Jason Licht May Have A Tougher Decision At Cornerback
January 4th, 2023
Late push for cash.
Until very recently, Joe thought that Bucs corner Jamel Dean had forced Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht between a rock and a hard place.
Dean has balled out this year in the final year of his contract. He’s going to be a rich man in about three months when the free agency dinner bell rings.
The way Joe saw it, either Licht was going to have to roll the dice and keep fellow soon-to-be free agent Sean Murphy-Bunting at a cheaper cost, or bite the bullet and pay Dean his deserved bread.
But is SMB making the decision tougher?
Of late, SMB has been balling out. Stathead and follicly-challenged Billy Barnwell of BSPN claims SMB is the only corner who makes more plays on thrown balls than Sauce Gardner of the Jets.
Gardner has been a revelation as a rookie for the Jets; the only cornerback who has made plays on passes more often as the nearest defender in coverage is the Sean Murphy-Bunting (Bucs), who has played only a handful of snaps.
Sunday in the win over the Stinking Panthers, SMB make a key play getting a pick over the middle at the goal line that saved a touchdown.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles made sure to give SMB props after the game.
“Sean has been playing good for three weeks now,” Bowles said. “He’s gotten his hands on balls, we got fumbles. It’s kind of coming together.”
On the Buccaneers Radio Network, Bowles attributed SMB’s surge mostly to good health.
So what does Licht do? Dean may have a bigger body of work than SMB, who seems to just now be returning to the same level of play he flashed when he had three picks in the 2020 postseason.
SMB has also been dinged by injuries. Might Licht keep SMB . who may be less expensive than Dean? Or will Licht let SMB walk and instead throw bags of Team Glazer loot at Dean?
January 4th, 2023 at 9:08 am
This is what happens when you draft inactive QB’s in the early 3rd round instead of DB’s.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:29 am
You find some cap room, franchise Dean and get some draft capital, and sign SMB to a decent contract if you can afford him. If not, you use the draft capital from Dean to draft a rookie and take the compensatory pick for SMB when you lose him.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:29 am
We didn’t draft any QB’s in 3rd round. If you’re referring to Trask he was taken in the 2nd round. And this could be Brady’s last year in Tampa. It’s nice to have back up. Hopefully he learned a few things from the GOAT
January 4th, 2023 at 9:32 am
The same could be said for the many 1st round duds that Licht has had a part in…not that I am condoning DB’s to ever be drafted in the first round! That’s reserved for O-line or D-line exclusively.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:40 am
If you need some extra cash, take it out of Bowels and Leftwich’s salary because they sure didn’t earning it this year.
JMO
January 4th, 2023 at 9:41 am
So, it’s a bad strategy to draft a QB who put up better numbers then the last two Heisman Trophy winning QBs and sit him behind two Pros Pros. One a former #1 overall pick and the other none other than the GOAT himself.
Yeaaaaaah, hate him or love him, Kyle Trask will be our next QB. If not, someone else is gonna get a heck of a deal by signing him to start at QB.
Kyle is no Ryan Griffen. He will get a well-deserved chance to start in this league. And I am gonna go out on a limb and say, just like his history shows. When he gets a shot, he will play exceptionally well.
Now, with that in mind, we have an excellent QB option on the cheap.
Sign BOTH DEAN and SMB
January 4th, 2023 at 9:41 am
Dean is putting out the effort in a contract year. He has been inconsistent at best besides this year. Don’t throw a bunch of money at this guy.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:43 am
CrackWise Says:
January 4th, 2023 at 9:41 am
So, it’s a bad strategy to draft a QB who put up better numbers then the last two Heisman Trophy winning QBs and sit him behind two Pros Pros. One a former #1 overall pick and the other none other than the GOAT himself.
Yeaaaaaah, hate him or love him, Kyle Trask will be our next QB. If not, someone else is gonna get a heck of a deal by signing him to start at QB.
