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Joe is on the ground in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine! Damn, it’s cold around here.
It was a smooth trip made a lot more interesting by the Bucs’ coaching staff joining Joe on the flight.
Over the next handful of days, count on Joe delivering interviews with Bucs and NFL movers and shakers, as well as from various draft prospects and so much more.
Of course, Joe also will continue to deliver you all things Bucs 24/7.
ProFootballTalk.com creator/guru Mike Florio and the folks at NBC Sports looked at the Bucs’ offseason roster and declared that drafting a quarterback is a major priority. “You have to draft a quarterback,” Florio explains.
Joe can’t jump on that bandwagon.
Yes, it would be intriguing and possibly beneficial for the Bucs to use a 2013 mid-round pick on a quarterback, but this team has much greater needs. Joe’s long thought the desired “competition” for Josh Freeman is a bunch of hot air and needless. If Freeman cant lead a winning team and/or look like a guy who could be a Super Bowl winning quarterback next season, the last on his contract, the Bucs are sure to part ways and retool the offense. Better to address QB in 2014, if (and hopefully not) necessary.
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Look, Joe loves the thought of Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis wearing pewter and red and making Bill Sheridan and Greg Schiano look like blitz-crazed geniuses next season.
But has the world forgotten that Revis tore his ACL five months ago? It’s starting to seem that way.
New York-based NFL Radio host and NFL.com analyst Adam Schein is the camp that brushes off concern about Revis’ knee. Yesterday for NFL.com, Schein had the nerve to suggest that the Bucs would trade two first-round picks for Revis.
Tampa Bay makes a lot of sense. The Buccaneers have plenty of cap room. Coach Greg Schiano loves Revis’ style. GM Mark Dominik needs a winning season. Revis is very marketable, and there are a ton of New York transplants living in Tampa. That’s important to the Glazer family. Could the Jets get a first-round pick this year and next in exchange for Revis? Tampa would pay him. A win for everyone.
Joe would be nauseous if the Bucs coughed up two first-rounders and gobs of cash for Revis. That’s a massive huge roll of the dice for a team that may not be so close to moving into the NFL’s elite. Joe would give up nothing more than a first round pick, and even that seems like a bit much.
As for Team Glazer desiring to market to “New York transplants,” tbat’s pure nonsense thrown out there by Schein. There’s no evidence of that and it doesn’t make any sense.
What does intrigue Joe is Revis having played under new Bucs special teams coach Dave Wannstedt at Pittsburgh. Wannstedt and Schiano are tight, and Revis might just be the “Buccaneer Man” cornerback in the Schiano mold.
Yes, the NFL Scouting Combine starts tomorrow, an event Joe likes to call “The World’s Largest Indoor Track Practice.” Others like to call it the “Underwear Olympics.” Whatever, it’s not football.
But it is the site of the best offseason football chatter outside of the draft — thanks to the NFL marketing geniuses. The NFL trots out hundreds of potential draft picks in one spot over four days for NFL writers to fill their notebooks and radio stations (such as SiriusXM NFL Radio) for four days. General managers and head coaches, and many other coaches, are there and available for rare offseason interviews.
To sort of kick off these events, NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock held a conference call to talk draft. He said he believes two defensive ends many people have going in the top 10 may still be sitting there at No. 11, via a press release from NFL Media.
Q. Mike, I’d like to ask you if there is any pass-rushing depth at the defensive end position around 30 where the Falcons will be picking. A lot of folks think tight end, but wanted to check on the D-end talent, the late first round, early second round?
Mike Mayock: Yeah, I have a little different opinion than what I’m hearing a lot of people have on these quote 4-3 defensive ends. I’m not as high on these guys as some people are.
For instance, I don’t think Bjoern Werner or Damontre Moore are top 10 players. They might go in the top 10, but I don’t see it that way. As you start dropping down later, what happens is Ezekial “Zeke” Ansah from BYU, he’s got as much upside as anybody in this draft. I don’t think he gets to [pick number] 30.
A couple other names to keep an eye on, whether it’s the first round or a little later after that. Tank Carradine, the quote “other” defensive end at Florida State who had a medical issue, he probably had first-round talent. He’s probably going to go in the second or third round, and somebody’s going to get a steal with this kid because of his natural upside. Alex Okafor from Texas is a second or third-round guy.
