Searching For Vets
June 4th, 2020
Looking for seasoned pros.
If the Bucs do go out and add more players, if a prospective player is a rookie, he may have a hard time getting an offer.
In a Zoom conference call this morning with the local pen and mic club, Bucco Bruce Arians was asked for what positions he may want to look for depth (more on that in a moment). Arians basically said adding a(nother) rookie free agent won’t be a priority.
With the offseason trashed by The Sickness, Arians wants players who don’t need to be taught how to be a pro because time is both precious and limited.
Arians said he will look at “veteran players who can be role players,” Arian said. “That also can help special teams. That understand how pros practice with all of this missed time.
Bucs general manager “Jason [Licht] and I have made a concerted effort to save some roster spots for that to see if this [offseason] really happens the way it is happening. That we can find maybe who is ever available, under the cap, and find some veteran guys who know how to practice and know how to play the game instead of bringing in undrafted free agent rookies.”
And the price has to be right in the Bucs’ minds.
It was interesting for Joe to hear how much Arians plans to lean on veteran players. The logic is smart, which makes Joe wonder if reps in training camp will be scaled back for Bucs rookies, or if they will actually get more snaps in training camp and preseason games to accelerate their learning curve.
Could we see guys like Tyler Johnson and Antoine Winfield and Ke’Shawn Vaughn be playing full preseason games? Joe doesn’t believe Mike Evans or Chris Godwin need many snaps in preseason, even if Evans disagrees.
June 4th, 2020 at 12:18 pm
Key phrase, “Under the cap”.
June 4th, 2020 at 1:57 pm
Gee, we have the largest coaching staff in the entire NFL, but now Arians is saying he don’t want to have to coach anyone.
WTF ?
June 4th, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Think about it. No rookie minicamp, etc.
June 4th, 2020 at 5:18 pm
I don’t know about you guys but I think we have our team already.
We could use a little depth on the DL…that’s always the case..If Gholston and Anthony Nelson come through we should be fine and who knows if Khalil Davis might eat up some reps.
This team is ready to rock start the freaking music already.
June 4th, 2020 at 5:35 pm
Chris, that’s not at all how I took that.
If the players aren’t getting coached up, we will hear about it from the players.
June 4th, 2020 at 6:42 pm
Questions I have:
1) Do we have a backup to Vita Vea at NT yet? Khalil Davis isn’t as big as Vea or Beau Allen, the backup last year.
2) Does Anthony Nelson have the bend to be an effective pass rusher from the OLB spot? It’d be nice if he was the next Carl Nassib, but if not maybe he could add some weight and be Suh’s replacement next year.
3) Do we have anything with Quinton Bell, Cam Gill, and/or Michael Divinity? Bruce Arians said he wants the backups to be able to play special teams, that didn’t sound like a glowing endorsement for signing Clay Matthews, IMHO.
June 4th, 2020 at 7:01 pm
Joe
Not sure there IS a backup for Vea. He’s a freak…6-4 350
Davis isn’t that size but he is the same weight as Suh at an inch shorter..he’s 308.
I’m not arguing your point as much as observing you’re correct but I suspect it’s only gonna get worse as Vea gets better and better. Any replacement for him will be a falloff.
I’ll be happy if Davis gives Suh some rest.
June 4th, 2020 at 7:08 pm
Stpetebucsfan: I thought the Bucs would sign a 320/330 pound UDFA NT, so maybe Davis is the guy/possible guy at backup NT.
June 5th, 2020 at 3:57 am
You know, one of the biggest problems in the NFL is there is no devotion anymore. You guys are mentioning Suh, JPP and David, as if they are
meaningless.
These are Buccaneer players that we love man. You talk like they are stocks and bonds. Dude the day is coming when the money won’t matter and thankfully so because to read you greedy people makes me ill. I love SUH man why do we have to replace anybody. They get hurt they heal they got a back up get a life.
June 5th, 2020 at 4:09 am
As far as Coach Arians. I figure he is thinking the way old Al Davis thought.
Al Davis’s Raiders were all about Vets. The more experienced the better.
I guess the idea behind it is the more experience you have surrounding a team, the smarter and better the team will be. Could work. Depends on who you get. You should be able to strike very good deals on talent recently retired.
GO BUCS!!!
June 5th, 2020 at 1:38 pm
Well, I see one poster would’ve signed Demar Dotson to a lifetime contract. He is a great guy, good player in his day. The reality is players like Suh get older, there is a salary cap, Suh will probably want to retire anyway soon. You think of any of that?
June 5th, 2020 at 8:55 pm
Arians wanting to lean on vets more than rookies is only because of the shortened off season, with vets and less of a learning curve meand more impact right away, we are in win now mode, we don’t have time to give the rookies the first half of the season to get up to speed. We need a fast start and work our rookies in through the season. Giving them game experience as it allows.