Todd Bowles Didn’t Say “No”
March 29th, 2023
Todd Bowles on Lamar Jackson.
There was something about the twinkle in Todd Bowles’ eyes that made Joe dream yesterday.
Yes, yes, yes. Joe knows the Bucs are crunched under the cap. But when Joe saw the second-worst team in salary cap hell, the slimy Saints, sign Derek Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract, Joe thought, “Well, if the slimy Saints can find a way, why can’t the Bucs?”
So yesterday when Bowles sat at the the NFC coaches’ breakfast entertaining NFL media at the NFL Annual Meeting in Arizona (Joe was the only Bucs daily media outlet there), Bowles was asked about Lamar Jackson.
Bowles laughed, smiled and chuckled discussing how Jackson is such a good quarterback but would be a tough signing for the Bucs.
“He’s a great player but like I [explained earlier] we are shedding a lot of money,” Bowles said. What the Bucs may offer Jackson “would be an insult to a great player like that.
“We have our plan. We know it was time for us to get under the cap.
“He makes a lot of money but he’s a heck of a player. I hate playing against him.”
But you know one word that Bowles didn’t use? That would be “No.” Bowles did not flat out say he and the Bucs are not interested in Jackson.
Joe is not saying Jackson would be a smart buy at the salary he is seeking, and Joe knows all about the Bucs’ salary cap pinch. Those injuries Jackson has endured are major and legitimate concerns.
Man, only two first-round picks for a league MVP at 26? That’s a damn bargain (the Stinking Panthers just paid more than that to move up to draft a green-as-grass rookie who may never be able to sniff Jackson’s jock).
Damn, the way Bowles smiled and laughed about Jackson and raved about him as a quarterback, and knowing what new offensive coordinator Dave Canelas is looking to build, well, Joe couldn’t help but dream.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:04 am
Dumb and Dumber – “You mean there’s hope?”
March 29th, 2023 at 9:06 am
Is anyone else bummed Joe’s big news was the Ravens tried to sign Mayfield?
March 29th, 2023 at 9:14 am
Jackson wants to be traded the Ravens should oblige you don’t want to have him playing for you if his heart is not in it thats football suicide.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:17 am
One Joe pines for Rachael Watson…who hasn’t said “no,” either.
It’s not the two #1’s that are costly, although the 2 #1’s and #2’s set the franchise into the Dark Ages for over a decade.
It’s the salary hit that ultimately needs to be paid.
Two #1’s and serious cap hell do not a bright future make.
Plus, Jackson seems like a jerk to me, a Deshauan Watson without massage addiction.
NoNoNo
March 29th, 2023 at 9:19 am
No. Please.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:19 am
Joe knows better than to try to go after a 10 who happens to be married with a family now. Joe also knows to follow the term “stay in your lane.”
March 29th, 2023 at 9:23 am
Teams should have direct correlation between Salary and Trade Compensation. The Higher the Salary of the player being a acquired the lower the trade value. I dont care who the player is…
March 29th, 2023 at 9:24 am
It’s really not that ridiculous of a dream to dream Joe. Unlike some of the folks opposed to even thinking about bringing Jackson in, it is pretty interesting to brainstorm what acquiring Jackson would do to this franchise. It’d be like a monsoon on the Traskfield parade, but neither of those guys individually or combined are as proven commodities as Jackson in comparison.
@SC Bucs Fan
I thought Joe was sitting on the announcement that Gerald McCoy wants to come back for a last year in Tampa to retire.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:28 am
Lamar’s skill set and style of play historically leads to a short career. Exciting and powerful for a few seasons, but the injuries start piling up and most who play this way cannot complete their second contract. This is why he is looking for guaranteed money. Can’t blame him for that. Can’t get behind paying those kind of prices either.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Ummmmm…….Lamar is going after a Huge Pay day like Deshaun Watson got………..but sadly, HE AINT GONNA GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 29th, 2023 at 9:37 am
Straight from the head coach’s mouth:
“He’s a great player but like I [explained earlier] we are shedding a lot of money,” Bowles said. What the Bucs may offer Jackson “would be an insult to a great player like that.
