Must not be a very big contract, TB is pretty close to capped out per Spotrac numbers. But maybe they will be making other moves.
2020 NFL: Offseason News and Notes
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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Big potential reward at minimal cost. Per Rapoport: 1-year deal worth a max value of $3.5M, source said. He gets a $2M base salary and incentives are based on rush yards & play-time. Plus, with no off-sets from his #Jaguars deal, Fournette can double dip if he wins his grievance & add $4.2M.
If I’m a 25 year-old RB, I’m not leaving any money on the table but the opportunity is obviously great.
Brady
Fournette
Evans
Godwin
Gronk
Howard
I mean...goodnight. OL or a sharp Brady decline is only thing stopping that train.
That's about as good a set of skill position players as you're gonna find. Brady must be looking at this compared to last year and think he's gone to heaven.
A shaky OL in front of a pocket QB could be the equivalent of a defective transmission in a Porsche.
We know that lesson all too well. If I’m opposing DCs, I’m bringing the heat on a 43 year-old QB and seeing if he is still processing reads as quickly as he did in NE.
The interior OL in TB is really good. Tackles are a bit more of a question mark, but they used a first on Wirfs and Brady makes them look better anyway. He's had worse OLs in NE.
Have to give Tampa credit, it's become quite a sports town, they could realistically end up with three championships this year in hockey, baseball and football.
Pretty amazing.
I know they draw more flies than people for the Rays, but isn't that more to do with the stadium they play in and where it's located?
Do the Lightning and Bucs draw well, I'm really not sure?
The Lightning drew the 5th most fans per game this year in the entire league, at 18,922 (99.7% capacity).
The Bucs drew 51,898 fans per game in 2019 (79.1% capacity), which put them at #30 in the league.
Makes sense, since the Lightning were really good and the Bucs weren't. The Rays definitely have a crap stadium and it's in St. Pete, not Tampa.
It's way harder to win with a "super team" in the NFL. Tampa might end up being great. Or they might not be. Lots of really good teams in the NFC for them to contend with, and if they get through all that, likely have Baltimore or Kansas City to deal with in the Super Bowl.
Thanks for the information; any idea how ticket sales were going for the Bucs after they signed Brady pre COVID?
My moral code follows the TB12 Method, so I’m ok with things that benefit my team, but I always thought BB was anti-tanking because it instills a loser’s mentality that’s hard to shake.
We just saw this with the Rams. That team looked virtually unbeatable on paper in 2018, but they lost to the Pats in a weird, defense-heavy SB, took a step back last year, and are likely to take another step back this year thanks to their cap situation, among other things.
I highly doubt TB will be bad, but that's far from a guarantee they'll be a shoo-in for the Super Bowl, and Tampa's cap situation is such that it will probably be pretty hard to improve the team much more during their Brady era if things don't work exactly as hoped.
No idea. I just looked up the info on ESPN.com. I gotta believe they were on track to sell a lot more tickets. If nothing else, that team is going to be very fun to watch.
But if no one sees it, Is it really tanking?
Do the Bears shit in Chicago ?
I think 2020, at best a transition year, and one that will be revenue challenging, is a decent time to cut costs, get the cap in good shape, and better position the team to rebuild with some juicy picks in 2021, 22, etc.
The Rams were certainly on paper, but mostly home grown or trades weren’t they?
I think the more apt comparison is the 2011 Eagles, since that had a lot of big name FA signings to add to their core. I think it was Babin that called them the ‘Miami Heat of the NFL’.
TB looks sick, but a lot can go wrong quick with a 43 year old QB, in a new system for first time in 20 years and as noted above a not top notch OL. Brady has nothing really to work with but he did start to show his age last year.
Adrian Peterson just got released. No, I'm not suggesting the Patriots sign him. But there are worse backs in the league. Last two seasons:
462 att, 1,940 yds, 4.2 avg, 37 rec, 350 yds, 13 td total
No idea what he'd command as a price, but he's still a pretty decent player. He'll catch on somewhere, I would think.
462 att, 1,940 yds, 4.2 avg, 37 rec, 350 yds, 13 td total
No idea what he'd command as a price, but he's still a pretty decent player. He'll catch on somewhere, I would think.
I think people are getting a little carried away with this super team talk.
Fournette was a guy that just got cut and that any team could have had with a $4M salary for a 7th rounder.
I think he's a decent RB, depending on potential attitude issues, but it's not a like the guy had a large bidding war and then signed for the vet minimum to chase a ring.
Fournette was a guy that just got cut and that any team could have had with a $4M salary for a 7th rounder.
I think he's a decent RB, depending on potential attitude issues, but it's not a like the guy had a large bidding war and then signed for the vet minimum to chase a ring.
Fournette is very good when healthy. He had 1700 yards from scrimmage on a team with no QB and mediocre WRs. Now, he gets the GOAT, Evans/Godwin, Gronk/Howard/Brate, etc. to create opportunities for him.
There is age/injury risk for Brady/Gronk but the talent of their skill position players is unreal. And the defense has plenty of talent with guys like Suh, Vea, JPP, White, David, Winfield Jr., etc.
It’s about as super of a team as you can get with the cap limitations. We’ll see how it all plays out. Lots of new pieces to integrate.
Re: the Bucs, most sportsbooks have their O/U at 9.5, which is below about seven other teams. You can quibble with that precise placement (Steelers at 10 wins seems high to me, for example), but I think as a general matter it accurately reflects the perception, which is that the Bucs are a very good team in the upper echelon of the NFL but there's a ton of uncertainty and they have a pretty tough schedule so penciling them in as an obvious top-2 seed or even a division winner would be premature at this stage.