Kyle is no Ryan Griffen. He will get a well-deserved chance to start in this league. And I am gonna go out on a limb and say, just like his history shows. When he gets a shot, he will play exceptionally well.
Now, with that in mind, we have an excellent QB option on the cheap.
Sign BOTH DEAN and SMB
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I’m pretty sure that Gabbert was not the #1 overall pick.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:43 am
Trask…wekl, to be fair, I don’t know whether he’ll be good or not…but it seem a bad idea to put all our eggs in one basket.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:45 am
May have to let both of them go and draft a CB
January 4th, 2023 at 9:46 am
I think SMB Jamel Dean are “system” players and they’re not z pure cover corner unlike Carlton Davis…….
I’d pay SMB and just let Jamel Dean hit free agency
January 4th, 2023 at 9:47 am
Re-sign Dean waive goodbye to SMB then draft another CB in round 1-3 and continue developing Zyon McCollum.
SMB is not the one. Too inconsistent and too injury prone.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:48 am
If you wanna know who’s the biggest draft bust?????
It’s Kyle Trask……that’s a high draft pick we used on him and Bucs have seen ZERO returns on their investment since the draft……that’s pretty bad Joe
January 4th, 2023 at 9:50 am
Buccaneer Bonzai
Then you keep Blain as Kyles back up. If he is good enough to back up Brady…..
Heck, at this point in his career, Gabby might actually be ready to turn it up. He has looked really good in the very limited times we have seen him.
That said, by using the money saved by not signing a top tiered QB. You sign all of you top CBs and have another in the hopper.
I would say that is far from putting all your eggs in one basket.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:54 am
@ Anthem
Trask is a bigger bust than Roberto Aguayo?
LOL…
How do we know how good/bad Trask is? We have had the GOAT at QB since he has been drafted. I would like to see more NFL game film of Trask before we make any final decisions.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:59 am
Guess who drafted this guy? He went nuclear his redshirt senior season when he threw for over 4,200 yards and 43 touchdowns. He was named a Heisman Trophy finalist and broke the school touchdown passing record. His senior season led to him posting a college best QBR of 88.52 and a college best YPA of 9.8
Added bonus, he was not drafted with the expectation of Playing/Starting his first two seasons.
Not sure how that even registers as a Bust let alone the biggest Bust of all time. But ok, I get it, I am the one smoking crack. LMAO
I left his name and school of to help prevent it from triggering some of you.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:02 am
Good article Joe. I was wondering the same thing after Sunday’s game. It’s going to be a very interesting off-season for the Bucs.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:06 am
Listen…….if you draft a 2nd rdr QB……he better be some kinda successor to someone’s starting QB….
Trask can’t even beat out Gabbert who’s a journeyman QB…….that really says it all right there!!!!!!!
January 4th, 2023 at 10:08 am
Not sold on Dean or SMB.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:27 am
The Trask pick reminds me of Green Bay drafting Jordan Love except he was a first rd pick. He’s had no more than a handful of snaps in 3 yrs. Bad drafting by both GM’s.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:28 am
The moral of the story here is the Bucs had the worst secondary in the NFL. Licht built it into a very good secondary via the draft. You just to give guys time to develop. SO … you need to invest in DBs every year so you can develop and remain cap friendly.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:30 am
Carlton Davis is the only cornerback we have worth keeping because everyone else gets torched in one-on-one coverage. Todd Bowels can coach up any defensive back who is willing to put in the work to be at least decent so we should spend our money to get the highest quality cornerback in the NFL or Draft as possible.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:37 am
Last year we had to choose between Mike Edwards and Jordan Whitehead, did we make the right choice?
January 4th, 2023 at 10:52 am
I like Dean and think he’s the best CB on the Bucs. If we can, we should resign him. Although SMB has played well of late, we would be better served to draft a replacement for him that can play more consistently in the slot.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:54 am
@ Beeej
Not exactly true… Mike Edwards is making @ $2.7M this season. Jordan Whitehead is making @ $10.2M with the Jets…
We let JW go because of price/value – we didn’t have much of a choice on that one.