“We have our plan. We know it was time for us to get under the cap.”
Todd Bowles must be one of those “negative salary cap nerds” right Joe?
You know – the cap nerds who have been saying this exact same thing for several months now…
We can barely afford Baker Mayfield – enough with the Lamar Jackson fantasy football junk.
Next year may be a different story but not this season.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:57 am
If we somehow pulled it off it would be a bit mistake. We aren’t in a win now mode like when Brady came here and all we needed was a qb. Wed have to get the team and lose a lot more than we already have.. instead of taking a coupoe years to reload it would set back our rebuild and with Lamar physical style of play by the time we were ready to compete again (especially with less draft picks) he would likely be breaking down
March 29th, 2023 at 9:59 am
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!
One overrate person running this team is enough
March 29th, 2023 at 10:06 am
I would give up the next 800 years of draft picks for Patrick Mahomes, or Joe Burrow. But for a quarterback that doesn’t make passing from pocket a priority. A quarterback that is only effective when playing downhill (with a lead) because when the situation calls for a shootout you – are – f’d. Two word, Fuk and no for the tuck and runner. This also ain’t the NBA either, too many other guys to pay in order to field a competitive roster with guaranteed contracts. Stop the madness. Deshaun Watson may be a creep but he generated much more interest because a lot of folks actually viewed him as a better quarter-back. A true thrower of the football
March 29th, 2023 at 10:20 am
If you want to set the franchise back another decade then yes make a trade for Lamar Jackson. When I see this quarterback I see two major flaws. One has to do from injury risk. For two straight Seasons, he was unable to complete the year because of injuries due to his playing style. If you look through the history of The League quarterbacks who run as much as or close to as much as he does do not last very long. Not to mention once they get slowed down by injury and their major advantage of being a running quarterback starts to disappear.
The other issue with signing him is the cost to the organization. Two first round picks mean that we are losing two other impact players potentially or Pro Bowl All-Pro type players in future drafts. Additionally, a contract of over 40 million dollars will hamstring the franchise’s ability to sign free agents and develop this team.
The only quarterbacks in the NFL right now that I would ever give up two first round picks and signed to a large contract would be players like Burrow Mahomes Herbert Allen. Those are all quarterbacks who can beat you with their arm who are mobile but don’t have to rely on their ability to run to win football games. However none of those quarterbacks will ever be traded by their teams until much later in their careers.
I would not be surprised given Lamar Jackson’s injury history and playing style if he does not make it five more years in this league before having to retire or being ineffective.
March 29th, 2023 at 10:24 am
Was the slimy Saints signing of Derek Carr a figment of people’s imagination? Or is he really on the slimy Saints roster?
Don’t come at Joe with “the Bucs can’t, they don’t have the space” when the slimy Saints were right next to the Bucs in salary cap hell yet found a way to sign a quarterback.
Unless the NFL gave the slimy Saints some special exemption from the salary cap Joe is unaware of, the Bucs sure as hell can trade for Jackson.
Also, just because Jackson wants X-amount doesn’t mean he’s going to be paid X-amount.
March 29th, 2023 at 10:47 am
Absurd
March 29th, 2023 at 10:51 am
OK not that I’m saying go get him but for all these people talking about he can’t make the throws and is only a threat because of his legs. Can any of you name his #1 WR not his TE heck how about his #2 or #3WR? The guy played the cards he was dealt. Just as so many talk about this is the BEST WR core Mayfield has ever had it would without a doubt be the best Lamar would have ever had.
Also like Joe said just because he’s asking for a crazy amount doesn’t mean he’s going to get it. Again I’m not saying go get him but if they figured a way to do it and not only did we stay relevant but were winning everyone would be happy.
Last thing please stop with the he’s a “punk, thug, only cares about his self narrative” unless you got some proof of him being in trouble or can show some articles of teammates saying he’s a “Me 1st” kinda guy you’re just making up $hit.
