Lovie “May Have Short Term Thinking”
January 9th, 2014Those darn NFL head coaches; they just can’t help themselves. They want to win now and that often gets the best of their brains.
That was the take from longtime general manager Charley Casserly, who now works for NFL Network. Casserly was interviewed on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday and explained that Lovie Smith, as ruler of Bucs personnel and head coach, likely will have challenges thinking long term when building the Bucs.
“Ultimately, the head coach is fired on next year a lot of times,” Casserly said, noting the reality of the NFL.
“Whether that’s a short-term view of the cap, short term view on signing free agents, that’s a possibility there, too. … It’s how does he manage the control? If he hires top people and listens to them, and keeps a big picture approach, then it has a chance to succeed.”
Joe can only speculate on how Lovie will approach building the Bucs and how what sort of mind he wants has his general manager. Joe suspects Lovie will do what he knows; build a great Bucs defense, which already has plenty of pieces in place, lock down Devin Hester strong special teams, and then secure an offense that can do just enough to get it done.
What’s most interesting is the win-now pressure on Lovie, pressure that Lovie said he embraces. Unless Lovie plans to purge some big-money veterans and truly start fresh, then the Bucs have to be focused on winning immediately.
You don’t pay gobs of cash to Darrelle Revis, Dashon Goldson, Gerald McCoy, Donald Penn and Vincent Jackson — about 40 percent of the salary cap — so they can help you fulfill a three-to-five-year plan.
Enjoy all of Casserly’s interview below.
January 9th, 2014 at 1:10 pm
“about 40 percent of the salary cap”
Eesh. And not including Nicks, 5 guys take up 40% of the entire roster? Dang. That’s not pretty.
January 9th, 2014 at 1:25 pm
Those numbers are accurate.
January 9th, 2014 at 1:46 pm
It’s really odd how everyone complained all these years that’s glazers were cheap and had the lowest payroll in the nfl. Fast forward two years after opening up their wallet….all these cry babies on websites and radio are talking nonsense about cap room….it’s how you pay your bills we get it…..But winning teams teams cap issues but you don’t hear complaints about how much vince wilfork, gronk and Brady command. As a fan who cares if lovie has total control and the cap is in the red which it isn’t as long as we are winning and relevant….he was not the gm in Chicago so how could he be blamed for offense issues, Mark Dominick got fired cuz Schiano sucks, winnersalways have high cap, you have to play for great talent sooner or later
January 9th, 2014 at 1:55 pm
This long-term versus short-term theory is baloney. Every team is trying to win now. If they’re not, then they will suck. The trick is having a good architect and GM that can select talent and structure contracts to maximize the quantity of available talent on the team. It’s ridiculous to think a team should save future money just in case talent becomes available. The only tough decision a GM has with regards to future budgeting is in the event you have a borderline elite QB that would get $20 million on the open market even though they are not really worth that much (i.e. Romo, Ryan, Flacco & now Cutler). The Bucs are not in that situation.
January 9th, 2014 at 1:58 pm
Big mistake to give the head coach final say on the roster… It’s limiting the options for the GM position. The Glazers are f**king morons.
January 9th, 2014 at 2:16 pm
I bet there’s a lot of agents & players looking to get a piece of whoever the powerless new GM will be.
dollars for all!!!!!!!
January 9th, 2014 at 2:21 pm
The key is development of younger players….we have some….Spence, Wright, Glennon, James, Rainey, Gholson, Melvin,Page, Shepard, Gorrer, Johnson, Means & more
If we draft Sammy Watkins, for example….we will have a QB, RB, TE & WR at very low salaries at our skill positions.
Of course we could at any time free up $16mil in cap space (not proposing we do that)
January 9th, 2014 at 2:22 pm
Its like the energizer bunny…
January 9th, 2014 at 2:38 pm
““about 40 percent of the salary cap”
Eesh. And not including Nicks, 5 guys take up 40% of the entire roster? Dang. That’s not pretty.”
I bet that’s not all that uncommon with top QB’s getting $20 million a year… I think the Lions have damn near $35 million tied up in TWO guys.
January 9th, 2014 at 3:08 pm
@Rob-
Don’t forget Suh. He was drafted the last year of no rookie scale #2 overall so Detroit is close to $50 mil between 3 guys.
January 9th, 2014 at 3:10 pm
We played well enough to win 8 games last year despite the previously injured starters, freemuck, a rookie QB, mrsa, and 17 guys going on IR.
Then throw in the coaching, stupid mistakes and penalties.
Lovie must win 8 to 9 games out of the box.
January 9th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
In today’s NFL you have to balance with short (tactical) vs long term (strategic) view because owners have adjusted to the monies being paid out to contracts for players. While the market and compensation for free agents gradually increase, so does the expectation for ROI.
Lovie knows this and acknowledges – this is brilliant of him to state his vision to win now and restore the brand of football Tampa had!
January 9th, 2014 at 3:41 pm
If the Bucs are serious they MAY seek trade for Cousins from Washington. He’s logged a lot of snaps and shows great potential to be a solid starter with arm and mobility outside the pocket.
We will see but the Bucs have to get better at qb.
January 9th, 2014 at 4:11 pm
1. Casserly is an idiot and everything he says should be ignored.
2. There is no long term in the NFL. Careers are short, windows are small, injuries are often, and if you are trying to plan things out past three years…you are wasting your time.
January 9th, 2014 at 4:49 pm
BFFL Says
“This long-term versus short-term theory is baloney.”
No it isn’t. It’s the fault of the fans. Fans are a “win now” group, and since the fans pay the bills, the teams have adjusted to become just that.
January 9th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
YourMom Says
“…and if you are trying to plan things out past three years…you are wasting your time.”
Exactly. And that is why Mike Glennon cannot be the Bucs starting QB. Because the fans do not allow for developmental projects anymore. They say they do, but it doesn’t show in the ticket and merchandise sales.
January 9th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
The long term thinking we’ve been doing since 2003 has really worked out super well.
January 9th, 2014 at 8:24 pm
Lovie seems pretty smart. I hope he is smart enough to know his limitations, control his ego and delegate these huge responsibilities to a highly qualified GM
January 10th, 2014 at 9:54 am
“1. Casserly is an idiot and everything he says should be ignored”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Casserly was a disaster in Houston and got credit for things he didn’t do in Washington.
Dude could not draft to save his life.