“Slim Pickin’s” Among Free Agent DEs
May 11th, 2012
- Veteran free agent DE James Hall has 21 sacks over the last three seasons
Yeah, the Bucs have Michael Bennett at left defensive end, who was probably better than hobbled DaQuan Bowers anyway, but the devastating news of Bowers’ injury is most troubling because the Bucs have such little proven depth at the position.
Third-year Buccaneer George Johnson out of (all together now) Rutgers is coming off an injury; the rest of the DEs on the roster outside of Adrian Clayborn have little-to-no experience, and the Bucs didn’t draft any.
The Bucs were last in the NFL in sacks last year. They need another defensive end that can definitely produce.
The subject was addresssed by the cerebral Ross Tucker on SiriusXM NFL Radio this morning. Tucker says there are “slim pickin’s” on the free agent market now for defensive ends. Tucker said maybe Matt Roth could give the Bucs some snaps. Roth, 29, had 3.5 sacks in nine games for Jacksonville last year before being lost for the season with a concussion.
Tucker also tossed out the rather uninspiring names of former Buccaneer Jimmy Wilkerson, old man James Hall, Raheem Brock, Jarvis Moss, William Hayes and others. Hall, 35, intrigues Joe a bit as a stopgap. He had six sacks in 15 starts for the Rams last year.
Tucker predicts one of two things will happen:
1) Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik quickly will turn to his “ready list” of best available free agents at the position. In this scenario, Dominik would bring in four or five for a workout and sign the one in the best shape.
2) Dominik sits tight and gets a long look at the current bodies in camp while keeping a keen eye on the waiver wire. Tucker is certain the Eagles will cut one of their talented ends, “Jason Babin, Brandon Graham, Trent Cole, Darryl Tapp, and they drafted Vinny Curry in the second round,” Tucker said. “They can’t possibly all make the roster.”
May 11th, 2012 at 11:03 am
How about trading for Osi. He’s not happy in NY.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Oops. Wrote that before reading the next article. LOL
May 11th, 2012 at 11:04 am
ill take Tim Crowder all day
May 11th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Trent cole would be nice 🙂 but…
Cole signed a four-year contract extension with the Eagles worth up to $55.25 million on March 14, 2012, extending his contract through the 2017 season.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:21 am
Cole is one of the best DEs in football. They aren’t getting rid of him or Babin.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:26 am
Antuan Odom anyone? he is reportedly recovered from his botched hand surgery. He did have something like 8 sacks in six games before the injury a couple years ago.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:33 am
And there’s 36yr old Vonnie Holliday from the Cards. He’s ancient but maybe he’s got enough gas for 1 more year. He’s 6-5, 285 and from North Carolina, maybe that get’s him a looksee! To be truthful, I’m actually not in favor of the stop-gap option!
May 11th, 2012 at 11:43 am
I guy like Wallace Gilberry might be worth a look. He was once a part of the Giants. He was an UDFA and picked up by the Gmen. Released before the season began due to roster moves. Picked up by the Chef’s (great googly-moogly), and played very well for them. Has played all 16 games for them since 2009, and recorded 14 sacks, and 4 fumbles during that time. Went to Alabama and was all conference coaches team. Only 27, still a free agent, might worth a look.
May 11th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
If Andre Carter’s quad is healed he’s better than any of the listed options, by far.
May 11th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
If we sign Gilberry, we can also sign Dingle and have a Hell of a tandem
May 11th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Bennett better than the often hobbled Bowers? When was he hobbled last year? If I remember correctly, Bennett missed some time due to injury last year. And in what world is Bennett even passable against the run. Oh, and you do realize that Johnson was signed here way before the Schiano regime took over. The amount of negativity on this site is getting to the point of not putting this in the rotation any longer for Bucs analysis. Love the work you do Joe, but check yourself every now and then.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
It will be option #2.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
i always kinda liked wilkerson and crowder
May 11th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
I would like to see more of George, he looked solid against the run and was starting to get a good pass rush before getting injured.
Odom was arrested for possession of the mariguwanna, also he got shot in the leg in Aug. 2011 but other than that he looks good.
They should not panic and run out and over pay, wait and get a better look at the players that they have. The Eagles or someone else to drop a good player.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
My favorite memory of Slim Pickins was watching him, Major TJ King Kong riding that Atomic Bomb waiving his cowboy hat in Dr Strangelove. What a classic.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Oops, Slim Pickens, SP-5, I knew that.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
What happened to alex magee ?
May 11th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
I believe Magee is a FA, but I believe he had problems with the Law. He may have gotten a DWB or something like that before he was released. I think he is more DT than DE.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
GMC has more $$ to the cap then Ndamukong Suh this year.
Somebody needs to earn that pay check.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
GMC has more $$ to the cap then Ndamukong Suh this year.
