“That’s Out Of My Office”
June 4th, 2014
The Carl Nicks mess hit a new level of doom and gloom yesterday.
Yes, Nicks was absent again from the voluntary workouts his healthy and injured teammates all seem to enjoy.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford was asked about Nicks, and he said anything about Nicks is beyond the scope of his pay grade and rank. “That’s out of my office,” Tedford said.
Meanwhile, Patrick Omameh worked through the OTA practice as the No. 1 left guard, with Jamon Meredith at right guard.
Sadly, Nicks’ absence isn’t really news. It’s sad when a guy simply showing up becomes newsworthy.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:13 am
No surprise here, it’s the end of the Nicks era in Tampa. I’d be looking to trade for a veteran guard at this point. We’ll be having to compete with other teams for players being released.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:21 am
@biff
At least this year they know that he is not going to play, last 2 years the Bucs had to go garbage picking during the season.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:23 am
I can’t believe we’re even worse off at guard than last year. We blew up the offense and still got thinner and less talented at guard. Inexcusable. It is the one part of the offseason I just do not understand. How can you go into the year depending on Nicks again, and being so confident in Nicks that you actually significantly lower the quality of our guards?
It makes no sense.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:25 am
Shame
June 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
The guy caught two infections in that building. I can see why he would want to be away from it as much as possible. Hell it could end his career. SO GET A LIFE AND GET OFF THE GUY’S BACK!!
June 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
Thank God Nicks has direct deposit so he doesn’t have to show up to get his check.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
The Nicks era? Nicks, and not Revis, was the biggest flop of a free agent signing in Buc History.
Let the other guys play. They may surprise people in a good way. You know what most starters were called earlier in their careers? Backups. The ‘this guy was a backup’ argument is ridiculous. Most of them in the league were, but when given the chance to start many excelled.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:39 am
Kinda hard to be absent from a voluntary workout, but would have been nice to have coaches give a positive reason for his absence and restate what has been said all along that they expect him to be ready for training camp.
I’ve moved on from Nicks, but not because of his absence yesterday, but because by his own admission that he will never be 100% again and the offensive scheme is going to zone blocking and those two things together does not bode well for a 359lb power blocking OG.
I think next Tuesday mandatory mini-camp will be more telling. If he does not show up to take even mental reps, then something else is probably going on and I wouldn’t be surprised if some June 1st option is taken. I know that Carl has a 6mil guaranteed injury settlement clause in his contract, but to accept that is tantamount to saying that he is retiring from football.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:39 am
When the offensive coordinator says that an offensive player status is above his pay grade to even discuss… you know the rumors must be true.
Good work on this one Joe.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:44 am
Macabee… the big man is retiring from football.
Running backs go out early all the time… and if you look at lineman, percentage wise not many stay past 30, even when relatively healthy.
I am thinking Mark Dominik signed a lemon here… I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy had this issue from New Orleans but kept it on the down low to keep the millions pouring in.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:46 am
We made him the highest paid guard in the league right? For what, nine freaking games? I was holding out hope but I think the dancing bear is done. Kaput. Finito.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:47 am
Thomas Says:
June 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
The Nicks era? Nicks, and not Revis, was the biggest flop of a free agent signing in Buc History.
__________________________________________________________
Eric Wright and Alvin Harper strongly disagree.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:51 am
Davin Joseph is a great guy, but immensely overrated. In fact, the OL has looked the best over the past few years when Joseph has been sidelined with injury. Zuttah is a good backup and simply too small to be center. EDS will be a huge upgrade. Collins has potential to be one of the best LT. I have no clue about Omameh, but they must see something in the guy.
I’m not saying the OL will be great this year, but lets stop pretending like it has been anything but pathetic the last several years. The Bucs will have 4 new starting lineman so I think it’s stupid to say they have not addressed the situation in the offseason.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:58 am
Robert has bashed on nicks so hard he aint even gonna go there. I called it long ago he was done, whether that be medically or motivation related, he’s been done!
at least he did not torpedo his team…
June 4th, 2014 at 8:59 am
bucrightoff
Charlie Garner certainly disagrees too!