Now this gets Joe totally pumped. Joe has stated on the record more than a few times that he has a strong hunch that if there is a defensive end sitting at No. 13 that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik believes can provide an immediate pass rush, then Dominik will grab him.
Given Dominik’s habit of picking defensive linemen early, this isn’t much of a stretch. Now if somehow, someway, the Baron of Berlin, Bjoern Werner, is still there at No. 11, Joe would not be shocked in the least if Dominik makes a trade up to nab him. If the Bucs were able to land Werner, Joe would be giddy drunk for days on end!
Moore, of Texas A&M, is a guy some have speculated would slip to the Bucs at No. 13.
Mayock also made a great point about Carradine. He was widely regarded as Florida State’s best defensive end, not Werner, prior to the 2012 season. Carradine suffered a knee injury against Florida and was lost for the season.
If his knee checks out, wow! What a steal he could be in the third round, if he even lasts that long.
Bucs defensive end Da’Quan Bowers leaves a New York City jail late Monday after being collared for possession of a pistol at LaGuardia Airport yesterday morning.
Sometimes, Joe enjoys the hubris of some. Take attorneys who represent clients. In this case, said attorney is Dennis Coppin, who represents Bucs defensive end Da’Quan Bowers.
Yesterday, Bowers admitted to a US Airways clerk at LaGuardia Airport in Queens he was packing heat in his carry-on bag. This practice is frowned upon by New Yorkers, very much so in fact, and Bowers was slapped with a felony charge and locked up for the better part of Monday.
But in an e-mail to the Tampa Tribune, Coppin declares Bowers will walk away from these proceedings free as a bird, so reports Woody Cummings.
“After a full and fair investigation of the facts and circumstances regarding this registered firearm Mr. Bowers will be fully exonerated,” attorney Dennis Coppin wrote in an email to The Tribune on Tuesday.
That’s much easier said than done. As Joe pointed out yesterday after speaking to a former Manhattan prosecutor and current defense attorney in the Big Apple, Bowers and his counsel are going to have to disco dance through legal hoops for Bowers to walk on these charges.
Just like player agents, Joe is always suspicious of hired-gun attorneys boasting of their client’s innocence. Why? Well, have you ever heard an attorney say of his client, “He was caught with the bloody glove and we are throwing ourselves at the mercy of a jury of his peers for lenience?”
Of course not. Lawyers and agents have agendas, and Joe has no issue with that. Part of said agenda is putting up a desired front.
Phil Loadholt would be a massive addition
Here’s what we know about the Bucs’ right tackle position:
1) Overpaid free agent Jeremy Trueblood is sure to have a new address
2) Demar Dotson is barely starting caliber
3) Greg Schiano wants to run the football
4) Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has only drafted one offensive lineman in four years (he was cut) and prefers to not draft them
So given how much Schiano wants competition, and right tackle is the weakest link on the offensive line, you can safely bet the position will be addressed this offseason.
That’s a good thing, writes 98.7 FM host and draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski. The Commish explains it’s a buyers’ market at right tackle.
Bottom Line: Mark Dominik and the Bucs have invested a lot of money into their offensive line with the resigning of Donald Penn and Davin Joseph, and the addition of Carl Nicks in free agency. With that investment, the Bucs have not settled on a true right tackle. With the amount of offensive tackles available, it should be a buyers’ market and teams looking for a tackle could get a good deal. I think the Bucs should inquire about Andre Smith and Branden Albert, but I’d be fine if the Bucs ended up with Sebastian Vollmer or Phil Loadholt. With the physical style the Bucs like to use on offense, Loadholt might be the best target. He’d also give the Bucs the biggest offensive line in the NFL. #FGU
Top Free Agents: Jake Long (MIA), Branden Albert (KC), Ryan Clady (DEN), Andre Smith (CIN), Sebastian Vollmer (NE), Phil Loadholt (MIN), Gosder Cherilus (DET)
Loadholt is an interesting cat. He’s gargantuan, listed at 6-8, 343 pounds. And in a breakdown yesterday of Vikings free agents, Vikings beat writers at the Star-Tribune called Loadholt “a mauler” in the running game.
