Regret?
June 22nd, 2019
Haunting decision?
A tip on who is the roster shot-caller was given away in January by Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
On the day the Bucs unveiled Bucco Bruce Arians to take over the squad, Licht boasted he would do everything in his power to bring back wide receiver Adam Humphries.
Instead, Humphries signed with Tennessee.
Word floating through the hallways of One Buc Palace was that Arians desired more speed at slot receiver, nevermind that Humphries led the Bucs in YAC (yards after catch) last season. And that’s even with the hero of the joystick jockeys, DeSean Jackson, on the roster.
Kristopher Knox, typing for Bleacher Report, suggests the Bucs will rue the day they let Humphries get out of the building.
Humphries was a big part of the Buccaneers offense last season, racking up 76 catches for 816 yards and five touchdowns. He emerged as one of Tampa’s best security outlets and appeared to be one of the league’s up-and-coming slot receivers.
While Humphries’ four-year, $36 million deal may have been hard for the Buccaneers to swallow, he’ll make just $5 million in 2019. That’s $1 million more than his replacement, the largely inconsistent Breshad Perriman, will make this season.
Simply put, if the Bucs wanted to keep Humphries, they could have.
Now Joe has nothing against Perriman. He could be a heck of a steal. But if he puts up pedestrian numbers and Humphries continues to excel despite having a glorified second baseman trying to throw him the ball, this (non-) move could come back to bite the Bucs in the backside.
Especially if the Bucs have one of their typical 5-11 seasons.
June 22nd, 2019 at 8:21 am
Bucs are loaded at WR and could not afford to pay Humphries that kind of money to stay anyway. Sure, he was good, but not our top priority by any means. We will do just fine without him.
June 22nd, 2019 at 8:26 am
Remember that screen pass to Adam that went 85 yards and was called back because our lazy LT shoved a guy in the back?
That’s my main memory from 2018 and AH.
June 22nd, 2019 at 8:28 am
We won’t get bite Perriman is not Humps replacement! I doubt we will see Master P in the slot very often…Hump got paid, good for him, we got better!!
June 22nd, 2019 at 8:45 am
Revisionist history only two months later? It would’ve been flat out irresponsible to pay hump the contract he got. Can’t happen. I love the man as a player. Just doesn’t fit the budget at all.
June 22nd, 2019 at 8:56 am
We got better. You know how many times I sat in the stands and wondered why they kept throwing him those wideout slants only to pick up a few yards knowing that he has no speed or escapability only to pick up a few yards. He was a reliable receiver but speed and breakaway ability he did not have. We got faster.
June 22nd, 2019 at 8:57 am
They went 5-11 with Humphries. What’s your point?
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:02 am
Omg, really?…
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Humphries but he’s definitely not irreplaceable…I’m just happy we finally didn’t overpay one of our free-agents…I have to admit I hated Mark Dominic but as a GM & talent evaluator but he was a salary cap master…
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:04 am
They just can’t dedicate anymore money to the offense. Need to shift some dollars to the defense. It was the right move to let him walk.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:04 am
Just because Humphries is making $5 mil in 2019 doesn’t mean we could’ve kept him Joe. It’s the whole contract that counts as you know better than I do, including guarantees. Ask GMC. This is starting to look much too much like whining about ‘Could have beens’ instead of focusing on ‘What might be’. The good old days weren’t really all that good, unless annual 5-11 finishes are your cup of tea. They’re not mine.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:06 am
Missed – yes, Regret – Nope
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:13 am
This is crushing to read. I hated losing Hump. Would have been great to keep him to divide time with Perriman and Godwin…and do PRs as before.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:14 am
“There is something wrong about Nipples Humphries
The Pats was going to give him more money than Tenn to catch balls from Goat
???
Does he really want to win? Is winning everything
Kobe performed his psychological evaluation on Nimples and its not good
Hump is going to take the guareenteened money and retire and coach a highschool team”
Kobe “life coach” Faker
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:14 am
I thought Perriman was intended to replace DJax? And Godwin is moved up into the slot?