Apparently most teams either disagree or don't think he's healthy.
Most of those guys were there pre-Brady, I was mainly referring to the comparison to NBA teams and guys signing cheap deals just to chase a ring.
The Bucs are largely a stars-and-scrubs sort of team - lots of marquee skill-position players people have heard of, and a lot of weak spots in positions that the average fan pays much less attention to. Their realistic range in a normal season might easily run anywhere from 6 to 12 wins. (This not being a normal season, who knows?)
The stars-and-scrubs model can work, of course. But I'm not ready to crown them in the NFC South, let alone the NFL as a whole.
The stars-and-scrubs model can work, of course. But I'm not ready to crown them in the NFC South, let alone the NFL as a whole.
I think it’s more that most teams don’t need RBs. Agree that this hasn’t been a super team grouping like in NBA but is when you look at the skill position guys. They have Pro Bowl level talent across the board.
6 to 12 wins is way too big of a spread for a normal season imo. Last year they went 7-9 with largely the same group and Winston turning the ball over at a record pace. The advanced stat and scouting communities loved their defense with the exception that their secondary is only average at best and they rely a lot on getting pressure from their front 7 which is elite and could get even better as their rookie contract guys improve.
You can't be loaded everywhere. They are not great at OT, RB, CB, and S. OT though they could be fine though if Wirfs hits. He hit a bit of a snag transitioning from RT to LT but this isn't fucking Madden where you can just switch a tackle and he goes from a 94 to a 92. Brady also, as others have pointed out, can mitigate a bad tackle situation somewhat. I actually think LF is a massively overrated RB. I don't think much of Rojo, the corpse of Shady, Vaughn and the rest of that group. I don't think it really matters though because RB is not important when the rest of your O minus OT is stacked.
Corner-wise Carlton Davis and SMB are either average or above average. Dean played out of his mind last year. Now they might not be household names but they played at an above average level last year from the couple games I looked at this off-season. PFF seems to agree FWIW.
Safeties are a mess. No sugar-coating it. HOWEVER, they did just draft Antoine Winfield Jr., my FS1 and binkie, and he has crushed it in camp. He's crushed it so much they are already teaching him multiple DB positions. If he hits? The only weak spot in their secondary in strong safety. Oh and CB depth isn't great.
I think stars and scrubs is misleading. It's mostly stars/good-to-great-players at every single position, some solid above average starters, and a 2-3 below average starters. Depth is a mixed bag but their depth situation isn't noticeably worse than average. If this team doesn't win at least 9 games I'd be shocked.
Winston threw the league worst 30 picks last year and fumbled 12 times. He also took 47 sacks which is slightly below average (edit meaning he took more sacks than average). Brady threw 8 picks, fumbled 4 times, and took 27 sacks. He's also way more accurate. I have money on them winning more than 9 games.
@Conigliaro's Potential friendly charity bet? Since you proposed 6-12 wins as your outcome if they win 6, 7, 8, or 9 games I will donate $25 to the charity of your picking. If they win 10, 11 or 12 you donate $25 to the ACLU or United Negro College fund (UNCF) - your choice.
Terrific weapons with a questionable O line demands that you attack the O line, doesn't it, whether or not the QB has lost anything. Doesn't mean you call jail break blitzes down after down but you do something almost every down.
If you want to switch the bet around, sure. But I'd take the under on 9.5 wins - I think it's possible that everything clicks and Brady looks revived and the Bucs become an offensive juggernaut, but I think it's much more likely that they struggle to gel following this weird offseason and they are on everyone's list of disappointments at the end of the year. So we're on the same side here.
I am on the over - I think they will win the SB this year. My top 3 teams are Chiefs, Ravens, and Bucs. I like GB, NO, SF, SEA, and DAL just below them. I will take the over. You take the under. Loser has to be the one to make the donation. Winner picks where they donate to or gives the loser a choice of charities. Mine are the United Negro College Fund and the ACLU.
Good luck to your Falcons this year!
Oh, I read your post backwards - sorry about that! So yeah, I'll take the bet...which means now I have multiple reasons to root against the Bucs this year.
Two points of clarification:
1) Obviously if they win more than 12 games you still win the bet, and vice versa if they win fewer than 6 games.
2) If the season is shortened so that Tampa Bay plays fewer than 16 games in total, the bet is null and void.
Agreed?
Two points of clarification:
1) Obviously if they win more than 12 games you still win the bet, and vice versa if they win fewer than 6 games.
2) If the season is shortened so that Tampa Bay plays fewer than 16 games in total, the bet is null and void.
Agreed?
1) Yes if they win more than 9.5 I win and if they win less than 9.5 (say 4 games for example) you win.Oh, I read your post backwards - sorry about that! So yeah, I'll take the bet...which means now I have multiple reasons to root against the Bucs this year.
Two points of clarification:
1) Obviously if they win more than 12 games you still win the bet, and vice versa if they win fewer than 6 games.
2) If the season is shortened so that Tampa Bay plays fewer than 16 games in total, the bet is null and void.
Agreed?
2) With the exception that if the season is like 13 games and they go 11-2 I still win the bet or if the season is 13 games (just an example) and they go 2-11 you win the bet. You know what I am saying? If they either exceed 9.5 wins in a shortened season or if the season ends and even if they won all the games they canceled they still wouldn't break 9.5 wins you win.