June 4th, 2014 at 9:00 am
LOL @ lightning…nice
June 4th, 2014 at 9:00 am
Thomas, these other guys played last year with the exception of the rookies. And they were TERRIBLE. TERRIBLE. We lost talent at guard, and we were already horrible last year without Nicks.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:01 am
Why is he still on the roster but Zuttah and Penn are not? Even if you did not plan to start Zuttah or Penn that could have been valuable depth. Stupid moves if you ask me, unless they have some sort of plan we don’t know about.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:04 am
@oar
charlie garner was not even 1/4 of the guaranted money that Nicks was.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:06 am
This current regime did not count on Nicks, the only reason he is mentioned was because of the guaranteed Money from the pop-star, with a huge injury settlement clause.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:09 am
I am not bashing Nicks at all. He was a monster. Frankly, I’m sure the guy would rather be playing football right now than dealing with his injury.
And yeah, the guy was damaged by MRSA in our locker room. I really believe the Bucs owe him his salary as compensation.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:13 am
@bucrightoff
Todd Steussie disagrees:
Steussie started for Carolina in Super Bowl XXXVIII and two months later signed a six-year $20 million contract with Tampa Bay that included a $4 million bonus. He was benched and relegated to kick-protection teams by the fifth game of 2004 and last off season was a subject of a federal steroid investigation in South Carolina.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:17 am
I hate to admit this and acceptance is sometimes better than fighting reality.
Reality says his toast and his toe is done. It’s unfortunate and sad but reality is this is the end of the road.
Wish him the best.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:21 am
When “Guaranteed” doesn’t really mean “Guaranteed”, You don’t get both unless your contract uses the exact language “FULLY GUARANTEED” in paragraph 5, it’s one or the other, guaranteed or injury settlement money, most likely Nick’s contract was a paragraph 5 “Split” deal, since he had prior injury issues. If he is unable to fulfill his contractual obligations due to injury, he will get the split, not the guaranteed money.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:23 am
His toe is done not toast…
Stupid iPhone
June 4th, 2014 at 9:46 am
It’s not the guy’s fault he got MRSA so I can’t see calling him a bust or the worst signing ever. I wish him well and a full recovery. He probably won’t play again unfortunately for him and the Bucs, but the way players in the NFL are treated like livestock (as Richard Dent recently said), who can blame someone for looking after their health first?
June 4th, 2014 at 9:54 am
Thomas Says:
June 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
The Nicks era? Nicks, and not Revis, was the biggest flop of a free agent signing in Buc History.
__________________________________________________________
Eric Wright and Alvin Harper strongly disagree.
++++++++++++
Derrick Ward would also like to chime in on this subject.
June 4th, 2014 at 9:57 am
but the way players in the NFL are treated like livestock
__________
If that’s the case, it’s no wonder the price of beef is skyrocketing – those are some expensive bovine – making millions!
June 4th, 2014 at 10:09 am
I see a lot of people leaping to conclusions.
The man is in rahab. They’ve already said he will not be in there until training camp. If he’s in rehab, then Tedford would not have anything to do with it.
Unless Nicks retires, he will be a part of this team this year. At worse, he will be on injured reserve. At best, he will show up for training camp.
The Bucs have to pay him more if they cut him than if they keep him. The only way to save that money is if he retires…and if you were him would you retire before you got your last paycheck? If so, you would be a fool.
Especially when the illness is the teams responsibility. Not only are the Bucs stuck paying him, but in this case it is the right thing to do.
