Mark Barron Joins The Trade Rumor Mill
October 28th, 2014
Yes, the rumors were out there; teams have contacted the Bucs to see if wide receiver Vincent Jackson is available. There are also reports running back Doug Martin might be trade bait, which makes Joe laugh out loud.
Just what general manager is going to pick up Martin’s contract when the same GM could sign a guy off the street for considerably less cash and get the same production. Joe would be shocked if Martin got traded.
It seems now that safety Mark Barron is being courted by some team(s), per NFL Insider Ed Werder of BSPN.
With #NFL trade deadline looming tomorrow, #Bucs have received inquiries about WR Vincent Jackson, RB Doug Martin, S Mark Barron.
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) October 28, 2014
Joe has given Barron all sorts of rope to prove himself and thought Barron’s best NFL game was a few weeks ago in New Orleans. Since, Barron has been the Barron Bucs fans are accustomed to seeing. You know, he couldn’t cover himself with a blanket at night. Decent against the run; perpeturally out of position against the pass.
Joe was on the field for the last two minutes of the loss to the Vikings and twice Joe noticed cornerback Alterraun Verner had a receiver covered short along the right sideline. After a while, Verner stopped coverage thinking he had help from Barron.
Oh, Barron showed up alright. About three steps too late after a completion was made.
If Joe were Bucs general manager Jason Licht, and a team offered to trade (anything) for Barron, Joe wouldn’t even attempt to get overlord of football operations Lovie Smith’s approval. The conversation would go something like this:
NFL GM: Jason, we’d like to get Mark Barron for a…
Jason Licht: Yes!
NFL GM: I didn’t say the draft pick.
Licht: Yes, I accept. Sounds like a good deal. Quick, fax over the paperwork. We have some maintenence work over here and the power is going to be shut off in five minutes. Fax the paperwork now and I will sign it and send it back from Kinkos down the street. Quick, we don’t have much time. Need my fax number?
Joe would take any compensation to get out from under that contract.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:57 am
At this stage in the season, I don’t know that any Bucs players have any trade value. Pretty sad.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:00 am
I wonder if teams like the Cowboys or Panthers might come looking at him. If this defense takes so long to understand then they may be interested because they would have let the Bucs eat the growing pains with the games leading up to now and they would have him once he’s able to grasp the concepts. Assuming that he has the capacity to grasp them.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:26 am
It is really a shame this regime has lost all control. What good is going to do to fire sale even more players. They have let so many players walk away for essentially a bag of peanuts and a sip of soda. They can’t even get a full drink. It is ridiculous, a at this point I do not think they have a clue of what they are doing. Just sad. Gruden please fix this worthless debacle of a team. Lovie go back to Chicago you need to study more before you coach again in the NFL. I would be hesitant to give him a high school coaching job right now to be honest. This team is dreadful under this regime!!!!!
October 28th, 2014 at 6:36 am
Who are you kidding? Nobody is trading for these losers.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:37 am
Trade Barron, and then replace him with someone hand picked by Lovie and Licht. Considering their utterly horrible track record so far, what could possibly go wrong?