March 29th, 2023 at 10:51 am
@ Joe
The Saints had more flexibility with their salary cap with 12-14 contracts they were able to restructure.
The Bucs only had 5-6 contracts to restructure and over $75M in dead cap space to clear.
How do you not understand this?
March 29th, 2023 at 11:00 am
@ Joe
Next off season will be different. The Bucs will have the ability to chase after a free agent QB if one is available.
March 29th, 2023 at 11:02 am
Ugh. Borderline irresponsible fodder for the fantasy football dreamers. But eyes on advertisers I guess.
March 29th, 2023 at 11:07 am
Oh, to dream the impossible dream…
March 29th, 2023 at 11:07 am
Garbage. I watched the press conference and he basically said no without saying no… but it doesn’t surprise me that “he didn’t say no” was Joe’s take, He basically said, we don’t have the money to pay him what he wants. Period. End of story.
Repeat after me:
THE BUCS ARE NOT GOING AFTER LAMAR JACKSON.
THE BUCS ARE NOT GOING AFTER LAMAR JACKSON.
THE BUCS ARE NOT GOING AFTER LAMAR JACKSON.
Now repeat that as many times as it takes until you get it through your numb skull that writing these Lamar articles is m0r0nic.
March 29th, 2023 at 11:18 am
As for Rachel Watson, she’s a 10?! She was pretty hot back in the day. I’m not sure I have ever seen a 10. That would mean perfect and though that’s subjective, it still seems unattainable. Now a nine? 9.5? Maybe Tommy boy thought his ex-wife was a 10 at one point. But many posters talked about her like they considered her quite a bit under that number. Personally I would call her an 8 to 9. Her celebrity skews the number for most. Not really my type but obviously very attractive. And let’s be honest Joe, the Rachel Watson you fantasize about is the Rachel from 10 plus years ago. Pretty sure you could do some subtraction with that double digit number now. But I am curious, if she weren’t married, ostensibly the reason you aren’t considering it, would you make an attempt? That would be interesting.
March 29th, 2023 at 11:20 am
It gets under my skin everytime someone says Lamar Jackson was an MVP Quarterback! He was an MVP Running Back who sometimes threw the ball. In 2019 during his MVP year as a Quarterback he was 22nd in passing yards just behind Mitchell Trubisky, Gardner Minshew & Kyle Allen 😂. He was 6th in rushing yards. In his 5 years as a full time starter he averages only 2,442 passing yards per season. In the five years with Lamar as their starter the Ravens have been in the bottom eight teams in passing yards every year. Why do you think the Raven’s can’t get a top Free agent WR to sign in Baltimore. That’s why Marquise Brown asked to be traded from the Ravens. If he comes here you can kiss Mike Evans 1000+ yards streak goodbye for sure.
March 29th, 2023 at 11:23 am
Might be the dumbest post I e ever seen on JBF!
March 29th, 2023 at 11:24 am
His stats show how selfish a player he is. He does not distribute the ball to his playmakers. Rather he looks for all the glory for himself. His contract demands just reinforce how selfish he really is.
March 29th, 2023 at 12:19 pm
Lamar Jackson has missed 10 games the last two seasons getting him would be like having Russell Gage playing quarter, he would only be in the game for 4 or 5 plays before he went out injured
March 29th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
Whichever Joe wrote this probably also thought trading for Revis was a good idea. Newsflash… trading premium draft picks for a player and then paying that player top free agent money is a recipe for disaster and has never seen success… like EVER. It’s double jeopardy. You’re penalized the loss of premium picks and then saddled with a huge chunk (20% or so) of the salary cap on one (injury prone) player meaning you can’t draft cheap players to help nor sign anyone to help either. Just plain dumb!
Here’s the reasons to stay away from Jackson:
Two 1st round pick compensation… likely high because this will hurt the team in other areas
Way too much money spent on one player
He wants it all guaranteed… the only guarantee is that this is a horrible idea.
He is injury prone and particularly so late in the season, when it matters most.
He has steadily been less and less effective each year he has played.