January 4th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Agree on that Marine. We didn’t want to let JW go. In addition, JW hits so hard, it is likely a matter of time before his body can’t handle it anymore. Tough choice, but one for the future.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:07 am
I heard with the new Sunday ticket deal though you tube TV the projected cap is suppose to go up roughly 70 million next year. That would greatly help our chances of retaining one.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:09 am
We not staying in Tampa for cheap.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:11 am
WE OUT! Unless I’m the words of my friend Jerry Maguire SHOW ME THE MONEY!
January 4th, 2023 at 11:15 am
We aren’t going to have bags of money to throw around, our cap is going to be a problem, particularly if Brady leaves.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:20 am
Franchise tag Dean. Make him prove it again.
Sign SMB if possible (but he wants to start somewhere else)
Draft a CB in the 2nd round.
We need to take CB depth more seriously.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:28 am
I actually like both of them over Davis. They all suffer from the same problems though. They’ve been fragile and inconsistent, but when they’re good, they’re really good. Keep all 3.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:37 am
What I remember about Trask is he is a competitor. Always had to beat out the starters for the job. Took a while to get his opportunity, but when he did, he worked hard and excelled!!!!! He’s still learning the NFL game. With mentors like BA and TB12, when he gets his chance, he will succeed!!! The best predictor of the future is the past!!!! Patience please!!!
January 4th, 2023 at 11:50 am
SMB, Nelson, Nassib, Edwards, David resign on defense.
I have to continue to tell all that David is having his best year since 2016, so don’t tell me he’s old and not worth it.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:50 am
@ teacher
Franchise tagging Dean will cost $18.6M… I doubt the Bucs will have the cap space available to do this even after restructuring several contracts.
It’s more likely they sign him to a 4 year deal with 2 void years added to spread the cap hit out over 6 seasons…
January 4th, 2023 at 11:52 am
This is why they need to trade down as much as possible & get as many picks as possible. They need to stop trading up at times & stop giving away their picks. Especially if they’re not gonna do anything in FA or during the trade deadlines.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:52 am
Excuse me, the Bucs are hiding a future pro bowler on the practice field the last 2 years, I just didn’t know.
January 4th, 2023 at 11:54 am
Can’t afford to pay Dean. Unfortunate, but that’s the way it is, with a team 49 million over cap. SMB will cost half as much as Dean, and if he can have some luck with his health, he could be a very good starter. And if Zyon has shown some development over his first year, it further reduces the need for Dean.
January 4th, 2023 at 12:06 pm
We need a rebuild and shed a lot of the veteran salaries and get younger. A lot of these guys on the team are over 30. We need to keep the core youth guys and move on from the older vets.
January 4th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
BF81
I agree.
January 4th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
LOL. Bucs are $43,117,281 OVER the salary cap for 2022. That is 31 of 32. Dean would cost 9 million or more.
These are players they might lose to get there.
12.5 million Lavonte David
8.0 million Akeim Hicks
6.0 million julio Jones
4.5 million Will Ghoston
2.5 million Rakeem Nochez
2.25 million Baine gabbert
2.0 million Kyle rudolph
1.9 million Sean Bunting
1.4 million Aaron Stinnie
1.3 million Gio bernard
1.3 million Bresard Perriman
1.3 million Kenau neal
———————————
Plus more room to sign draftees and free agents.