June 4th, 2014 at 10:21 am
People are forgetting that his toe was pretty f*cked even before the MRSA. There was talk even then that the situation was bad enough that he’d have pain the rest of his life and might not play football. Then the MRSA kicked in and made it worse. They’ll just have to absorb that salary this year and get nothing in return. It sucks, but that’s one of the risks when you sign FAs and hand them gigantic sums of money.
June 4th, 2014 at 10:50 am
Yeah there are many bad signings in Bucs FA history so we don’t need to rehash them all. Bigger point should be Nicks wasn’t as bad a signing as those guys. If he stayed healthy he would have been a very good signing. The other losers who have been mentioned just turned out to be bad players that were badly overpaid. Nicks can’t stay healthy, which is different.
June 4th, 2014 at 10:53 am
Thomas Says:
June 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
The Nicks era? Nicks, and not Revis, was the biggest flop of a free agent signing in Buc History.
__________________________________________________________
Eric Wright and Alvin Harper strongly disagree.
– Luke Petigout also may have something to say about that.
June 4th, 2014 at 10:54 am
He should just have his toe cut off and replaced with a rod.
The guy will balloon so fat after he retires that he won’t be able to see his toe anyways.
June 4th, 2014 at 10:56 am
What a shame if Nicks is unable to come back. He was at the top of his game prior to these injuries and infections. Well, if Carl doesn’t show for mandatory mini-camp, I think that will probably close the book on the Carl Nicks. I totally agree with Macabee’s assessment, and think we should be prepared to move on without his All-pro experience.
June 4th, 2014 at 10:57 am
rb simms over og gabe jackson in round 3 is the only thing i didnt like in the draft.
June 4th, 2014 at 11:29 am
When you rank the Bucs free agent busts… make sure you include salary given and the player’s respective ranking at their position in free agency.
When you do that, you will see that the Charlie Garner signing was nothing more than a minor acquisition for an old vet. He and Tim Brown were not exactly noteworthy signings.
June 4th, 2014 at 12:40 pm
Bucrealist and Bucfan237
Yes, even besides it being 10 years ago salary, money wise Garner was not as big of a mistake a signing as Nicks. But, 4 million for 111 yards and 0 tds is a BAD signing period.
June 4th, 2014 at 1:45 pm
Eric Wright, Alvin Harper, Derrick Ward and Luke Pettigout combined didn’t make nearly as much as Carl Nicks.
We get it, you remember older Bucs rosters but far and away Carl Nicks is one of the most expensive disappointments in franchise history with only 9 games played and over $25 mil earned.
June 4th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
Maybe it means – “if it had been up to me, I’d have stuck with Zuttah, but the owners said they have too much invested…Nicks”
…?
June 4th, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Not one of us knows his reasons, or his actual situation.
Just whats being fed to us, I doubt Nicks is a quitter.
Unless he is incapable I expect him to be there by training camp.
June 4th, 2014 at 3:17 pm
Sucks for everybody on this one. Hard to judge the player since the injury was pretty much the whole reason for his demise. I do question wether our team doctors who examined him prior to the FA deal closure, did a very good job. I guess we did learn that if you take a veteran guard who has played his pro career on astroturf/concrete like he did in New Orleans, that you must be sure to check his feet and toes carefully!! I think we where a bit blinded by being able to steal a division rival FA player and we let the physical slide in priority, when we where vetting his deal. It really illustrates to a GM that when you guarantee money like we do now in these FA deals, we better medically test the heck out of these players prior to consumating the deal and also be willing to say no!
June 4th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
Many of you referenced getting his paychecks. NFL players make zero money between January and August (other than a few daily stipends for during the OTAs). Payroll is every two weeks during the regular season only. Obviously there are other bonuses for making the 53 man roster, etc.
June 4th, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Force him to take a physical n get him the f*** outta here
June 4th, 2014 at 10:12 pm
I’m sure that Nicks will be hitting the line hard during the Bucs mandatory 3 day mini camp next week, the buffet line at One Buc palace. He’ll be creating some big holes in the chafing dishes.