October 28th, 2014 at 6:40 am
@bro – what is the alternative? continue what we’re doing now? we’re getting nothing out of him. Who else are we going to get to make the picks? complain all you want but Lovie will be here for a while. At least 2 more years after this one.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:49 am
Trading Martin is not completely unrealistic Joe. Yea he’s had a bad year, but you don’t think Licht could sell other GMs that the cause of it has been the bad Oline play? You’re right though, he won’t be traded. If he is, we’ll probably only get a 6th or 7th rounder for him and to me that’s not enough.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:53 am
I’m willing to bet that if either player is traded, they will both have great careers with their new teams. I seriously doubt the 4th or 5th rd pick we receive will be instantly better than barron or martin. These players are young and talented. Imo Goldson is worse we don’t have any lbs outside of David and our corners don’t make plays and our d line is atrocious.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:59 am
Not to mention our o line can’t block. Anthony Collins is NOT a LT. None of the new additions on the line are better than the guys they replaced. Just younger
October 28th, 2014 at 7:02 am
Lovie is just like Obama. He is going to set us back so far it will take years to recover from the damage he has done to this team.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:13 am
Oh I know Patrick, but would anyone be remotely surprised to see Barron get traded and start playing better, and the replacement being awful? Their talent evaluation has been awful so far.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:17 am
I wouldn’t be surprised because the team that picks him up would probably use him in a manner that he’s actually suited for. The book is out on him now. Good at stuffing the run, a liability in pass coverage. If a team needs a run stopping safety then that’s their guy and he’ll shine. That’s not what we need in our system. Not necessarily a failure on Lovie or Licht’s fault that the pieces he had on the team didn’t fit. He can’t turn over the entire team in one off season.
Not running to Lovie’s defense. The coaches should have gotten more out of the players by now. That said, I’ll reserve judgement until after next year when we’ve seen what this team looks like once the scheme has settled in and he has the players he wants in at least most positions.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:24 am
Maybe he can go with Sabby and train to wrestle for the WWE. A BIG BIG MISS on a #7 pick. Look at all thr talent/difference makers that went after him. Rock Star and his draft picks have damaged this team for years to come. GMC and Lavonte, that’s it. I would trade him for some Pizza. You know Goldson is gone after this year as well, so there is 2 more spots you have to get next year. COuple that with the O and D line, QB, and MLB, going to be years of hurt…AGAIN!
October 28th, 2014 at 7:26 am
Joe you’re still giving too much credit to lichts negotiating skills. Surely he’d throw in a draft pick and pick up an over the hill player with a huge contract in the deal
October 28th, 2014 at 7:27 am
Media overstates contract versus production to much. Barron isn’t productive so he’s not worth the money. The offensive line is the reason Glennon looks horrible but has nothing to do with why the running backs stink, one game over 100 against a bad team doesn’t count. Trade Martin and media will be saying oops it wasn’t Martin
October 28th, 2014 at 7:31 am
What good is going to do to fire sale even more players.
At minimum it frees up cap space which gives us more money to spend on new players. Yeah you can gripe about our ability to find good players but in some cases it would be hard to face much of a gamble of significant dropoff.
This team sux!!! I agree with Joe…get rid of Barron. Get rid of Martin…IF anybody would take him. Get rid of their salaries.
In the case of VJax we might be able to recoup some draft picks. We already have VJax 2. Mike Evans is a clone, alas also possessing the same lack of concentration that leads to drops. Maybe the Bucs can fix that.
We need to go out and get a deep threat!!! The Bills traded up to get not a QB but Sammy Watkins. We need our version of Sammy Watkins. I realize he might be a generational player at his position but that’s what we should be shooting for, somebody to complement the two dunkaneers we got last year.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:32 am
Trading Barron at this point wouldn’t hurt the defense. Barron is torched consistently. His game tape in the NFL can’t be good. I dont see Barron being successful on any team. If he is used in running situations. Teams will choose to pass the ball with him on the field. Lovie & Licht inherited years of piss poor personnel moves.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:37 am
Please trade Mark Barrron. We have been nothing but weak on deep post plays for the last 3 years. Hmmmmmmm…………………..
