We went through a list of free agents the Buccaneers may be looking at this off-season. Now it’s time to look at who they should avoid at all costs.
Free agency is a fickle mistress, isn’t it? Fans are always excited for some big name player who comes in on a massive deal and is supposed to get their team over the hump. Sometimes it works. However, sometimes teams shell out astronomical amounts of money for guys that aren’t even worth the league minimum. Albert Haynesworth, Brock Osweiler, Matt Flynn, Nnamdi Asomugha to name a few.
There will be some big name free agents hitting the market and as exciting as the name may be, the Buccaneers need to steer clear of these players. This is for any number of reasons; they will get overpaid, they won’t be worth the contract, they won’t add what the team needs, or they won’t fit into the culture that’s being built.
Some people may disagree – strongly – with some of the names on this list. That’s not to say I’m right and you’re wrong. I could very well have some major swings and misses here. That being said, I’m looking at this from a multitude of angles and these players, to me, aren’t the right players for Tampa Bay.
*DISCLAIMER – As before, there are no Buccaneers that are pending free agents listed. This isn’t about what players the Bucs shouldn’t bring back. This is strictly players from other teams. So don’t be upset when Gosder Cherilus isn’t listed*
Alshon Jeffery – Wide Receiver
He was a hot name at the trade deadline, but signing Alshon Jeffery would be a huge mistake. For starters, he’s going to command far too much money. How are you going to explain to Mike Evans that you can’t afford to give him what his market value is because you spent it on Jeffery and now you want Mike to stay on at a discount? Won’t happen. He’ll go find his big pay day elsewhere.
Next, you have a guy that was just suspended four games for PED’s. If the Buccaneers end up releasing Doug Martin, you’re cutting ties with a homegrown player for a transgression that you’re bringing someone else in after having done the same thing. Not okay.
Finally, Jeffery does not provide anything the Bucs don’t already have. He’s 6’3″ and runs a 4.5 40-yard dash. Not that much faster than Evans. Jeffery doesn’t possess the breakaway speed the Buccaneers truly need to add to their offense.
Ultimately, Jeffery would be a poor signing from the cap number to the message about PED suspensions to the effect it would have the homegrown and developed who would miss out on a potentially well deserved pay day.
Eddie Lacy – Running Back
No. No, no, no, no. The Buccaneers will likely need to address running back. Considering Eddie Lacy would be absolutely insane.
Lacy has become the NFL’s version of Pablo Sandoval. He posts his Instagram photos and tweets about how hard he’s working to get in shape, his P90X regiment, etc. Yet, he shows up to training camp looking like he had McDonald‘s for every meal for three months, plus made it his personal mission to eat an entire cake a day.
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Forget the weight for a minute, though. I mean, Jerome Bettis was never in great shape, but he was a Hall of Fame running back. Lacy started his career with back to back 1,100 yard seasons. Since then? He rushed for 758 yards in 2015 and 360 yards in 2016, having only played five games. He has three touchdowns in the last two years and has been one of the most ineffective running backs in the league.
Spotrac estimates Lacy’s market value at $5.9-Million per year, which is insane when you compare it to Latavius Murray‘s estimated $3.3-Million. Lacy will be 27 by time the 2017 season begins. Not a great combination when you factor age, weight, rapid decline, estimated contract, and injury history. The Bucs need to just stay away.
Donte Whitner – Safety
The 31-year old safety is not going to be the answer for Tampa Bay when they go out looking for safety help. Whitner, since leaving San Francisco in free agency in 2014, has a mere eight passes defensed and one interception. Not acceptable production for a guy who made over $16-million dollars over the last three years.
Whitner is all but done in the league. His style of play leads to more penalties than positive plays for a defense and is a big reason the Redskins gave him the minimum this season. If the Buccaneers wanted a safety who couldn’t cover, couldn’t defend passes, couldn’t force turnovers, and couldn’t add any kind of value to the defense, they could bring back one of their safeties set to hit the free agent market (not naming names…)
The Buccaneers desperately need to address the safety position but looking at anyone outside of Berry in the free agent market has disaster written all over it.
DeSean Jackson – Wide Receiver
Another Redskin makes the list. DeSean Jackson is a game changer with his speed and athletic abilities. There’s no denying that and that’s something the Buccaneers need in the biggest way.
However, when it comes to this game changer, it’s best to let him get overpaid elsewhere. Jackson is 30-years old and about to enter his tenth season. In his nine seasons thus far, he’s played all sixteen games twice. He’s never reached double-digit touchdowns and has scored less than five touchdowns in five of his nine years.