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:19 am
Letting him go was another incredibly dumb move by Licht.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:26 am
In 2018 Perriman had 16 catches about 1 per game with the browns. Doesn’t seem like much of a replacement for Humphries or D-jax.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:28 am
Bumphries had to go. Never forgiven for fumbling a season away in Buffalo. He’s slow and a waste of $$. Licht needs to be fired, but he got this one right.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:33 am
If I remember correctly almost all the WR screens were thrown to Hump hence he led the team in YAC.
Loved Hump but he and McCoy are gone can we just move on please.
Thanks in advance
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:34 am
Lol what a joke. No way you pay that guy what he got paid on this roster. He doesn’t fit the scheme which is why Godwin is playing the slot, Joe are you actually agreeing that you think hump is better than Godwin? He was good for Dirk weak regime but he will be easily forgotten until we play them.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:35 am
As with all things on here, haters gonna hate. Since we’ve been losing all our players are losers YET when they sign somewhere else we’ve made a mistake.
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:50 am
Hump will explode on the national stage now he has a QB that will hit him in stride….
June 22nd, 2019 at 9:55 am
Whiningjoebucsfan.com
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:05 am
James will miss Humphries run to a spot turn around and catch the ball ability.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:16 am
Joe,
I’m not a Mariota fan, but that “second baseman” has better touch and knows how to lead a receiver better than our “relief pitcher” QB.
Let’s see how Hump does this year with YAC.
I’m betting his numbers will be much improved.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:17 am
@BigHog
Amen brother! Hump got paid…he deserved it on the open market but not from us given our strength at that position. I’m happy for Hump but as you correctly point out we still got better!
Again as you pointed out it’s not Perriman for Hump…it’s Godwin who will get all of Hump’s snaps and perhaps even more given BA’s enthusiasm.
I am a huge Godwin fanboy. When the Buc’s change jerseys his will be the number I get in the new gear. I’ve read here on JBF how many folks expect him to explode this year….I couldn’t agree more and apparently BA also agrees and his opinion is the one that counts.
Bottom line….love Hump but Godwin > Hump and it’s not really that close. We are indeed better at WR.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:35 am
My my ain’t it funny how things change… seems like only yesterday the joe who wrote this article was calling Adam Humphries “Rudy” incessantly and was skeptical the guy could even play.
Now after a solid year he’s the guys biggest fan. Chris Godwin outplayed Hump last year. Justin Watson has the physical tools and mental acumen to develop into a Jordy Nelson lite.
Breshad Perriman ended 2018 playing thr best ball of his NFL career, his last 4 games he averaged 31 yards per catch with 9 catches and 2 TDs on only 12 targets. And Scotty Miller is eerily similar in size/ physical ability to Djax but has shown hes actually willing to put the work in with Jameis which will help establish a rapport.
That’s without even mentioning the fact that we have the most underrated reciever in the entire league in Mike Evan’s and may very well have the best tandem of Tight ends the entire league.
Hump was a good player for us with a great story. But we still have a plethora of weapons in the passing game to create mismatches and gash defenses for big plays, so Adam wont be missed.
What we need is for Goodwin and Leftwhich to light a fire under the Olines butt in the run game. Then we can get the playaction going again and our Offense will be the best it’s ever been and nigh unstoppable.
And of course we need TB and co. to take care of business on defense and literally just be average at the very least and we can make the playoffs. If the D can actually be good and we have a Kicker who wont dood under pressure, I dont see one reason why we cant win the Super Bowl this year.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:44 am
Doosh
Mariotta has not had one season better than jameis. The one year they went to the playoffs, he threw 12 tds and 15 ints. The top ten defense and top ten running game led the titans to the playoffs. They won inspite of the horrible play from the qb. Redraft the 2015 draft today and winston is still picked before mariotta. Mariotta sucks.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:45 am
I’m putting my trust in “Beam me up” Scotty Miller. He’s a cloned Humphries, only exception, he has speed n agility.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:50 am
@Alter-ego…
You got it backwards…Mariota is faster than Jameis but he’s definitely not a better QB…Imo Jameis had alot to do with Humphries and even Brate getting $$…
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:56 am
Doosh
The titans has won games 9-6, 6-3, 12-9 etc. How much leading a receiver was he truly doing? The only leading on the titans i see is running game and defense. All the things the bucs are yet to produce consistently with winston. Mariotta played 14 games last year and threw 11 tds and 8 ints and only 2500 yards. Come on man. Winston played like 10 games and had 19 tds and a shade under 3000 yards. How much leading receivers is mariotta doing. Some buc fans are dumb
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:58 am
I know I’m a broken record. But Humphrie’s toughness and amazing ability to take shots AND hold the ball will be hard to replace.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:02 am
“he’ll make just $5 million in 2019”
True – but Hump also cashed a $10 MILLION signing bonus check 3 months ago.