October 28th, 2014 at 7:47 am
@StPeteBuc – We need a philosophical shift in Tampa in terms of our FA approach. I agree with you that we need to free up that cap money to get different FAs but I am absolutely opposed to any more splash FA acquisitions. We need lots of quality players that fit in our system in role player capacities and we need to find our superstars in the draft. We need depth and we need people that fit. Not people who have done well in other systems or freak athletes that we’re hoping to teach to play in our system. If we’re going to live and die by this scheme then we need to focus on finding people that work specifically in this system. I’m not impressed by big names in the offseason anymore. We need results and if we are only as good as our 53rd man then we need to bring the quality of the back side of our roster up
October 28th, 2014 at 7:51 am
Very surprised that we have not heard Mason Foster’s name to that list. as another defender that does not fit the “scheme” because he is terrible in pass coverage.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:53 am
@Realist – he’s relatively cheap as a third rounder. I would imagine that they’re fine with sitting on him until they can replace him. He’s not a big cap hit. Doesn’t mean they’re not looking for a replacement, just not as pressing.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:58 am
You don’t get better if you trade away your best talent in a fire sale. For every player you trade, a hole is created to fill in the draft. Get real people.
What you do is trade the backups to garner multiple picks to use in trades DURING the draft.
Trade away Jackson, Martin and Baron? The you need to acquire a quality player to replace each. If it were that easy, the other teams would not be looking to acquire ours in a trade.
Not to mention, you replace them with players that have to learn the new system, resulting in more setbacks.
You guys just love stuff like this, but you are not thinking it through. NO TRADE is worth doing when you are not getting a 1st or 2nd for a starter, or when you don’t have a suitable replacement waiting in the wings.
For example, we have Evans to move into the #1 spot, but who will take over the spot he’s leaving? Address it in the draft you say? Then all you have done is create a need that was already filled.
Trade Martin and promote Rainey? Rainey is not a potential 2league leading career rusher. Right now, he’s go speed and elusiveness, but his style of running is the style RBs grow out of within very few years. Soon, he’ll slow down and become easier to tackle.
Martin, on the other hand, is a quality RB who requires a good offensive line to open lanes (just like a good QB needs a good oline). You give him that and he’ll get 1,500-2,000 yards per season.
Trade Baron? We have NO ONE to replace him, so that would create an immediate draft need.
So, you are doing more than talking about acquiring picks in the draft, you are talking about acquiring NEEDS in the draft as well.
To be honest, only two trades would make sense for me. Vincent Jackson is 30+ and has a huge contract. Trading him would create a need, but it would also open up cap room for next year. After the massive deal for GMC (worth it), we’ll be needing cap room. But ONLY if we can get a 1st or high 2nd OR a low 2nd and a 4th. The problem is that Jason Licht is incapable of working a deal that will get us a high round pick.
The other player to trade could be Dashon Goldson. He has not paid off at all, his cap room could be used, and he has the rep to get a decent trade value. For him, I would settle for a 3rd, just to get him off the team.
HOWEVER, you also have to consider something else. The message you send to the players if you have a fire sale. It tells them that even though you have been telling them to keep plugging away and things will turn around, what you really think is that the season is lost. That will result in all the players not trying anymore. And then players that are actually good look bad.
You people need to think about consequences more often.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:02 am
Just take a guess at who the Bucs will play next season out of division and make a phone call. Chances are Barron will have 10+ tackles, a pick 6 and 2 sacks against whoever the Bucs have as qb in 2015…. The guy sux in the Bucs cover 2 and will likely thrive in a system that the Bucs will face in the near future… .
October 28th, 2014 at 8:03 am
And just because teams are making calls (they always do, so this isn’t news), that doesn’t means serious offers are being made.
A GM could call and offer a 5th for David, for example. Is that a serious offer? No. But the media won’t say that. The media will says “at least one team has made an offer for David.”
October 28th, 2014 at 8:08 am
Fort Myers Dave Says:
“The guy sux in the Bucs cover 2…”
I think it’s safe to say ALL of the players are currently sucking in cover 2. That doesn’t mean they won’t get better by the end of the year and leading into next year.
Baron is a STRONG SAFETY. Think back, if you’ve been around long enough. Name the strong safeties that were top notch in the last era. None of them were. Most were mid-level at best. Baron is that or slightly better and he’ll get better as he grows in the system.