Joe would love to have another true mauler on the line. One great way to close out games is to run the football, rather than what Schiano did against the Eagles, set up a punt and rely on your league-worst secondary.
Superagent Drew Rosenhaus told Joe he’s not talking about Michael Bennett’s contract negotiations
Joe talked to oily yet very cordial superagent Drew Rosenhaus this morning, but Rosenhaus said he won’t comment on Michael Bennett’s contract negotiations with the Bucs, or anything related to Bennett. So that leaves Joe to speculate.
Given the fresh legal troubles of Da’Quan Bowers, who could get sacked big time by New York City courts, it’s reasonable to wonder whether that situation will affect the Bucs’ approach to re-signing Bennett. He’ll be on the open market in 21 days if the Bucs don’t ink him to a new deal or tag him as a franchise player before the March 4 franchise deadline.
Joe has to think Bowers’ gun shenanigans won’t radically change the Bucs’ plans but will at least make them a little more likely to franchise Bennett. They simply can’t afford to lose Bennett for 2013. Per BSPN, Bennett played a stunning 84 percent of defensive snaps, and every Bucs fan knows he played well. The Bucs aren’t good enough or deep enough to wave goodbye to Bennett. Plus, they have the cash to spend.
While the franchise tag would cost the Bucs in the neighborhood of $10.5 million for 2013 — and inflated rate for Bennett — it at least lets them avoid guaranteeing Bennett $20 million over, say, three years, which is likely what he’d be seeking in a new contract.
Joe has no clue how this might shake out, and Joe couldn’t press Rosenhaus into any hints.
In the wake of Bucs defensive end Da’Quan Bowers getting pinched for having a loaded gun at LaGuardia Airport in New York yesterday, details about the arrest as well as what Bowers could expect from the State of New York are leaking out.
Of course, Joe already dove into the legal hurdles Bowers must climb in order to avoid jail time altogether.
Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Kerry Burke of the New York Daily News had a gripping blow-by-blow of what went down at LaGuardia Monday morning with Bowers.
Bowers — a second-round draft pick in 2011 who played college ball at Clemson University — was collared after he waltzed up to a US Airways check-in counter about 10:50 a.m. and told a ticketing agent he was packing a Smith & Wesson, authorities said.
The New York Post reports Bowers had the gun in his baggage on the flight to New York and didn’t realize it until he arrived at his hotel.
For those who fly regularly or infrequently, when checking bags, agents are asked if you have any dangerous items or firearms. Bowers, honest yet naively, stated, yes he did.
Next thing you know, Bowers was hauled away in cuffs.
Now Bowers was charged with the very same thing NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress was slapped with and he spent the better part of two years in the hole.
But as Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com and a former practicing attorney, points out, the circumstances are night and day.
Still, prosecutors could regard Bowers’ case differently. Burress took his gun into a Manhattan nightclub, securing it in the waistband of his pants and having it discharge in the building. Though he only shot himself, the end result could have been much worse.
Bowers, if he’d known the severity of the New York law, could have found a way to get rid of the gun short of handing it over and essentially confessing his guilt. Throwing the book at him seems grossly unfair.
Sal Paolantonio, of ESPN, writing when Burress was arrested, noted that nearly 24 percent of those convicted of a lesser felony possession charge didn’t serve a day in prison, but 24 percent spent one year in jail.
Indeed. Burress put many innocents at risk with his reckless decision. Bowers put no one at risk, and thought he was doing the right thing by telling a ticketing agent of the firearm, surely hoping to learn how to properly check the gun for travel.
If this case goes to trial, and the Burress trial is any barometer, Joe would be shocked if it took place before the end of the 2013 season.
Aside from a few mandatory court appearances, Joe cannot see Bowers missing any playing time as a result this season, barring the long arm of NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell getting involved.
Joe’s exploration of New York public records reveals that Da’Quan Bowers has posted bond and was released from jail this evening following the felony weapons possession charge slapped on him this morning.
His next court date is April 11, right around the time the Bucs will report back to One Buc Palace and begin their offseason program. Per Joe’s chat with a Manhattan defense attorney, Bowers likely will have to be present for all of his court appearances.