Somebody needs to earn that pay check.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Cbell:
Joe is sure Scott Pioli is asking the same question.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Get Andre Carter and if that doesn’t happen wait til June 1st and see who is there. Freeney would work and I like Brandon Graham and Darryl Tapp. One of the 2 will be cut IMO. I think Andre Carter would be the best pick if his quad is healed. Not sure if the Eagles will cut Graham since he was the 1st round pick the same year we got GMC. But if so he would be a great pickup. Sign Carter and wait and see about the others but a combo of Carter and Graham would drastically improve our DE position and depth!!! Bennet is good and makes a solid DE but Carter is a big upgrade IMO!
May 11th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
You know, someone in the other thread mentioned working Dekoda Watson in more on passing downs, doesn’t sound like a terrible fall back to me if we can’t get a more dedicated DE.
May 11th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
I say sign two vets to work in rotation carter and hall we need more leadership along dline
May 11th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Give the giants a 3rd rounder for osi
May 11th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Ioka Alama-Francis
Jarvis Moss
Victor Abiamiri
Philip Merling
Andre Carter
Tyler Brayton
Tim Crowder
Jimmy Wilkerson
Turk McBride
Wallace Gilberry
Eric Foster
Quinn Groves
May 11th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Anybody that thinks trading a 1st or 2nd day draft pick for a 31 year old part time DE that talks way too much needs to stay the hell away from the Bucs.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Andre Carter would be strictly a 3rd down LDE. He is 255 lbs and wouldn’t stand up well at LDE against the run.
Dakoda Watson may be the best choice to get snaps on 3rd down out of the guys currently on our roster.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Brandon.
The 3’rd down Dakota Watson option makes a lot of sense. What about a combo of Price (if healthy) Clayborn, and Amobi or GMC at LDE? When they experimented with GMC at DE, wasn’t it right side? I’m thinking LDE.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Graham, merling, tapp?
May 11th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
LOL, good reporting Joe, it will be the Eagles who will Donate an excess Defensive End to us, since they have so many.
Free-agent defensive end Jason Babin, who reportedly agreed to come back to the Eagles, will presumably start at left defensive end opposite Trent Cole.
The duo gives the new Eagles defensive line coach Jim Washburn bookend Pro Bowlers for his wide-nine scheme that consistently churned out fierce pass-rushing lines for the Titans.
Figuring out the reserves isn’t as easy, but that’s Washburn’s job for the rest of camp.
The Eagles have a truckload of depth at defensive end, with nine currently on the roster. The team usually keeps four or five out of camp, leaving seven to compete for two or three spots.
We can safely assume that Brandon Graham will start the year on the Physically Unable to Perform list and won’t occupy a roster spot for the first few weeks (unless that changed with the new CBA).
His absence leaves the Eagles with the following corps of backups: Darryl Tapp, Juqua Parker, Victor Abiamiri, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Ricky Sapp and Phillip Hunt.
Only three – and perhaps just two – of those six realistically will make the club.
The hunch here is that Te’o-Nesheim, barring an implosion this camp, will make the team. He’s a third-round pick from last season and the coaches always seem to salivate over his upside.
It would seem that there isn’t room for both Tapp and Parker. Both are reliable veterans who can plug into the rotation, so whichever one has the best camp is the likeliest to stay.
And that potentially leaves one spot for Abiamiri, Sapp or Hunt.
Abiamiri is the longest shot. A former second-round pick, his career has been marred by injuries and he hasn’t exactly shown to be a pass-rushing force when healthy.
Sapp and Hunt are X-factors. Sapp, a fifth-round pick last year, missed all of last season to recover from microfracture surgery. Hunt comes to the NFL after racking up 16 sacks last season in the Canadian league.
If any one of these three has an impressive camp, it could force the Eagles to keep five ends or could force both veterans – Tapp and Parker – or perhaps even Te’o-Nesheim out the door, where Tampa will be waiting, due to the loss of D’Aquan Bowers for the year.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Hey, Apple,
Macabee here. Sit down and brace yourself for what i’m about to tell you. Daniel Te’o Neishiem is already on the Bucs roster – been there since Nov. 2011.
A mild oversight, but I’m sure we got the point you were trying to make – be patient, talent may be available soon.
Have another one on me! lol
May 12th, 2012 at 9:43 am
I think 2 players we should look into trading for would be Glenn Dorsey from KC and Rolando McClain from Oak. Both should not take a whole lot to get but a change of scenery would do great IMO. I know McClain has the whole holding a gun over someone issue going on which will make his trade value very low right now. IF we could get him for a 4th rounder I would jump on it. He produces well at LB and a combo of David, Foster, and McClain would be the best LB combo we have had since our SB days. And Dorsey would work well in our system mainly because he has played in almost everygame of his career. Which is something our DTs cannot say at all!!! I would be willing to give up a 3rd or 4th rounder for him considering my lack of faith in our current DTs! Just a thought and I know people will b1tch about it. But both would help out our team in a huge way. Especially if McClain gets through the legal issues which being an athlete he probably will!!!
May 13th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
No way the Raiders will part with McClain. It just won’t happen before his contract expires, and then doubtful.
May 14th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
I’m not sure if they would either but if the option is there we should look into it. He would pair great with David and Foster. It would be worth looking into.