January 4th, 2023 at 12:41 pm
gotta try to sign them both…
smb really turns it up as the lights get brighter…
dean is consistent but has faded a bit of late…
these are tough decisions…
ideally you keep both gravediggers to pair up with carlton davis for a nice trifecta…
you can’t bank on logan ryan for long…mccollum is lost right now, and delaney is a here today gone tomorrow type – even thought i do like him…
so you probably don’t want to break up the original trio of davis, dean and smb…unless brady is leaving and the plan is to do a complete rebuild – then you sign one and let the other go f
January 4th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
gotta try to sign them both…
smb really turns it up as the lights get brighter…
dean is consistent but has faded a bit of late…
these are tough decisions…
ideally you keep both gravediggers to pair up with carlton davis for a nice trifecta…
you can’t bank on logan ryan for long…mccollum is lost right now, and delaney is a here today gone tomorrow type – even thought i do like him…
so you probably don’t want to break up the original trio of davis, dean and smb…
unless brady is leaving and the plan is to do a complete rebuild – then you sign one and let the other go for obvious cap reasons
January 4th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
Alanbucs is right
Crackwise is wrong
There was a 2yr window for Brady so you dont draft Trask. It was a wasted pick
We had all kinds of injuries at CB last yr and a 2rd CB talent would have sure helped the D and offset this potential CB situation
January 4th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
joe the site is acting weird…anyway here goes:
gotta try to sign them both…
smb really turns it up as the lights get brighter…
dean is consistent but has faded a bit of late…
these are tough decisions…
ideally you keep both gravediggers to pair up with carlton davis for a nice trifecta…
you can’t bank on logan ryan for long…mccollum is lost right now, and delaney is a here today gone tomorrow type – even thought i do like him…
so you probably don’t want to break up the original trio of davis, dean and smb…
unless brady is leaving and the plan is to do a complete rebuild – then you sign one and let the other go for obvious cap reasons
January 4th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
oops sorry joes…
now it just triple posted…
the second post is the post, while the 1st and 3rd should be deleted…
i’m not sure how this happened
January 4th, 2023 at 12:49 pm
even in a complete rebuild – if they’re keeping bowles around – being he is a defensive guy – he just might want to hang onto both of them – yes even in a complete rebuild…with his defensive mindset
January 4th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Leon Says:
January 4th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
It’s WAY worse than that.
1. Dean will probably cost 12-15 million per year.
2. David will be a free agent, and as such isn’t part of that 43 million over equation.
3. Hicks, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
4. Jones, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
5. Gholston, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
6. Nunez-Roches, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
7. Gabbert, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
8. Rudolph, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
9. Murphy-Bunting, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
10. Stinnie, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
11. Bernard, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
12. Perriman, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
13. Neal, also a free agent, and not a part of the 43 million over.
So, not counting ANY of those players, we’re STILL 43 million over. It’s THAT bad.
To get within the cap, you’re looking at cutting major contracts such as Donovan Smith, maybe Fournette, and then renegotiating other large contracts such as Godwin, Gage, Evans, Mason, Jensen, Vea, Davis.
And THEN, if they’re under cap, they can consider re-signing some of the free agents above, along with external free agents.
In other words, getting this team under cap and putting together a decent roster is going to be a freakin’ magic act / sh!tshow.
Need to bring back David, SMB, Nelson, Leverett. Probably Nacho, Stinnie, Neal. And others not mentioned like Logan Ryan.
This is going to be Licht’s biggest roster challenge yet. They have to shed so much cap and will struggle to sign back core guys. Losing David would be a shame.
January 4th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
You can’t look at just 1 position exclusive of all the others & make a valid decision of who to keep vs let go. Just on defense alone, free agents next year will be Dean, SMB, Edwards, Ryan, Neal, LVD, Hicks, Gholston, RNR, Nelson, Nassib, O’Connor, Gill, Delaney, Avery & Senat (all on the current roster or on IR). That’s 16 defensive players out of the possible 24 on the current roster plus 3 on IR.
That’s a massive turnover, especially when we’re already $43 mil over next year’s projected CAP with only 33 players under contract (HOPEFULLY that does get increased substantially by the new contract with YouTube TV). It’s also a disastrous starting position for the new season, especially when our offense needs a lot of ‘upgrading’ also. Where do you come up with the money to sign those FAs when your bank account’s already in the red?
January 4th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
If SMB has developed into a quality starter, this team simply CANNOT afford to dish out 12-15 mil for Dean. There’s no way.