A New York defense attorney weighs in on how Da’Quan Bowers might avoid getting sacked
Attorney Jeremy Saland, of Manhattan criminal defense firm Crotty & Saland, was kind enough to go deep with Joe into the prospects for Da’Quan Bowers in New York City court. Reports out of New York have Bowers arrested early today at a LaGuardia International Airport ticket counter. Felony criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree is the charge.
Saland spent seven years as a prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office before spending the past six years in criminal defense, so Joe’s confident his information is excellent.
Saland said there’s an excellent chance Bowers could have his serious felony charge “deviated downward,” aka reduced. The following questions/factors, per Saland, will be keys to Bowers not landing in prison.
1) Was the gun legally obtained and registered properly in Bowers’ home state? Saland said the answer to those questions will be most critical in determining whether Bowers can get leniency out of the Queens district attorney’s office.
2) Was Bowers attempting to legally check the firearm? Or was he taking it through security improperly?
3) Was the gun actually loaded or only “statutorily” loaded?
4) Does Bowers have a criminal record?
Saland went on to say that “collateral consequences” for the individual can be a factor in determining a prosecutor’s willingless to lessen a charge. A school teacher, for example, whose career could be ruined by certain convictions, could have that fact taken into consideration.
Will the Queens District Attorney try to make an example out of Bowers because he’s a celebrity?
“Queens is very reasonable. They will look at this case on it merits,” Saland said. “There’s no reason to think that would happen.”
Because the charge is considered a violent crime, Saland said, it’s likely Bowers will have to physically attend all his court appearances.
Joe, like every other Bucs fan, has his fingers crossed that Bowers’ gun was obtained and registered properly. If not, he quickly could become an answer to a Bucs trivia question, rather than a menace to NFL quarterbacks.
If found guilty of the current charge, Bowers faces a 3 1/2 year minimum sentence.
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Additional news is trickling in about the Da’Quan Bowers gun escapade in New York this morning.
In case you haven’t read, Bowers was pinched for having a not-quite loaded firearm at LaGuardia Airport this morning, which, in so many words, the long arm of the law in New York frowns upon greatly.
The firearm in question was in a carry-on bag.
Now, per USA Today’s Mike Garafalo, Bowers alerted airport security that he had the gun in his bag; it was not detected by security, Garafolo noted on Twitter.
@MikeGarafolo: Spokesman for Queens DA confirms Da’Quan Bowers’ arrest. Says he did not try to go through security with the gun. … Bowers told the folks at the counter he had a gun in his bag when he checked in, Queens DA spokeswoman said.
Joe would hope someone in Queens in authority can look at this and come to the conclusion Bowers, though misguided, meant no harm.
Look, Bowers told authorities of the firearm before it passed through security. Though Bowers was charged with a felony, Joe hopes a judge can see there was no malice intended nor implied.
More details are emerging in what has to be one of the most foolish moves by a Buccaneer in a long time.
Per the New York Post, Da’Quan Bowers’ gun arrest today was at a US Air ticket counter but the “loaded” gun wasn’t really loaded.
A muscle-bound NFL lineman was busted at LaGuardia Airport today for packing a loaded .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol.
Da’Quan Bowers – a second-year defensive end for the Tampa bay Buccaneers – was arrested at 11 a.m. at a US Air ticket counter as he was about to board a plane for North Carolina.
Sources believe Bowers arrived in New York with the gun on Friday, and was carrying the piece and a clip with eight rounds in a carry-on bag.
“The two of them were in the same bag, under the law it’s considered a loaded gun,” the source said.
Joe gets tight gun laws, but calling a weapon loaded when it’s not ridiculous. What next? Could Joe claim he fornicated with Rachel Watson when Joe and she only shook hands?
Bowers was arrested while checking in for a flight with a loaded gun.
Da’Quan Bowers, a defensive end for the Buccaneers, was arrested at a check-in counter after he was found with a loaded .40 caliber firearm in his carry-on bag, spokesmen for the Port Authority and the Queens District Attorney’s office said. He was about to board a US Airways flight to Raleigh, North Carolina.
The former All-American player was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. A spokesman for the Buccaneers said Bowers is currently declining to comment as the organization investigates.
He’s scheduled to appear in court Monday evening.
Now Joe has dealt with Bowers many times and he’s been gracious with Joe and very kind and cooperative. Joe really believes Bowers is a smart guy.