Bucs were in no position to be paying Adam Humphries $15M this year.
His 4 year contract averages $9M per year.
You obviously can’t pay your #3 receiver $9M per year when your #1 WR is already making $17M….
The Bucs also have a whole slew of talented young receivers. WR is easily the the deepest position on this team.
So Congrats to Humphries! He paid his dues in this league as a UDFA and grinded his way into a HUGE payoff for all his efforts. He will likely go on to have a fairly long and very solid pro career. He basically played so well that he played his way off this team…. How many former Buccaneers which they could have accomplished that feat? Especially as a UDFA coming into the league….
Good Luck Adam!
And thanks for ALL your efforts and contributions as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:09 am
WR is one of the few positions we are deep at. It’s nice to have talent at that position and not have to pay big money to have good players at that positions.
We won’t miss a beat without Hump and will still have a strong pass attack. You start loading up a bunch of CAP space at WR you are in trouble.
If you don’t think we got players who can take on bigger roles and get back the yards we lose with Hump your pretty naive.
Knox sounds pretty dumb with that opinion but I’ll give him the benefit that he’s probably watched very little of the Buccaneers and just don’t know.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:19 am
Race to 10 is right. Godwin is replacing Hump.
Joe you missed one this one by bringing up Perriman vs Hump and not Godwin vs Hump.
Come on you can do better…….I know you reported that Godwin is expected to be our new slot reciever. Put 2&2 together.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:31 am
Mike Evans is the best in the league… Cam Brate is a touchdown machine, Adam Humphries is huge regret, OJ Howard was an All Pro if he stays healthy, Chris Godwin is poised for a breakout… These guys put up monster stats.. and Winston’s are all meaningless.. OK
No matter…
Humphries will be a fantasy beast if you are in a PPR league. Between him loving the 5 yard routes and that being 90% of what Mariota throws its a fantasy dream. Just give me a refresher tho regarding Hump’s production when he was anything higher than the 4th option…
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:37 am
I miss Adam Humphries already, never mind once the season starts.
Perrimanis washed up. Thankfully, we do not have to rely on him. Scotty Miller is doing a fantastic job so far, and we’ve got multiple guys stepping up.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:40 am
OneBuc55 Says
“Don’t get me wrong, I liked Humphries but he’s definitely not irreplaceable…”
While I agree that he wasn’t irreplaceable, if he explodes, it won’t matter. The haters will blame Licht…even if we have a guy explode in Tampa.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:54 am
Why the angst?
The Bucs couldn’t afford the guy.
I think the WR’s will be just fine.
Because Humphries worked well in the Koetter O does not mean he is what BSA wants in the slot.
@Bonzai: how/why do you say Perriman is “washed up?” I don’t see that at all. Often the deep threat speed guys are more threat to open the field than production.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:54 am
You cant pay every single reciever on your team. Sometimes decent players have to be allowed to walk.
Kind of like the whole number of sacks to be replaced by the loss of McCoy and JPP thing. Other players will be playing their positions. They arent going to trot out onto the field with 9 players on defense, just like they arent going to go out on offense with 10 because Humphries left.
Good players leave teams for one reason or another every year. The teams evolve and alter the schemes or plug someone else in. Constantly crying over spilt milk gets nobody anywhere.
All this offseason has been about so far this year on this site has been blubbering about guys that wrecked their cars and ruined or potentially ruined their careers, a guy who thought he was above everybody on his team and apparently almost all of the players that came before him on this team, and middling talents that walked in free agency, oh and bitching nonstop about potentially picking a ridiculously good MLB in the draft.
Barely a sniff of a positive article about anything having to do with the Bucs. Lazily going for the low hanging negative fruit every time. I know….lost decade yada yada yada….always 5-11 yada yada yada. They finally got rid if the cancerous glue that has held most of these garbage years together, and now all you and Stroud can do is cry and lash out at whoever badmouthed him and continue to post articles about a player no longer on this team.
