What do the Buccaneers do about free agent Brandon Myers?
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The Buccaneers, as well as the rest of the NFL, have their eyes on March 9th. Why? Because after the Combine is complete, this is the next big date on the calendar. Free agency begins on March 9th at 4:00 PM ET. It’s at that time, the feeding frenzy begins. Where are the names going to end up? The plot begins to unfold then.
But first, there is work to do on the home front. We have mentioned it before, but according to Spotrac, the Bucs have 17 unrestricted free agents. That’s a high number of decisions that need to be made in the coming days and weeks.
So what are we going to do? We are going to make the decisions for Jason Licht! Of course, it’s what we do.
We have been going over the Bucs free agents, and recommending who should stay and who should go. In this morning’s spotlight, we are looking at Brandon Myers.
Why Myers Should Stay
We talk all the time about depth. Every team needs solid depth behind their core starters. Cameron Brate has emerged as one of Jameis Winston’s favorite targets and the clear starting tight end. But as far as the depth chart goes, Myers brings eight years of experience, which goes a long way in helping a young team learn how to win.
The team will always be rooted in running the football if Dirk Koetter has anything to say about it. You need a stable of blockers, including tight ends that can be rotated in, to be able to sustain a running attack. Myers does fit the bill even though he may not be as good as Luke Stocker.
As a weapon in the passing game, he is no slouch either. He does stand at 6’4″, a perfect stature to help Winston out in the red zone and take pressure off of Mike Evans. Take a look at his career stats (Pro Football Reference):
| Games | Receiving | Rushing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% | Rush | Yds | TD | Lng | Y/A | Y/G | A/G | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | AV |
| 2009 | 24 | OAK | te | 83 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 4.8 | 0 | 6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 66.7% | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 2010 | 25 | OAK | te | 83 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 80 | 6.7 | 0 | 16 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 75.0% | 80 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 2011 | 26 | OAK | te | 83 | 16 | 7 | 27 | 16 | 151 | 9.4 | 0 | 24 | 1.0 | 9.4 | 59.3% | 151 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2012 | 27 | OAK | TE | 83 | 16 | 16 | 105 | 79 | 806 | 10.2 | 4 | 29 | 4.9 | 50.4 | 75.2% | 806 | 4 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
| 2013 | 28 | NYG | TE | 83 | 16 | 14 | 76 | 47 | 522 | 11.1 | 4 | 27 | 2.9 | 32.6 | 61.8% | 522 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |||||||
| 2014 | 29 | TAM | te/wr | 82 | 14 | 6 | 32 | 22 | 190 | 8.6 | 0 | 26 | 1.6 | 13.6 | 68.8% | 190 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2015 | 30 | TAM | fb/te | 82 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 12 | 127 | 10.6 | 0 | 17 | 1.1 | 11.5 | 70.6% | 127 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2016 | 31 | TAM | te | 82 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 59 | 8.4 | 1 | 12 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 50.0% | 59 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Career | 115 | 63 | 293 | 199 | 1954 | 9.8 | 9 | 29 | 1.7 | 17.0 | 1954 | 9 | 1 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| 4 yrs | OAK | 58 | 28 | 154 | 111 | 1056 | 9.5 | 4 | 29 | 1.9 | 18.2 | 1056 | 4 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 3 yrs | TAM | 41 | 21 | 63 | 41 | 376 | 9.2 | 1 | 26 | 1.0 | 9.2 | 376 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 yr | NYG | 16 | 14 | 76 | 47 | 522 | 11.1 | 4 | 27 | 2.9 | 32.6 | 522 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
You will notice that Myers is not far removed from a 47 catch season with the Giants. His peak was just one year before that with the Oakland Raiders. He may not be a starter anymore, but look at his catch percentage. He consistently brings in more than 50% of his targets, even since he has been with Tampa.
He is pretty reliable.
Why Myers Should Go
It certainly wouldn’t be a reach to assume that Myers has never been a major part of the Bucs plans. Look at his targets. Since he arrived in Tampa, he has never been targeted more than 32 times, and that was the first year in town. The numbers have declined ever since, to a mere 14 targets in 2016. That is not exactly a preferred weapon in the passing game.
According to Pro Football Focus, Myers was on the field for a total of 398 offensive snaps. That is barely more than half of the snaps credited to Brate (705). If we are looking at run snaps, Myers was on the field for the least amount of all of the Bucs tight ends (192). That begs some questions. Does Myers practice poorly? Does the coaching staff trust him? Despite some success on the field, he doesn’t come into the game much. There has to be a reason.
The Bucs have been mentioned with names at the tight end position in the upcoming draft as well. O.J. Howard and David Njoku have both been mentioned as possible selections with the 19th pick. Both players are noted as weapons that would pair nicely with Cameron Brate and do a lot to take the heat off of Mike Evans. If the focus is on college tight ends, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that the focus is off of Brandon Myers.
The Decision
It’s always an interesting debate when talking about depth chart players. It’s not as if they take a great financial commitment. According to Spotrac, his average annual value was $2,125,000 under his last contract. With the middle of the road performance, the Bucs could likely keep him at around the same salary. He would be a cheap re-sign, and one that would add ability around Winston and another piece on the depth chart.
On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like Myers is in the plans for Tampa anyway. As much ability as he has, the numbers speak for themselves. He doesn’t appear on the field very often, normally behind Cameron Brate and Luke Stocker. He may not practice well, or he may just not be at the level of the other players at the position. Even Alan Cross saw time at the position last year. Whatever the reason is, Koetter has not seen fit to put Brandon Myers in the game very often, and that is telling.
In the end, that should be the deciding factor.
Next: Bucs in the DeSean Market?
DECISION: LET MYERS GO
Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.