Tampa Bay Buccaneers Official 2023 Off Season Thread

[Navybuc]

How would you feel if they traded something like a second and a fifth for Mac Jones and it was Trask and Jones fighting for the number one spot next season?

No right or wrong answers. I am curious though.

I’d love Mac Jones here, but I think NE wants Bill O’Brien to work with the kid. I actually think he’ll be fine there with O’Brien but they have to give him some WRs to throw to.

[BucsNBills]

Mac Jones did worse than Daniel Jones

[King Bootz]

Mac Jones did worse than Daniel Jones

Mac was injured for part of the year and also had defensive assistants coaching him and calling plays. He got better after he healed up a bit.
1st 7 games: 4 TDs/7 INts
Last 7 games: 10 TDs/4 INTs

[mdb1958]

Mac Jones did worse than Daniel Jones

Mac was injured for part of the year and also had defensive assistants coaching him and calling plays. He got better after he healed up a bit.
1st 7 games: 4 TDs/7 INts
Last 7 games: 10 TDs/4 INTs

I think low turnovers and running for 700 yards looks better. I hope they don't get dumb with this swing for the fence crap.
I wanna see a mobile QB with our receivers - the less price the better.

[King Bootz]

Mac was injured for part of the year and also had defensive assistants coaching him and calling plays. He got better after he healed up a bit.
1st 7 games: 4 TDs/7 INts
Last 7 games: 10 TDs/4 INTs

I think low turnovers and running for 700 yards looks better. I hope they don't get dumb with this swing for the fence crap.
I wanna see a mobile QB with our receivers - the less price the better.

Mac is mobile. Daniel is probably in the top 1% of athletes at the QB position. He’s more lethal on the ground than Jalen Hurts and honestly is almost as fast as Lamar Jackson on the football field.

[Moozician]

How would you feel if they traded something like a second and a fifth for Mac Jones and it was Trask and Jones fighting for the number one spot next season?

No right or wrong answers. I am curious though.

If we are going to "get right," we need all the draft picks we can get. DON'T get a veteran, start Trask. Trade high cap dollar players out. Trade for picks. Get some cap relief.

I'n sure that management knew that we had a window that was going to slam shut as soon as Brady left. Trying to salvage with old veterans and struggling to a 6-11 season still leaves us in cap hell. Rebuild. End up 3-14, get a top 5 pic, and start from there.

[Babeinbucland]

Agree but I don’t want to lose Mike Evans no matter what.

[Doctor]

Again... I reject the window slamming shut argument.

We've been building this window for years. Tom Brady wasn't the window. He came and took advantage of our great window. Of the OL, WRs, and defense OBP assembled. Are parts being moved? Yes, parts are always being moved.

Lets say we extend Evans and LVD two years and start Trask. We suck and the groupies rejoice as we get QB savior Caleb Williams.

Does someone want to tell me why a team with Godwin/Evans, a star QB on a rookie deal, this defense can't compete in 2024?

[Snake]

The window is closed until further notice. The GOAT just went 8-9 in by far the worst division in football. Then got BTFO by the Cowboys.

[BucsNBills]

The window is closed until further notice. The GOAT just went 8-9 in by far the worst division in football. Then got BTFO by the Cowboys.

Yeah, until we get a viable answer at QB, there isn't even a window to open. We're irrelevant and non-competitive.

[Doctor]

Again, say we get Caleb or Lamar off a FT in 2024... why can't this team keep competing? We're in very similar shape to how we were in 2019 but for some reason every has decided the only direction to go is down.

[Snake]

It’s highly contingent on getting a great QB, and preferably a great HC. Unless a miracle happens, we don’t have either of those in 2023. And being mediocre instead of bad in 2023 lowers the chances of getting a great QB in the following draft.

Sure, there’s a chance they strike gold in this draft and get the next Brady. But, it seems like Trask and FA is the current path.

[_MB_]

Agree but I don’t want to lose Mike Evans no matter what.

Don't believe that shit. He's not going anywhere unless he wants to.

[mdb1958]

Agree but I don’t want to lose Mike Evans no matter what.

Don't believe that shit. He's not going anywhere unless he wants to.

bibl better get her custom ME doll made now. Not saying when he will go, I'm saying the longer you wait to get that doll made the more it's gonna cost.

[mdb1958]

We got three picks in the top 155, after that we need to inform them that they have a shot at being a starter. I would extend this offer to UDFA's also.

[Miller4Prez64]

The window is closed until further notice. The GOAT just went 8-9 in by far the worst division in football. Then got BTFO by the Cowboys.

All the players people keep gassing up for reasons why we are still good have all passed the peaks of their careers except for Winfield and Wirfs. Like, Mike Evans is forever a Tampa legend but he was complete and total ass this season besides one game. People seriously expect a bounce back with a downgrade at QB and Mike now hitting 30?

Honestly, the window shut after Bowles botched the Rams playoff game in 2021. This past season showed us that it was already shut.

[Cheb]

The window is closed until further notice. The GOAT just went 8-9 in by far the worst division in football. Then got BTFO by the Cowboys.

All the players people keep gassing up for reasons why we are still good have all passed the peaks of their careers except for Winfield and Wirfs. Like, Mike Evans is forever a Tampa legend but he was complete and total ass this season besides one game. People seriously expect a bounce back with a downgrade at QB and Mike now hitting 30?

Honestly, the window shut after Bowles botched the Rams playoff game in 2021. This past season showed us that it was already shut.

I am not ready to throw in the towel on Mike Evans. Dude can still ball with the best of them.

