The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have interest in Devonta Freeman
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians met with the media remotely Thursday afternoon and tackled a variety of topics during the press-conference.
First, it should be noted that Arians expressed his hope that people will continue to fight for change in the country when it comes to social injustice. He urged everyone to take action and expressed his support for the protests that have taken place across the country.
Bruce Arians on protests across the country right now: “I love the fact that people are upset and raising their voices. Don’t stop.”
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) June 4, 2020
“I would urge everyone to take action...” - @Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians. @nflnetwork @NFLMedia pic.twitter.com/1vYHkrKpri
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) June 4, 2020
Arians also answered many questions pertaining to the football side of things and one of the most interesting questions had to do with the potential interest in signing free-agent veteran RB Devonta Freeman.
When asked if there was interest in adding Freeman, Arians was very forthcoming. He said that the Buccaneers would have interest, but that his asking price was simply too high currently.
Arians says there would be interest in Devonta Freeman were his price tag not so high. Says the Bucs just don't have that kind of cash.
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) June 4, 2020
Arians confirms interest, but it doesn’t seem promising anything will come of it
This all but confirms what we’ve known for a while.
The Buccaneers were more than interested in bringing in a player of Freeman’s caliber, but they don’t have that much salary cap space- which Arians points out. When you’re on a budget, you don’t necessarily have the capital to bring in another free agent and Freeman is currently out of Tampa Bay’s price range.
In many ways, it’s almost like saying: I’m interested in purchasing beach-front property, but the asking price is too high.
While Bucs fans will continue to hope that Freeman will drop his asking price, the truth is that it simply doesn’t look very promising that the free-agent running back will be in Tampa Bay this season.
In addition to talks about Freeman, Arians expressed interest in running offensive sets with two and even three tight ends as a way to take advantage of the depth Tampa Bay boasts at the position and said that Tom Brady has already proven to be a great leader on the team.