“Todd, we already have the next Chris Jones on the roster. I can feel it.”
Joe has, unlike many, maintained the Bucs took two steps back in free agency.
That’s not what you want to see from a team that finished with a losing record and watched the playoffs from their couches, just like you and Joe.
Arrow pointing down.
Joe frankly does not know how anyone can say the Bucs improved by letting a Hall of Fame receiver and your best cornerback bolt to teams where they boasted they’re chasing another ring.
Not good.
Gilberto Manzano of SI.com isn’t as harsh as Joe in his grade, giving the Bucs a “C+” for free agency. However, Manzano typed that to him, it’s clear how the Bucs could end up winning free agency: If the young Bucs receivers step up and make Bucs fans forget Mike Evans.
The Buccaneers have plenty of depth at wide receiver to account for the loss of Evans. Still, they’re going to need their young playmakers to grow up in a hurry, remain available and play consistently throughout the season. On the other side of the ball, a subpar defensive front needed help. Robinson and Muhammad aren’t star players, but they’re dependable veterans who will provide plenty of flexibility for Todd Bowles’s defense.
Joe got to thinking yesterday that maybe Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht won’t draft an edge rusher at No. 15.
It’s not that the Bucs don’t need an edge rusher. Good golly, they need one so, so badly. But let’s think this through.
Now does Joe think Licht is a little premature hyping a guy coming off knee surgery who not only has never taken a snap in a game, but has yet to complete a padded practice? Yeah, Joe thought Licht was a bit much in hyping David Walker at the combine.
(Joe guesses last year it was Chris Braswell’s offseason to get hyped and now it’s Walker’s turn.)
But let’s say Licht really was fully sincere that the Bucs are sitting on the next Bruce Smith. Licht (thankfully) just signed a double-digit sack guy in Al-Quadin Muhammad who also has a bunch of tackles for loss.
Well, if you draft an edge rusher at No. 15, who sits? The rookie? The new guy you just paid (AQM)? Or the guy you’ve been hyping, Walker? In theory, you want a No. 15 overall pick to be on the field, regardless of his position.
If we are to believe that Licht really does believe Walker is the second coming, why would Licht then draft a guy at No. 15 who, at best, would take snaps away from Walker?