Dashon Goldson is the one who matters in Cover 2.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:09 am
@Bonzai – I see your logic and it’s well thought out but I disagree with your conclusions on a few points. First, we wouldn’t be replacing Martin with Rainey, we’d be replacing him with Sims and Rainey.
I’m not sure that sending the message to the team that every position is being heavily scrutinized and that we’re considering upgrading across the board is a bad thing. People understand the premise of playing for their job and if they don’t escalate their level of play then the team is ready to move on from them. Because our defense is primarily zone based, if the good players are doing what they’re supposed to be doing and covering their gaps then the players that quit will expose themselves on the game film. The results on the field will be bad because our opposition will take advantage of it but we’ll be able to see where the holes on the team are.
Make no mistake about Barron, the need at safety already exists. Joe has broken it down a number of times, once the receivers get past the CBs and in to Barron’s AOR they pretty much have a green light to 30+ yards.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:17 am
The reason the cover 2 system is not working in Tampa right now is multifold.
First, the players are still learning the system.
Second, the players are still learning to trust one another in the system.
Third, we are starting Leonard Johnson at CB, Danny Lansanah at SLB, Clinton McDonald at DT and William Gholston at DE. That’s 4 subpar players in key starting roles. How the heck can you win that way?
Forth, INJURIES. They have set the team back dramatically. Say what you will about Clayborn, at least he could generate 5+ sacks per season. Opposite Michael Johnson, it would have made a difference because teams would have had to take both sides seriously. Right now, they just focus on GMC and Michael. Clayborn will doubtfully play with the Bucs again, but that doesn’t change the impact his injury has had this year.
So far as Offense, as far as I’m concerned, the blame is mostly on the offensive line, with a little left over for QB. Everything else, currently, is fine. (except our OC). Unless you screw things up and trade our #1 WR and #1 RB. Then it needs oline, QB, WR and RB. Online needs at least 4 new guys. That’s not going to happen in one more off season, people. How many picks do you think we’ll get???
And that is just one example of how injuries have hurt the team.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:20 am
@Patrick in VA
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Sims did nothing while he was healthy before. Considering him a potential replacement is nothing but unearned hope.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:22 am
I feel that Lovie is a lame duck HC. So I am not comfortable with him trading players that don’t fit his scheme. Glazers need to step in and make him win with what he’s got. I think he’s closing in on 100 roster moves or something. He has to win with what he’s got.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:23 am
Lovie needs to pick players that work well in his defense rather than trying to change players to fit his defense. I’m sure there will be many available….we need 2 S….LB, CB…..DE…..
We Need about 10 draft picks…..
October 28th, 2014 at 8:24 am
@Bonzai – He didn’t even make it to the regular season. I’m not sure at what point he got hurt in the preseason but I feel like he didn’t even make it to the first preseason game before he got hurt. He was drafted because they want to use him as a pass catcher out of the backfield and Joe was talking about how well he was running early on so maybe there’s something there. At this point, it’s better to hope for something that isn’t there right now than to hope that the folks that aren’t performing on the field will have an epiphany and everything will fall in to place.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:27 am
The Bucs could upset somebody, not the fans but another team. Maybe on the road like the Steelers game. Cleveland lost to the Jags for their only win. I know it does’nt sound possible, after second thoughts winning at the Browns seems far fetched.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:28 am
mark barron is one of the best tacklers i’ve seen, It would be a mistake to get rid of him because he won’t fit a crap scheme. What if we get an actual good coach next year after 1-15, and he knows how to fit scheme to players. Then we will regret it.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:41 am
So Joe let me gets this right, you wanna trade Barron & keep Deshon who’s even worse in coverage than Barron? I’m sorry but who’s constantly been getting burnt for TD’s, big plays & constantly out of position since they came to Tampa!? Dude, don’t let your man crush on Deshon blind you to the truth. You really blow me with the stuff you write…
October 28th, 2014 at 8:43 am
@Brock – This is the last year of Deshon’s contract. Teams aren’t going to trade and take on his huge contract when they can just wait for FA and try to get him cheaper. Barron is not a FA after this year so if they want him they’ll have to trade.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:58 am
t Myers Dave Says:
October 28th, 2014 at 8:02 am
Just take a guess at who the Bucs will play next season out of division and make a phone call. Chances are Barron will have 10+ tackles, a pick 6 and 2 sacks against whoever the Bucs have as qb in 2015…. The guy sux in the Bucs cover 2 and will likely thrive in a system that the Bucs will face in the near future… .
