Safety May Come Free
April 18th, 2019
Veteran safety could be on market.
Joe remembers a famous saying from Bucs great Derrick Brooks.
When he appeared regularly with Joe’s good friend, The Big Dog, Steve Duemig, on local radio, Brooks often said if a team wants you, they will find a way to keep you.
And Joe believes that also means if a team wants a player off the roster, a team will find a way to squeeze him under the salary cap.
All of this came to mind when Joe read a piece typed by Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. He reports Dolphins safety Reshad Jones may be greasing his wheels out of town.
Some simply won’t be good enough. Others, such as veteran safety Reshad Jones, might be traded before the season.
Others could be replaced — if not sooner, then later.
Apparently, per Salguero, Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who is trying to pull off a Bill Belicheat impression (have you ever heard Flores talk? Ugh!), has thrown down the gauntlet with a my-way-or-the-highway edict.
Apparently, Jones, who has been trying to get out of Miami for some time, is looking for the highway.
Why would Joe want this guy? First, have you seen the Bucs safeties play? Second, veterans seem to like playing for Bruce Arians and it is not like defensive coordinator Todd Bowles has no experience working around characters.
With Flores, he’s a young coach trying to cop Belicheat’s attitude. That doesn’t fly very well too often with veteran players.
Now, how could the Bucs afford Jones? Well…
April 18th, 2019 at 5:45 am
Are you telling me that out all the safeties on our team none are as good as this guy? how disappointing ..Jones is a JAG He had 3 int’s last year with 2 in the first game. It was the first time in his 8 year career he had more than 1 int in a single game. Chris Conte career numbers are close to the same and he’s on the street for less $.
April 18th, 2019 at 5:45 am
Would love to have him but why would he want to go from one trainwreck to another trainwreck 300 miles north, he will be an Eagle, Pat, Brown or a Raider
April 18th, 2019 at 5:52 am
I have to agree with Big Dust and his bionic elbow in that there are a lot of places where a talented player may want to go besides Tampa as well as the other 2 trainwreck franchises in Florida as the biggest plus that the Bucs or Fins currently offer is no state income tax and nice weather in December…..
April 18th, 2019 at 6:47 am
Cap hit is $17 mil. Would be nice but is a big ole fantasy
April 18th, 2019 at 6:54 am
Jones looks like he’s improved steadily in his career & would be probably be an upgrade over what we have now. Still don’t want him though … if he thinks Flores is too tough, BA would have him for lunch (and yes, I know that Todd Bowles is our DC).
Your link Joe to the “GMC Tod to Stay Home?” article does bring up the question ‘What positions should Bucs target for additional veteran FA help?’ Rather than a safety, my #1 preference would either be a starter-quality outside CB to pair with Davis OR a starter-quality RG, preferably with strong leadership skills (our OLine still lacks veteran LEADERSHIP IMO). Ideally we could pick up BOTH, but that’s cost-driven & that’ll depend on who makes the final 53 I guess.
April 18th, 2019 at 7:06 am
Draft Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in R2 and save the shekels.
April 18th, 2019 at 7:29 am
Dusthsty,
I don’t think the Browns or Raiders aren’t train wrecks.
Seems like your buying into the hype.
At least one of those teams will not live up to expectations.
April 18th, 2019 at 7:52 am
One of 4,477 players who could be available to the Bucs if we had some money.
April 18th, 2019 at 7:58 am
^^^^ LMAO
April 18th, 2019 at 8:06 am
Why would you want to sign a 12mil a year Safety, when you could draft Gardner-Johnson, Jonathan Abram, Juan Thornhill, or Darnell Savage? Especially when you’re broke. lol.
April 18th, 2019 at 8:13 am
DooshLaRue: yeah it probably would not be a bad idea to place the under on the Brownies O/U win total in 2019 as it has been pushed higher and higher by all the hype the national press is giving Cleveland despite the fact they have a very young and inexperienced head coach and it is not a guarantee that Mayfield will mesh with all those big egotistical tools he has on offense and there is also the chance someone on the Ravens, Steelers or Bungles blasts loudmouthed Mayfield onto the IR and then the Brownies will likely continue their streak of losing seasons. As for the raiders, well its probably more likely Chuckie runs them to double digit losses than a playoff run…….
April 18th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Justin Evans and Whitehead are talented and both will do well in Todd Bowles defense.
I don’t see Safety as a serious need position coming into this year.
We do need to add a CB – but I think in general we will see a big upswing in the play of our young secondary this year.
Coaching matters. Scheme matters. I think those elements will be more than evident when it comes to putting guys like J. Evans, Hargreaves, Ryan Smith, Davis and Whitehead in positions to succeed moving forward.
April 18th, 2019 at 8:25 am
Fast pass!
However…he is about the level of talent Bruce Arians has been chasing this free agency…Mister “I can do it with the worst free agents in the NFL!”
April 18th, 2019 at 8:37 am
Todd, I’m not really a fan, but I think it’s prudent to wait to learn more. If it’s true…well…I hope it does not affect JBF in the slightest.
I don’t envy Joe though. I’m sure he is having to walk a tight line of wanting to be a good friend in case it is not true, and separating JBF if it is. There is no tight line here. Joe spelled it out yesterday in the post. It’s time to move on. –Joe JBF really has nothing to do with any of it, but it’s all about perception.
April 18th, 2019 at 9:18 am
Todd not a fan at all but hope not true seems fishy but im sure it will all come out
April 18th, 2019 at 10:41 am
evans and whitehead are more than capable….the secondary hasnt been developed by “real” NFL coaches…..
TB will improve their technique and overall knowledge of the game, especially his defense…..
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
April 18th, 2019 at 12:05 pm
Will he work for $10/hr? Sign him up. #WeBrokeAFdoe
April 18th, 2019 at 12:19 pm
The Bucs had a decent safety. Remember Andrew Adams, who led the team in interceptions that they kicked to the street? Now they’ll talking about needing safeties. This team is a joke.
April 18th, 2019 at 1:08 pm
You wanna b!tch about Mike Smith’s defense and coaching squad all day and then say “have you looked at the Bucs safeties play?” Yes I have. Very young guys like Evans is coming into his third year with still a high ceiling and Whitehead had the second most tackles last year as a rookie. Ryan Smith has safety experience and now M.J. Stewart could possibly excel moving him to a box safety type
We are bringing in a great DC that played and has primarley coached secondary all the way up to getting a HC job. I’m not sweating Bowels not being able to show these youngsters some new tricks. Spend the dough in another one of our gaping holes.
April 18th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
TOM
“The Bucs had a decent safety. Remember Andrew Adams, who led the team in interceptions that they kicked to the street?”
It’s what we call a Robert McClain 2.0. Boot good back ups and keep Javion Elliot and Isaiah Johnson.
April 18th, 2019 at 2:58 pm
I’d rather keep the picks and the cap space.
April 18th, 2019 at 5:13 pm
Why is Adams not on the roster any more?
I wouldn’t expect any other FA moves before the draft, with the possible exception of GMC. And the only move there is either getting him to restructure, or releasing him, since Licht and BA have completely butchered any trade value he may have had.