn’t even need to be a first round qb. Nearly any qb in this draft is better potentially than glennon.

  33. WalkdaPlank Says:

    @Trubucsfan – Not many QB’s in the draft or the NFL for that matter could survive behind our atrocious O-line in its current state. And aside from Revis we have no respectable corners. Banks and LJ are unproven.

  34. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    SeanyMac in SC Says
    “Was Brad Johnson a better QB than Mike Glennon?”

    Glennon is not even close to being as good as Brad Johnson was in his prime. You are assuming he is on pure potential, but the truth is Glennon has not proven anything except that he can lose a lot of games.

    On the subject of the draft, I think a lot of people are wrongly assumming one of the QBs won’t fall to us. I think there will be some surprise picks at the top.

    Mike Mayock usually gets the first 10 picks right…he’s the one to watch. Unfortunately, he only releases his mock days before the draft.

    I predict one of the top 3 QBs will fall to 7. Bridgewater, Bortles or Johnny…one of them will be there. Texans might even take Bortles and surprise everyone.

  35. Couch Fan Says:

    @Architek

    Exactly. There is no competition when you are talking about $700K or $18 to $20 million for a 1st round QB.

    This is the only problem I have with drafting a 1st round QB.

  36. Couch Fan Says:

    $700K to $18-20 million*

  37. Lou. Says:

    @TruBuc —

    There seem to be a number of defensive holes that fans do not recognize or admit to. There are two ‘backer issues: Sam and Mike. (Does anyone else feel queasy about a Mike being used to “free up ” the Will? Of course that may change in the new scheme, but do others feel uncomfortable with foster in the middle?)

    Also, two corners. Banks has worked out so far, but we at least need a nickle/slot and a reliable reserve.

    Everyone seems to say we need two d-ends and at least one more tackle for depth or 5-technique competition.

    Am I missing something here? Or do the Bucs just have four outstanding defensive players surrounded by average or worse ?

  38. GABA Says:

    Bayyyyyyyyyyyyy

  39. NoFlyZone Says:

    I wish more fans would embrace the idea that Glennon was put in a very nasty situation last year. Never mind that he was a rookie, never mind that the injuries on offense were out of his control, never mind the playcalling. The kid stepped up and I believe he did what he could given the environment and the dismal state the team was in.

    Let’s not over look how many players have said the environment was not good. After the MRSA outbreak, after the Josh Freeman circus, and the lack of respect the former coach had for embracing the ideals of the veteran leaders, the team was dysfunctional at best.

    I believe allowing Lovie to come in with a staff assembled who have won and have a reputation of getting great results out of their players, I believe Glennon will succeed.

    There were games throughout the season when the offense failed the defense and the defense failed the offense but then there were other times when they put it all together and looked good.

    The former coach talked a good game but he was in over his head!

  40. PRBucFan Says:

    I love how you did that with his words lol

  41. Joseph Mamma Says:

    Glennon is the right price for a team that has a 16 million dollar corner.

  42. BoJim Says:

    NoFlyZone Said:
    February 1st, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    ‘I wish more fans would embrace the idea that Glennon was put in a very nasty situation last year. Never mind that he was a rookie, never mind that the injuries on offense were out of his control, never mind the playcalling. The kid stepped up and I believe he did what he could given the environment and the dismal state the team was in.’

    I don’t see why people won’t see this? Lovie goes defense first and get a QB in the later rounds.

  43. BucsFan68 Says:

    NoFlyZone Says:

    February 1st, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    I wish more fans would embrace the idea that Glennon was put in a very nasty situation last year. Never mind that he was a rookie, never mind that the injuries on offense were out of his control, never mind the playcalling. The kid stepped up and I believe he did what he could given the environment and the dismal state the team was in
    _____________________________________________________________
    Um no; making the move to Glennon gives us the best chance to win is what Schi said. There were some other QBs put in bad situations and they managed to help their teams win more games than the Bucs did.

  44. SombreroBro Says:

    SeanyMac in SC Says:
    February 1st, 2014 at 11:50 am
    Was Brad Johnson a better QB than Mike Glennon? Just putting that question out there. IMHO, Brad was the “game manager” and made plays when needed, but he was not the Brees/Newton/Ryan “put the game on my back to win it” type player. The amazing D that year made up for other short comings, and it worked.

    Based on Lovie’s history and recent statements, it suggests to me that the focus would be on the defense as there is no real stud/big impact QB that the Bucs can get this off season.

    Very intrigued how this off season is going to play out. Imagine if the NSO was still in charged, would any of us be this excited about the off season. Good job Glazers.

    You sir are a genious!
    Couldn’t have said it better myself.

    On a side note……………….Clowney will be a bust….. stay away for the love of Culverhouse!

  45. NoFlyZone Says:

    BucsFan68,

    You are entitled to your opinion.

    The Bucs were the laughingstock of the league because of the foolishness that the former coach provided and subjected the team to. Between the lack of adjustments from week to week to the inability of the coaching staff to adjust to the strength of its players, the team was destined to fail. With a team no longer including “bad apples” like Blount, Talib, Winslow, Bennett, Wright, and so on, the messy handling of the team was too much for the players to overcome although they tried admirably!

    Glennon was the scapegoat just like Freeman was and the losing continued long after Freeman was gone. Freeman helped position the team to get a win against the Jets and Saints but they still ended in defeat. Glennon wasn’t blowing games, the gameplan destroyed any chance of the team being successful.

    Again, very few teams had to endure the turmoil surrounding the Bucs and the unnecessary drama.

  46. Buccfan305 Says:

    @ josh P
    Wilson’s not the reason there in the Super Bowl?????? Are you kidding me??? I’m a die hard bucs fan but don’t you remember the a$$ whipping they put on us after a 24-0 start??? I was sick to my stomach but give credit where credit is due. The defense didn’t score 27 unanswered points.

  47. Bucfan77 Says:

    @ Joe. When Glennon has a good season this year are you willing to eat crow on “pit bulls” radio program? We all know that he would never admit to be wrong.

  48. buccanAy Says:

    There is NO DOUBT that Seattle’s D is why they are in SB. Wilson play was average, at best, in their run up to the SB.

  49. Joe Says:

    When Glennon has a good season this year are you willing to eat crow on “pit bulls” radio program?

    ***IF*** Glennon has a good season? Hell, yeah!

    No one would be happier. If Glennon has a Pro Bowl season, that likely means the Bucs are in the playoffs.