He has never had a signature performance… playoffs.. he has disappointed though
His playing style is reckless and he has done zero adapting of his style to ensure that he will get better and be able to avoid a short career full of injuries (throwing from pocket, beating teams consistently with his arm).
March 29th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
I bet the Ravens would make good use of Shaq Barrett or Devin White and Trask or Baker Mayfield. Maybe they’d take some players, and salary, in lieu of one of the draft picks, which won’t be super high, presumably. Could they opt for such a thing?
A couple years of Lamar would be pretty exciting.
March 29th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
It sounded like NO to me, even tho he didn’t use the word. Did he really have to?
March 29th, 2023 at 1:37 pm
Michael Vick on steroids. Whatever that means. Big time no! Can’t wait to see the Shake & Bake Bucs!!
March 29th, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Raven’s are praying 🙏 someone is stupid enough to offer Lamar the contract he is asking for. They planted the bait and are hoping there is another Cleveland out there. In a league where stupid decisions are part of the norm there still hasn’t been anyone else that stupid. Hey Lamar, here is only one Cleveland!
March 29th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
Hahaha Bloweszo hates playing against Broccoli Purdy. He can’t defend Taylor’s Heineken. What a bazoo.
March 29th, 2023 at 2:17 pm
If Bowles whats to run the ball Lamars the perfect fit. Offer Lamar 3 year 45 mil a year fully guaranteed then offer ravens a 1st round pick and Mayfield. Then a conditional pick in 2024.
March 29th, 2023 at 2:20 pm
Jackson is obviously talented someone will desire his services. The issue is he’s expensive and not only salary cap wise also draft wise. It’s been reported the Ravens want two 1st’s and two 2nd’s. Draft picks are so valuable and are getting more valuable every year. Simply because free agents are outpacing draft picks in salary increases and getting more expensive every year. It’s conceivable a team can get four young cheap starters that can contribute for years for what the Ravens are expecting in draft picks. Jackson has had a couple injuries but he’s healthy now. The reality is Qb’s with his playing style are often injured. Any team considering a trade would be concerned about future injuries. The injury concern has a perceived negative effect on his future value. Which directly correlates to his trade value. Can Jackson keep playing at a high level for 7+years? History says probably not. Is he worth four starting caliber players? Draft picks not only offer cheap young players they offer versatilaty. The team needs to fill a certain position? There’s a draft pick for that. Then there’s the high salary he expects. Can a front office afford to build a team around him? Following a trade will Jackson be open to renegotiating his contract? All of these separate issues taken together is too much for most teams to make a deal. The high salary, past and future injury risk, and the high draft capital are all negatives for Jackson. Jackson has more negatives than positives at the moment. Then factor in the rumor Jackson didn’t travel with the team to a playoff game as a contract negotiation tactic. Jackson says the reason he didn’t travel with the team was a fear the travel would cause inflammation of his injury. Unfortunately it’s against the Ravens self interest to say otherwise.
Currently Tampa can’t afford him. So that throws cold water on that.
March 29th, 2023 at 2:40 pm
@Steven007: a 10 is a 4 with 6 million…
March 29th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
I’m not convinced Jackson is a championship quarterback. His style of play may not be conducive to winning championships.
March 29th, 2023 at 4:35 pm
The injury concerns with Lamar don’t concern me as much, because I don’t think we’d be asking him to run nearly as much as the Ravens have…
Cuz ya know, we actually have talented receiving targets for him to throw to, unlike the Ravens.
March 29th, 2023 at 5:42 pm
Bowles didn’t say no to Lamar (super double-negative there), but at least he didn’t say no to Traskfield, either.
March 29th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
Joe, Lamar wouldnt sign for the Carr contract so it’s not possible
March 29th, 2023 at 6:21 pm
Traskfield gets treated unfairly half the time.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:13 pm
Doesn’t matter who the QB is. Bowles can’t coach.
March 29th, 2023 at 11:29 pm
If this is such a bargain, and such a great value. Then why hasn’t someone jumped on the opportunity?
Just because other teams are irresponsible, doesn’t justify following suit.