However, forgetting you had a loaded rod with you walking into an airport — in New York, no less — is just not thinking.
Yes, the Bucs need a cornerback desperately. So much so that Joe wouldn’t be shocked if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik selected two corners in the first two days of the draft.
Some believe the Bucs also have a hole at tight end, a pressing need. So how could the Bucs take care of both corner and tight end in the draft? This question was posed to Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune in a recent TBO Bucs Q&A.
Q. So lets say the bucs draft either Xavier Rhodes or Dee Milliner at DB. Do you see us trading back into the first round with one of our 4th round picks and our only second round pick, and take Tyler Eifert at TE?
Tee Ware, Plantation
A. I can definitely see a scenario like that playing out. It fits the pattern that GM Mark Dominik has followed in the past in terms of adding more premium picks and your selections fill what I see as the two biggest areas of need right now. The only thing I see differently than you is the order in which the Bucs might pull off such a deal. Based on the way the draft is shaping up right now, I don’t see them getting Milliner at No. 13, but I do believe they will have a shot at Eifert there. Then they can possibly work a deal to get a cornerback, possible Rhodes, either in the second or late in the first round.
Woody Cummings
Here is where it gets interesting: Today, in his must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” on SI.com, Peter King spoke with Mike Mayock who doesn’t believe many — if any — teams will trading up in the draft because of the void of top-shelf talent. While the draft is deep at many positions, such as corner, there are few players that stand head and shoulders above the rest.
If teams are having a difficult time trying to trade down, as King believes because few teams will want to trade up, Dominik just might be able to trade back up in the latter stages of the first round (much like he did last year when he procured Doug Martin).
That is, after he drafts Xavier Rhodes.
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NFL Network was way off the mark
Joe knows many Bucs fans are outraged when the team is disrespected by national media.
Sometimes it’s hypersensitivity; sometimes not. Joe’s rarely annoyed by such things, though Joe must confess he was somewhat pissed when highlight shows across major networks, including the Man Channel, NFL Network, focused on how Cam Newton lost in Tampa last opening day, rather than on how the Bucs and the New Schiano Order burst onto the scene.
For those who track such things, NFL Network delivered a puzzling State of the NFC South segment last week. The seven-minute video completely ignored the Bucs, except for a brief graphic display (gee, thanks) and a joking reference to Mike Shula, who’s now the Panthers’ offensive coordinator.
Knowing how these features are thoroughly are scripted, Joe’s rather surprised the NFL Network producers said, essentially, screw the Bucs.
Joe wonders whether this who-cares attitude will be adopted by TV executives when it comes time to decide whether to put the Bucs on national TV in 2013.
He’s unlikely to be a Buccaneer for long, but Eric Wright isn’t acting like it. He’s certainly been talking the talk on Twitter, and also via his website.
In a recent entry titled, The Learning Curve and Having Perspective, Wright wrote about Greg Schiano being completely focused on the ways of the New Schiano Order and not the won-loss column.
It was a matter of coming in and building a culture where winning is expected, hard work is expected and the process is more important than the results. He wanted to focus on the process and not the result, and I think we took things like that into consideration as far as helping us get to where we want to be.
Joe read this and couldn’t help but remember Schiano going wild to the secondary, and specifically Anthony Gaitor, against Atlanta during the final game of the season. He was screaming various forms of “Do your job.” It was like Schiano’s end-of-the-season, last stand for the “process.”
Schiano said multiple times last season how much more he would be able to accomplish in the 2013 offseason because his team would come in knowing the “process” of the New Schiano Order, and new players — draft picks and free agents — would be able to adapt faster because most of their peers could help show them the way.
Joe can’t wait to see it, coach. Your team returns in about seven weeks.
Much to Jeremy Trueblood’s chagrin, it is highly unlikely he gets slapped with a franchise tag by Mark Dominik.
Counting down the hours until the world’s largest indoor track practice, the NFL scouting combine, means we are nearing the end of the silly season.
The NFL silly season is when fans, desperate for football news in the dead of winter and still fighting off the hunger pangs for football developed since the end of the Super Bowl, try to determine who signs who and who drafts who and who gets slapped with a franchise tag.