January 4th, 2023 at 1:07 pm
Gabbert wasn’t #1 overall he was like the 10th or 11th pk and hasn’t done shizz in the nfl
January 4th, 2023 at 1:13 pm
@ DR
The new contract with YouTube TV won’t be as big a boost as most are claiming.
YouTube is paying $2B per season. Direct TV was paying $1.5B.
$500M more divided by 2 (split between owners and players) = $250M
$250M divided by 32 teams is only around $7.8M per team increase…
It’s not “nothing” but it isn’t enough to drag the Bucs out of cap hell.
TB12 and LVD returning would help way more.
January 4th, 2023 at 1:19 pm
It’s about allocation of resources. I find it hard to believe licht will pay two corners 13 million plus. Dean will get that and then some on the market IMO. It’s more about when your deal is up, and how you play in a contract year. Look at the JC Jackson deal with the chargers. He was grossly overpaid. Dean is longer, faster and a better overall athlete. DBs with his measurables don’t come around that often. One things for sure, Dean will be a very wealthy man.
January 4th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
There is a lot of chaff on the Bucs roster. Players that were taken as free agents to, supposedly, carry the Bucs to the Stupor Bowl. Instead it all cam apart.
The Bucs are close to the salary cap, but that can be fixed by dumping the chaff, and the Bucs are in a lot better shape than teams like the Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals, who gave away too many drafts picks for too far into the future.
I really hope Trask can be a franchise QB. I think he can, with adequate coaching, but that opens another can of worms. I hope because he is what we get next season.
I doubt Licht will hold onto him like he did with Jameis, though.
It is a shame that drafting CBs is a crap shoot. There are teams that call up practice guys who turn in Pro Bowl performances. The Bucs aren’t that skilled, or lucky, in the draft.
Bowles cleaner will make room and sign big on the defensive side this year, he is the defensive coach, that raises the hope level for Trask.
January 4th, 2023 at 2:02 pm
They can blow up the secondary except McCollum and Winfield and start over. They are overpaid and consistently torched on a weekly basis, especially Bunting. I loved the Trask pick at the time but we didn’t need him and could have used another corner or offensive lineman. If Brady leaves we will need him but could have used that pick for depth at those positions
January 4th, 2023 at 2:20 pm
This offseason will bring a ton of change to One Buc Place.
The Cap situation is a huge mess. Voided yrs still carry Cap Hits.
the ramifications & repercussions of “running it back” in 2021/2022 will be felt in 2023.
Bucs FO will need to cut, trade away & the restructure everyone possible to find room to just sign draft picks…I doubt they will have coin to sign anyone in FA worth their salt.
I’d expect a significant portion of the roster to be UDFA & NFL cast-off types…(Practice Squad level players).
But yeah, the Bucs won a SB in 2020.
January 4th, 2023 at 4:19 pm
If we have to lose both of them then it’s no big deal. WE’LL JUST BRING BACK BARBER & KELLY!
January 4th, 2023 at 8:56 pm
How do we know what Trask is worth? Outside of pre-season, he’s never played a down. I trust Licht in resigning players we need.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:09 pm
For all the Todd Bowles despisers, he’s the one to scout and put together a brand new defense. Find a legit OC.
January 4th, 2023 at 9:32 pm
I’ll take Bo Jackson for $1000 for biggest Bucs Draft Bust Blunders Alex.
I’ll follow that up with drafting Keith McCants at LB instead of Junior Seau at LB in 1990 for biggest Bucs Draft Bust Blunders Alex.
Kyle Trask is not even in the same galaxy of draft mistakes as those two.
January 5th, 2023 at 11:49 am
I think SMB has had enough time to prove who he is. He is a streaky player. When its going well, he balls out, but when he isnt making plays he is blowing coverage and allowing completions. He is inconsistent and often injured. Dean has been a rock and deserves to be resigned. He shouldnt be getting top dollar though.