Must Read: John Ross Draft Profile
Jackson is that player where if he doesn’t break off a 60-yard reception for a touchdown, chances are he won’t surpass 60-yards receiving and he won’t score in that game. He’s a hit or miss player that doesn’t provide an actual threat outside of the home run ball.
Jackson is not the number two receiver the Buccaneers need to take the pressure off Evans. He’s a gimmick. Not only that, he’s a gimmick that is going to be sorely overpaid for the game-by-game production he actually provides.
Terrelle Pryor – Wide Receiver
Second verse, same as the first. Terrelle Pryor has set himself up nicely for a BIG pay day. Unfortunately for whatever team signs him, he’s another gimmick player. The guy is big play or bust.
The Browns used Pryor in a multitude of ways to attempt to generate any kind of offense. He was their only threat on offense and he can now use that to catapult himself into a mega-deal from someone.
This was Pryor’s fifth season in the NFL – third season where he primarily played receiver – and he had 1,007 receiving yards on the year. His other two seasons combined? 64 yards. That’s it. Sixty. Four. Yards. And he would take pressure off Evans? Not a chance.
Pryor is a world-class athlete with unbelievable speed. However, he hasn’t proved he’s worth the contract he’s almost certain to get and it’s best the Buccaneers aren’t the dunces on the hook for whatever his outrageous salary ends up being.
He was the best player in Cleveland. That isn’t saying much…
Dre Kirkpatrick – Cornerback
Kirkpatrick was a highly touted prospect coming out of Alabama in 2012. He ended up going 17th overall to the Bengals and many Buccaneers fans were clamoring for him when the Bucs drafted Mark Barron. Tampa Bay has their chance to get him now, but should pass on him – like everyone else already does.
Kirkpatrick has been a huge disappointment in Cincinnati. Kirkpatrick has nine career interceptions in five seasons, getting three in three of the last four years. For those of you into that sort of thing, Kirkpatrick has been consistently ranked towards the bottom of Pro Football Foucs’ cornerback rankings, finishing with a grade of 38.4 and ranking 116th overall – out of 118.
To say he hasn’t lived up to the hype is an understatement. However, given his first round draft position and having played on a defense that has been ranked very high over the past few seasons, Kirkpatrick will likely get a solid deal from a franchise. At the end of the day he won’t help the Buccaneers’ secondary in 2017 or after Brent Grimes leaves. He just isn’t the kind of player to bring in to try and continue to bolster the secondary.
Michael Floyd – Wide Receiver
Another receiver that was a hot name come the trade deadline – then again after his release from the Cardinals following his DUI. I was incredibly vocal about giving him a shot because he genuinely would have been a legitimate threat opposite Evans down the stretch.
Now, after the Buccaneers failed to put a claim in on him and he fell to the Patriots things started to make a little more sense. Jason Licht was in Arizona when Floyd was drafted. He still has friends in that front office and is probably more connected to that franchise than many – possibly all – other general managers are. There’s no chance Licht didn’t make some calls about Floyd when he was released and if he didn’t make a claim, there’s good reason.
Floyd will likely end up staying in New England. Bill Belichick has had insane luck taking on these troubled players – Aqib Talib and Legarrette Blount come to mind right out of the gate – and getting the absolute best out of them. Floyd will likely be no exception to that.
Although Floyd is a great talent and would help this offense, there are too many questions and concerns about the person off the field to risk bringing him into the locker room. Again, the Bucs cut ties with Austin Seferian-Jenkins and may cut ties with Doug Martin for off field problems, so bringing in a guy with similar issues is just in poor taste. Let him get paid elsewhere and someone else can deal with the potential – albeit probable – headaches.
The Buccaneers have plenty of holes to fill and Jason Licht has done an outstanding job overall in bringing in the right guys. Some of his misses you can chalk up to Lovie Smith screaming for signing “his kind of guys” that fit his system. It seems Bucs fans can trust Licht to get the right fits both in terms of on field play and locker room presence.
There’s always that chance the Bucs sign a player that we all believe is the wrong guy or the wrong fit or too expensive, but we have to trust the process that Licht, Koetter and the staff go through to build this team.
It won’t be much longer before free agency kicks off. March 9th may seem like forever away, but it’ll be here in the blink of an eye and the 2017 Buccaneers will begin to take shape.
Next: Buccaneers: Final 2016 Grades
All we can do is hope the right guys come in and the Buccaneers really do get over that hump.