Enter the creator, curator and overall guru of Pro Football Talk, the great Mike Florio. The new star of NBC Sports cobbled together an exhaustive list of who may be or could be or should be hit with a franchise tag from every team in the NFL.
And yes, Florio offers a couple of suggestions for Bucs fans. A tag may/could/should be placed on either defensive end Michael Bennett or right tackle Jeremy Trueblood.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs plans to spend on keeping their own guys. When it comes to using the tag, it’s a toss-up between tackle Jeremy Trueblood and defensive end Michael Bennett, or neither.
Now knowing Florio and his sarcasm and wit, Joe thinks he was having fun with Bucs fans and was just being a wiseacre to suggest Trueblood could/should/may get hit with a franchise tag. Joe’s confident Trueblood has played his last snap in a Bucs uniform. He got Wally Pipp’ed by Demar Dotson, a cool guy, a hard worker, but not exactly the best run blocker in the NFL.
Is Dotson valuable on the bench? You know it. Is he an above average starter? Well, not really. This is why some people, including “The Godfather,” Gil Brandt, think Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik drafts a right tackle in the first round.
This video really warmed Joe’s heart. Bucs fans can take great pride in undrafted cornerback Leonard Johnson. The pride of Largo High has been busy this offseason. Alex Halsted, of Iowa State News, tells the story.
Congratulations, Leonard.
Joe’s friends at Ed Morse Auto Plaza in Port Richey are at it again with their incredible discounts on Mazdas.
This time it’s $500 off any new Mazda, now through Presidents’ Day!
You know you must shop for a vehicle this weekend, so don’t blow it by forgetting about Ed Morse Auto Plaza. Joe bought his pre-owned Ford Fusion there two years ago and it hasn’t need a repair since.
Joe likes talking about the draft (not the combine; but the draft) almost as much as he likes talking about the virtues of Rachel Watson.
But mock drafts before free agency are, in many ways, like shooting darts blindfolded. Until the siren beginning free agency blasts on the afternoon of March 12, Bucs fans won’t know every player available, and who is out there very well could determine how a team drafts a month later.
Take the Bucs and Wes Welker, for example. Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, speaking on “The Fabulous Sports Babe Show” last week on WHNS-FM 98.7, seemed to imply Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik was possibly eyeing Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert. Cummings, rightfully, acknowledged that the Bucs’ two main areas of need (right now) are cornerback and tight end. Since the cornerback talent in the draft is three-rounds deep but not necessarily top-shelf heavy, Dominik could elect to pull the trigger on a tight end at No. 13 with Eifert.
But if Wes Welker is available as a free agent, that could change Dominik’s draft strategy, Cummings told The Sports Babe.
“Here is something to think about: I think the guy they will target is Wes Welker as a slot receiver. That’s the one thing they don’t really have,” Cummings said. “If they pitch Wes Welker as a slot receiver, a very dependable slot receiver, they can leave [Vincent] Jackson on the outside and leave Mike Williams on the outside and all of a sudden you have to worry about three very dynamic receivers on that offense. If they do that, they can probably get a tight end of lesser value who is more of a blocker who helps more in the run game and not so much as a pass target. It just opens up that area of the field more and gives you some other options. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t bring back a Dallas Clark or draft a Tyler Eifert. I think Wes Welker is a guy they are going to look at. I may be wrong, but if you are looking at putting more weapons in Josh Freeman’s cache, I have to think that will do it. If he has that kind of a guy to throw to over the middle of the field and the other two guys working the outside, all of a sudden it gets pretty darn hard to defend the pass.”
All valid points by Cummings, but the first thing Joe thought is, ‘Just how many toys does Josh Freeman need to be successful, geez?’
Of course, all of this is moot if the Patriots and Bill Belicheat tag Welker again with the dreaded franchise label. Though it doesn’t seem as if Belicheat will tie up that much cash to a 32-year old slot receiver.
Cummings didn’t mention this, but if the Bucs do target Welker as a big-money signing, it also speaks to how there aren’t really any big fish out there among free agent corners. Some solid ones, but none to break the bank over.
In other words, cornerbacks that are available through free agency are more budget buys this winter.
This is the predicament the Bucs now face: Perhaps no team needs corners more than the Bucs, but there are few top-shelf corners available in free agency, and even less first-round talent in the draft.