The train is moving, you’re either coming along for the ride, or you can stay at the station and wait for the one that can take you to Nashville, or San Fransisco, or Charlotte. I wish two of thos players well, and the other one can go choke on his over-entitlement flavored ice cream.
June 22nd, 2019 at 12:06 pm
Yup. He proved Joe wrong. Joe is happy to be wrong when a player balls out.
Remember when he was a rookie, he was actually cut.
June 22nd, 2019 at 12:11 pm
IF Arians installs a screen game that includes the RB’s then half of Hump’s yards could easily be made up . That said we better improve our blocking . O Line
has step up and get in front of these plays.
Much of the success of the WR screens were because Evans and possibly OJ stayed home and blocked for him. Good luck Hump ,but you’re gonna miss those guys.
June 22nd, 2019 at 12:29 pm
One of the reasons I’ve decided I’m now a Saints fan
Level of incompetence and buffoonery turns my stomach
June 22nd, 2019 at 12:55 pm
Of course, how could you not. Hes a great player but we couldn’t afford him with the miss management the last decade. Im hoping BA will start to turn this franchise in the right direction. He was the perfect coach for the job. A mess of a roster will take time to turn over. We need someone like BA to over see operations. No way in hell I would follow another team.
June 22nd, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Clean House—
“One of the reasons I’ve decided I’m now a Saints fan.”
News flash. None of us give a sh!t. You’re an ankle-biting gamma. Go spread your ignorance elsewhere.
June 22nd, 2019 at 1:22 pm
Joe Says:
June 22nd, 2019 at 12:06 pm
My my ain’t it funny how things change… seems like only yesterday the joe who wrote this article was calling Adam Humphries “Rudy” incessantly and was skeptical the guy could even play.
Yup. He proved Joe wrong. Joe is happy to be wrong when a player balls out.
Remember when he was a rookie, he was actually cut.
Well but at least give Arians a style of guy he likes more than Humphries before you start the rue the day.
Will you eat crow again if Humphries is under 60 catches and 700 yards this season? He had 5 TD’s last year but just 1 and 2 the two years before.
Plus I thought your off season highlights have been about getting a rush defensive end, an offensive lineman and a running back. At 9 million a year you would get Duke Johnson and more.
Just wondering if you have a consistent priority or just a whine factor that is worse than 90 percent of the Buc’s fans.
June 22nd, 2019 at 1:44 pm
Typical Bucs. But I say unto ye all..HOW..does a consistently loser (thats us Buc fans), end up in salary cap hell? We’ve not..made a playoff appearance in 10 yrs..thats 10 people not a few..seasons. Yet, we don’t have money to pay good players. Well..Lookayear, when you buy cheap products? You usually get temporary cheap results. paging Mr Licht..and the last GM prior to him. You
can’t have a winner being cheap. You gotta really want to be a champion and pay..champion players or have Deeyham good GM and front office staff.
June 22nd, 2019 at 2:15 pm
I!!!WANT!!!WATSON!!!(mug smashing bar). If the guy has Jordy Nelson 2.0 skills, then he needs to be in the game. A lot. Have to see what Perriman is about. Scotty Miller speed is crazy! I think him and Jameis could be across the middle if he has hands. College highlights shows him so many times just running a 10-yard post then dusting everyone in the wind.
June 22nd, 2019 at 3:13 pm
Not a big deal, if the Bucs really want Hump back they’ll be able to get him on the cheap after the Titans cut him when he racks up 37 catches for 447 yards next year.
Which, btw, isn’t a slam on Hump. I think he’s a very very good 4th WR, and that’s why he excelled on the Bucs, he got matchups against guys way down the defensive roster because teams had to deal with Evans, Godwin, D-Jax, OJ and even Brate before they got around to defending Hump. In Tennessee they improved their WR depth, but it’s nothing like what the Bucs have, plus the Oilers have a pretty awful QB in a run first offense, so that will kill his stats. Meanwhile Hump will be on the cutting block since his big contract won’t match his production, even if it’s not his fault.