Moreover, Mike has drawn CB1s and double coverage since his sophomore year in the league when he surpassed Vincent Jackson. And he still draws that kind of defensive attention today. The minute Evans leaves, Godwin gets all that coverage thrown his way, and lord help the number 2 guy behind him.

One could argue, and rightly so I feel, that we are going to be in big trouble when Evans leaves and would have to throw a lot of resources at receiver to make up for his absence. Accelerating that inevitable day by choice is wild to me.

More to the immediate future, having Mike Evans on the outside is going to help our new starting quarterback next season, no matter who he ends up being.

Long story short, I'd rather have Mike Evans moving forward than a second round pick (or whatever he would command in a trade) as his replacement.

[Miller4Prez64]

I’m not saying get rid of Evans. The dead cap hit makes that impossible and I want him going for a 10th straight 1K season here if he can do it. But he’s without a doubt no longer in his prime and not up there with the best WRs in football like he used to be. Relying on him to be the top guy in an elite passing game won’t work anymore.

[King Bootz]

Mike Evans ain’t going nowhere.

Edit: What @Miller4Prez64 said. That dead cap hit is very large.

[BucsNBills]

I don't think Evans can just brute force production on his own anymore. He's about to turn 30 and needs some help. Last year we just couldn't punish teams for doubling Mike like we could with AB and Gronk on the field.

Which means we may have to commit the cardinal sin of looking at receivers in the first round this year. Someone like Zay Flowers could not only give us a skillet we don't have but also reintroduce the Pick Your Poison nature of our offense.

We don't have to use the 1st on a receiver but it should at least be considered. We just don't have a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball. Saying we have Evans and Godwin just doesn't mean the same thing it used to a season or two ago.

[King Bootz]

If the Bucs are smart, Evans is extended. Add 2-3 years to his deal at a fair price. He’s shown he’s more than willing to help out in the contract dept and has been a reliable, valuable player for this organization.

[Naismith]

The Bears would never do it, but I’d offer Evans, this year’s first and next year’s first for #1, if the team loves any of the QBs.

[Snake]

If the Bucs are smart, Evans is extended. Add 2-3 years to his deal at a fair price. He’s shown he’s more than willing to help out in the contract dept and has been a reliable, valuable player for this organization.

100%. Fair price and agree to retire a Buccaneer. It needs to happen.

[Kona]

If the Bucs are smart, Evans is extended. Add 2-3 years to his deal at a fair price. He’s shown he’s more than willing to help out in the contract dept and has been a reliable, valuable player for this organization.

I think this is the likely scenario, extension helps the cap # this year and keeps our best offensive player in team history here through retirement.

[mdb1958]

Doesnt every extension add guaranteed money to the player

[King Bootz]

Doesnt every extension add guaranteed money to the player

Yes

[Doctor]

I'm surprised people aren't trying to sell off Mike Evans.

[Snake]

I'm surprised people aren't trying to sell off Mike Evans.

LVD and Evans are Buccaneers through and through. There isn’t an analytic for lore, or legendary careers. It’s ineffable.

I personally find it valuable and think them retiring as career Bucs would be cool. I hold Ronde in a different esteem for that. Not sure about others.

[mdb1958]

Doesnt every extension add guaranteed money to the player

Yes

In 2024 Mike is already guaranteed 38,258,000. What? Print out another 25,000,000?

[King Bootz]

Yes

In 2024 Mike is already guaranteed 38,258,000. What? Print out another 25,000,000?

In 2024, Mike is a free agent. He has a dead cap of $12.2mil because that year voids. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

[mdb1958]

We owe about 120,000,000 mil to 4 players in 2024.

[King Bootz]

We owe about 120,000,000 mil to 4 players in 2024.

Fiction

[mdb1958]

Well darn it tell them to quit lying.

[Cheb]

I'm surprised people aren't trying to sell off Mike Evans.

LVD and Evans are Buccaneers through and through. There isn’t an analytic for lore, or legendary careers. It’s ineffable.

I personally find it valuable and think them retiring as career Bucs would be cool. I hold Ronde in a different esteem for that. Not sure about others.

Agreed.

I think the NFL should institute a "Legacy tag," wherein a single player who has been on the team for 7 or 8 years has their cap number become discounted. Let's say player X makes $20 million a year, but the team chooses to use their Legacy tag on him because he's a franchise cornerstone, so the team gets a 20-40% discount on that number. The player gets paid the same, the team saves 4-8 million on the cap, and it gives an incentive to keep aging players who you want to still keep around. One could only do this for one player per season, so that people couldn't just hoard all their aging vets.

Feel free to adjust those numbers around a bit, but I think something like that would be wildly popular.

[_MB_]

LVD and Evans are Buccaneers through and through. There isn’t an analytic for lore, or legendary careers. It’s ineffable.

I personally find it valuable and think them retiring as career Bucs would be cool. I hold Ronde in a different esteem for that. Not sure about others.

Agreed.

I think the NFL should institute a "Legacy tag," wherein a single player who has been on the team for 7 or 8 years has their cap number become discounted. Let's say player X makes $20 million a year, but the team chooses to use their Legacy tag on him because he's a franchise cornerstone, so the team gets a 20-40% discount on that number. The player gets paid the same, the team saves 4-8 million on the cap, and it gives an incentive to keep aging players who you want to still keep around. One could only do this for one player per season, so that people couldn't just hoard all their aging vets.

Feel free to adjust those numbers around a bit, but I think something like that would be wildly popular.

That would immediately be used to pay monster contracts.