Report: Bucs Offered RB A Pact
May 28th, 2020
Bucs GM Jason Licht
Could it possibly be that the Bucs are actually looking to bolster their running backs stable? A report out of Philadelphia suggests so.
Per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Bucs have a contract offer on the table for free agent running back Devonta Freeman, the 28-year-old, two-time Pro Bowler. He struggled rushing the past two seasons but caught 59 balls and four touchdowns out of the Falcons backfield last year.
Per McLane, the Eagles also have an offer out for Freeman.
A few things on the #Eagles’ interest in free agent RBs, per sources: They offered contracts to Carlos Hyde, who signed with the Seahawks, and Devonta Freeman, who is weighing other offers (Bucs).
They have interest in bringing back LeSean McCoy, but have yet to make an offer.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) May 28, 2020
Joe is so jaded by the recent past of Bucs looking the other way when better options are available at running back, Joe will believe this when he sees it.
If true, FINALLY!
(Hat tip: @hit55fan and @MattSinn.)
TAMPA TWO is perfect for your lunchtime enjoyment as you stay cool with Caldeco Air Conditioning & Heating. Buccaneers legend Derrick Brooks and Tampa’s only Hall of Fame voter, Ira Kaufman, dive into a recent breakdown by CBS Sports. More good stuff from The Identity Tampa Bay and Joe.
Enjoy!
May 28th, 2020 at 12:53 pm
Bucs oline sure could use all the help it can get!
May 28th, 2020 at 1:02 pm
He wasn’t very good last year but he has been a playmaker in the past. Good receiver.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:03 pm
If this is true, then one would have to think that Freeman would prefer to play for Brady vs. Wentz.
Make it happen.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:03 pm
Backup edge rusher, backup nose tackle, another safety doesn’t appear Justin Evans will be back. Running back is not a necessity we drafted two and lost one.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Good point Cannon.
And the way Wentz is always hurt Freeman will be playing with a rookie QB.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:06 pm
No income tax in Florida. Should be a no brainer
May 28th, 2020 at 1:06 pm
Er… nope. Fake news
May 28th, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Freeman would be a perfect fit here.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:15 pm
Greg Auman is saying we have not offered him a contract, not sure if we did or didnt now
Joe suspects Auman wasn’t in on any discussion the Bucs had with Freeman or his representatives. –Joe
May 28th, 2020 at 1:20 pm
I think you send a 4th rd pick and Cam Brate to J Ville and get Fournette and let’s do this. Even for one year at around 4 mil that’s a steal and DEFINITELY sures up the ground game
May 28th, 2020 at 1:23 pm
I think he would choose Tampa just so he can play the dirty birds twice a year.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:27 pm
He isn’t going to do better then Ronald jones. Freeman would be good depth and a good option but he is probably about as cooked as gurley.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:34 pm
Greg Augman seems to disagree with Mr Mclane and tweeted it is a false report.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:36 pm
Man seems like I’m the only one who thinks Freeman is done? He signed that big contact and either got brittle or lost the fire in his belly, because the past two seasons he’s either underwhelmed or flat out sucked (and hurt often). I mean I guess if they can snag him for the vet minimum he might have some value as insight into the Falcons and be serviceable as a RB2 or RB3 (depending on how Vaughn pans out), but that would be using valuable cap space on a position with a few other serviceable RB2/RB3 options likely to be available for less money after roster cuts.
May 28th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
Tampabucsbro – agreed 100%. He just brings some good old fashioned depth though which is good. Needed a vet, hes a good receiver and good in pass protection. Much better than Dare “idunnowhat.”
May 28th, 2020 at 2:00 pm
he’s coming to tampa…
just like jameis went to the saints…
and gmc went to carolina…
the bucs are his best option…
and also to stick it up atlanta’s badonka-donk
May 28th, 2020 at 2:21 pm
Makes sense. Excellent fit. Lots of primetime games. Chance to play the dirty birds twice.
May 28th, 2020 at 2:23 pm
Not Freeman, he’s a washout. Defenses know this. They’ll shut down his routes and he’s useless.
May 28th, 2020 at 2:26 pm
Depends on the $. Rumor I read is he’ll sit before playing for cheap.
May 28th, 2020 at 2:31 pm
He also played behind the garbage running scheme of Dirk lol
May 28th, 2020 at 2:34 pm
@sc buc fan… he will be sitting then bc no one is offering him good money. He’s already made his money, i know he wants more but thats life as a rb. He will be even less valuable next year when another crop of rookies come in.
May 28th, 2020 at 2:39 pm
miken I have no idea what his thoughts are but I read this morning he’d rather sit then play for cheap. Can’t tell you if that’s true or not. Maybe he wants to open a jamba juice.