As for what the Bucs got to replace him. Yuck. I’m no believer in Perriman but hope I’m wrong. This is a guy who got cut from the worst WR core in football last year (the Redskins). Sure he had a couple of nice games with the Browns, but I don’t know how a couple of nice games turns into $5m… hope I’m wrong, will love to be wrong and called a d-bag, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s cut during the season despite the money being guaranteed.
June 22nd, 2019 at 3:14 pm
I should say $4m on the previous post, not $5m.
June 22nd, 2019 at 3:19 pm
@Joe…
Thanks for phrasing your response to me in the manner you did. Because something tells me you’re going to be exceedingly happy when you find out how wrong you are about Carl Nassib.
A guy who also received a snarky nickname from you. And someone who produced for us after being picked up off waivers. You remain incredulous about his skills for seemingly no other reason than he was cut by the Browns.
Welp if “Rudy” can win you over and he was cut by us, and we’re essentially Cleveland south… there ain’t no reason “Howie Long” cant win you over as well…
June 22nd, 2019 at 5:03 pm
I love Humphries, dude was tough as nails. Bobo will be just as good if he gets the chance, if not him Watson, if not him Miller, if not him Perriman, if not him Brate…see couldn’t pay him what his going rate was. Good luck to him until he plays us.
June 22nd, 2019 at 6:21 pm
Another reason to have cut McCoy before free agency. How is Licht still the GM?
June 22nd, 2019 at 7:00 pm
ATL got worse signing Koetter. Carolina got worse with McCoy. The Titans should get better with Hump. I think Humphries’ agent got him paid but should have got him on with Belicheck and the best team in football. Humphries would have killed it with Tom Brady. He was made for that team and the Titans may not have the QB to suit Hump. We will see.
June 22nd, 2019 at 7:28 pm
There goes the Joe’s again. Stirring the pot.
Joe you guys are second rate. Give us a break.
June 22nd, 2019 at 7:58 pm
I guess it was a slow day for GMC news… Got anything about Djax now? How about Michael Bennett? Ryan Fitzpatrick? Don’t let me down now Joe. You know this is my number one favorite site for former Bucs news! Man do I ever love living in the past!! I’m so glad you get me, Joe.
June 22nd, 2019 at 7:59 pm
everyone loced humph but its a business. Get over it
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:50 pm
Webster,
The Titans , the year you mention, didn’t have a top 10 rushing or defense.
13 and 15.
Also, there’s a few QB rankings out there. Espn, NFL, pff, etc .
If you’re interested in looking at the them and comparing you’ll find mariota ahead of winston on the vast majority of those rankings. Usually by a place but ahead.
Do I put much stock in them, nope. But I am aware of them and because they have no stake in the outcome of a particular player it’s objective. Based on those objective rankings , the fact that mariota is ranked higher is something to consider. As is the subjective nature of the rankings as they value certain data more valuable than other.
And before you head down a wrong path, had the bucs selected mariota, I would have renounced my fandom of the team. I was so worried prior to the pick , that it would be another Suh vs McCoy situation. And frankly two of those would have been enough for me to embrace Sunday afternoon without the needless disappointments and gut wrenching torment that is part of every buc fans existence.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:56 pm
Dont think Hump would change our win/loss margin that much, regardless if he excels in Tennessee.
June 23rd, 2019 at 10:42 am
D1
In 2016, mariotta run offense was 3rd and the run defense was 2. In 2017, the titans was 3rd in rushing, 2nd in defensive rushing and 13th overall. Thats the year your favorite better rated passer went to the playoffs with 12 tds and 15 ints. In 2018, the titans was 6 in rushing, 8th in defense and 3rd for pts giving up. Your more highly rated favorite qb mariotta threw 11 tds and 8 ints. and the titans finished 9-7. Yea those 11tds surely was the driving force. Even in mariotta rookie year, the titans defense was 12.
You can try and skirt around my point if you like, but like i said, mariotta has pretty much had a top 10 rushing attack and top 10 defense every year. Jameis has not had a team to come close to that. All we buc fans say give jameis a 15-20 defense and a 15-20 running game. Like i said, you can redraft and winston still goes 1st. Dont let whatever scooby doo rankings you saw fool you.
June 23rd, 2019 at 3:54 pm
Humphries is too slow. Good player, not great, won’t be missed.