—-
The guy sucks in every defensive concept ever created that doesn’t involve him having studs at absolutely every position and weak opposition. This isn’t Alabama.
October 28th, 2014 at 9:00 am
Patrick in VA Says:
October 28th, 2014 at 8:43 am
@Brock – This is the last year of Deshon’s contract. Teams aren’t going to trade and take on his huge contract when they can just wait for FA and try to get him cheaper. Barron is not a FA after this year so if they want him they’ll have to trade.
—-
No, it’s not. Dashon was signed to a big money long term deal just last season. In reality, however, this really is his last season under that contract. He will either be cut, traded, or asked to restructure.
October 28th, 2014 at 9:05 am
Look at what getting rid of the players they already had had done. Not all but most are contributing to other teams. Why you cut ties with a current player because he is not “YOUR GUY” is ridiculous. A good football player is a commodity and if you are a good coach, you should be a able to configure schemes/ plays to get them involved and contribute to what you are trying to do. not let them walk for a pack of peanuts. But i do understand that most Bucs fans are drunken toothless rednecks, that have never played a down of organized football. or are sober enough to watch more than a half of football. If you have been to the games you would realize that most of them just go to socialize and get drunk! This regime has made countless poor decisions and are continuing to make more everyday. These three players are decent players and need proper coaching and schemes to make them contribute more. There has been a lot of money and picks invested in these guys to let them walk and be successful elsewhere because they have a coach that cannot coach. and offensive coordinator dare I call him that. that is a joke in itself. Look at what the Patriots do they take guys that are ? talent and get them to contribute on big time they have done it for years. Cause they know how to coach. simple as that.
October 28th, 2014 at 9:06 am
Anyone not named McCoy, David or Evans is on the trade table….we need as many picks as we can get 8-10 at least. Time to rebuild this roster completely! Hopefully the 2017 Bucs will be playoff contenders ….don’t expect much between now and then!
October 28th, 2014 at 9:23 am
I am thirsty I need more kool-aid..
October 28th, 2014 at 9:34 am
@Patrick
Agree completely with you. I’m not suggesting the freed up cap space be used only on FA’s. I’m hopeful the “fire sale” will also bring in more draft choices which will require $$$.
I’m also in favor of just dumping a bunch of $$$ RIGHT NOW on Levonte David.
He is clearly the best player on this team not GMC. Yeah we don’t have to yet but let’s wrap up the ONE great player we have.
October 28th, 2014 at 9:57 am
Do it already!! Let him collect someone else’s paycheck!
October 28th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
Let’s say we trade a few players and get draft picks and those picks all turn into starters, we still haven’t established any depth.
October 28th, 2014 at 2:53 pm
Mark Barron?
Lol
Somebody is daydreaming.
There is no team in the NFL,USFL, Canadian football league, Etc. That would trade for Barron.
Safeties with no coverage ability are useless.
Thank you Mark Dominick! Slowly being recognized as the worst GM in modern football history.
His bad drafts and bad decisions destroyed this team
October 28th, 2014 at 3:44 pm
hey, i have an idea. let’s keep opening more holes on this roster than we can reasonably fix in one offseason. that way, if we suck next year we can talk about all the holes the team still has and ignore how many of them are self inflicted.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:32 pm
GONE! BYE Barron….hope we dont swing and miss with the 4th and 6th we got for you…btw, good luck