May 28th, 2020 at 2:45 pm
At least the days are over when FAs are reluctant to come to Tampa……probably the opposite is true…….money will be the determining factor.
We’ll be OK without him…..we’ve got DARE, Joe….
May 28th, 2020 at 3:58 pm
If it’s for the vet minimum, probably not a big deal. Freeman will still have to beat out one of our current RBs to stick on the roster. Won’t beat out RoJo or Vaughn, but MIGHT beat out Dare. Or might not.
Apparently a lot of JBFers are down on Dare, but he may very well surprise a lot of folks this year. Was used a LOT last year in pass protection, and averaged about 3 ‘dump-offs’ thrown his way each game last year (46 targets with 35 catches for 76%). Look a little deeper though and folks might notice that those were VERY short passes (35 catches but only 79 Yards-Before-Catch (YBC) total, averaging about 2 YBC for the season. What’s interesting though is that he picked up 207 Yards-After-Catch (YAC) on those 35 receptions (almost 6 YAC average). Not that shabby IMO.
May 28th, 2020 at 4:04 pm
RB depth should not be a priority. WE NEED DL, EDGE RUSHER, OL depth before RB
May 28th, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Freeman isnt even all.that good id take rex bukhead for half the price
May 28th, 2020 at 7:23 pm
A pissed off Freeman is like a pissed off Shaq the Man. God I hope he signs here, that would be AWESOME.
May 28th, 2020 at 7:31 pm
I’m still upset we passed on JK Dobbins! Could have had a legit 2,000 yd rusher.
Hope that doesn’t come back to bite us.
May 28th, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Can we just all come to the realization that Dirk Koetters offense is terrible for getting production out of RBs.
-Doug Martin……..Now of course you can’t blame all of this on Dirk but YPC plummets under Dirk.
-Charles Sims…..Not a bad playmaker then Dirk takes over and he disappears forever.
-Devonta Freeman……. Absolute nobody under Dirk. He starts producing once Dirk leaves. As soon as Dirk comes back his YPC plummets.
-RoJo……..I didn’t even think the guy was good enough to make the team after a year under Dirk. Dirk leaves he produces a healthy YPC.
-Maurice Jones Drew…….I could be wrong about this one but I seem to remember people here saying his career didn’t take off til Dirk left.
And this is not a knock on Dirk. It’s just stating the obvisous. Koetters run game just sucks. It is what it is……Though it does kinda tick me off to think back that one of the first things he did as HC was to publicly lobby for Doug Martin which was a total waste of assets.
The moral of the story is get Freeman in here and get him right now. Judge him as a player based off what he’s done before 2019……Correct me if I’m wrong but no back has ever done anything worth mentioning ever in Dirk’s offense……And they likely never will.
May 28th, 2020 at 8:24 pm
Maurice Jones-Drew averaged about 1,400 yards per year from 2009-2011. Lead the league in rushing in 2011, 1,606 yards. Fred Taylor had 1,202 yards in 2007. Koetter had 5 1,000 yard rushers under his watch (along with Doug Martin).
May 28th, 2020 at 8:33 pm
Yeah @DaBux, im all about it exactly because of that. The insight into the Falcons playbooks too. 2-3 mill. I think this would be good for him and he will be highly energized for a resurgence. He just has to come down in price expectations and prove himself fr a year.
Im all for it Licht!!
May 28th, 2020 at 8:39 pm
Time to go acquire another FSU player. Cause they surely have worked out for the Bucs in the past couple of years.
May 28th, 2020 at 9:27 pm
Enamored with any and every player with a pulse, this dude is trashed and no I don’t want a washed up has been just to tak in the meeting room. He can’t beat out rojo anyway
May 28th, 2020 at 10:55 pm
If the Bucs sign Freeman, so be it. I don’t know why they would, especially since Freeman has said he won’t sign for $4 mil, at this point, anyway.
The easiest position for a rookie to transition to in the NFL is RB. Ke’Shawn Vaughn is a good runner and receiver (he had more catches in his last year of college than Freeman). Vaughn runs a 4.51, Freeman ran a 4.58 coming out, I’m sure that he doesn’t run that fast anymore. I know, Vaughn is unproven in the NFL, but so was every other player in their rookie year. I want this kid to get a chance to shine. As I said, if he’s gotta battle it out with Freeman, may the best man win.
May 29th, 2020 at 9:23 am
Freeman means he replaces Dare, and Dare would be put on the practice squad… Rojo will be our and a Top-10 RB guaranteed… Likely Top-5…
Also, K Vaughn, & Raymond will both dress on game day I think…
Rojo is going to explode this year, watch. 💥
May 29th, 2020 at 9:24 am
Raymond *Calais, that is.