Buccaneers: ESPN free agent predictions won’t leave Tampa fans happy

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell released his ‘free agent domino-effect’ decisions with several implications for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell came up with an interactive ‘free-agency domino-effect’ where fans are able to select a decision and see how that impacts the remainder of the league.

Looking at some of these scenarios, it’s clear that Buccaneers fans won’t be happy with many of the predictions.

Here’s a look at a few of the intriguing dominoes that would affect the Buccaneers, according to Barnwell.

• Philip Rivers signs with Tampa Bay

Barnwell’s first scenario has the Buccaneers signing Rivers to a three-year, $90 million deal with an out. The deal would have minimal guaranteed money after the 2020 season and would allow the franchise an opportunity to pursue another QB next offseason if things didn’t work out.

Obviously, very few people in Tampa circles want to pay Rivers $30 million per year. But this scenario is nothing compared to a few other things we see on this list.

• Melvin Gordon signs big deal with Buccaneers

In another scenario, Barnwell has Tampa Bay signing RB Melvin Gordon to a 4-year, $36 million deal. Bringing Rivers in with Gordon has been something discussed, but the two would be making an average of $42 million per year as they comprised the Tampa backfield.

• Ndamukong Suh signs with New England on a $14 million, one-year deal.
• Jason Pierre-Paul signs with the New York Giants on a 2-year, $32 million deal.

The last couple of scenarios surrounding the Buccaneers have to do with free-agents on the front-seven. If the Giants miss out on the Jadeveon Clowney sweepstakes, the organization could offer JPP a sizeable contract to come back, which may be more than Tampa is willing to give.

Barnwell also has consideration for Suh signing a large deal with Patriots, who will be looking for helping along the interior of that defensive line.

If all four of these things happened- of course they’re all contingent on other things- there would be a portion of the Bucs’ fanbase who would be extremely happy, and another portion who’d be extremely upset.

What would your thoughts be if Barnwell’s dominoes all fell into place and the Buccaneers finished the offseason:

• Signing Philip Rivers at QB
• Signing Melvin Gordon at RB
• Missing out Jason Pierre-Paul sweepstakes
• Moving on from DL Ndamukong Suh