[Old 2020 thread] NFL Free Agency/Trade Rumors:

[Deus Irae]

Isnt he from Wisconsin ?

Absolutely. But he's been playing football in Texas for 10 years, now.

 

[DaBruinz]

My bet is that Watt will sign with Dallas. He'll want to stay close to Houston because he's made a home there and is such a BIG NAME.

 

[DaBruinz]

That was my first thought as well - can you imagine that D Line?

And what are you imagining for a D-line? Suh and Barrett are both UFA. They have about 28M in free cap and only 32 players signed. Gonna be tough to build that D-line unless they get people to take a MAJOR discount.

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

I’d love to see it. But I feel like the Steelers or Packers will get him.

Packers would have to clear a lot of cap space. Their cap space is dicey. They don’t even to pay the rookies right now.

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

And what are you imagining for a D-line? Suh and Barrett are both UFA. They have about 28M in free cap and only 32 players signed. Gonna be tough to build that D-line unless they get people to take a MAJOR discount.

Again brady will be extended. That 28 is not the final number. Brady extension saves about 20 million. Not to to mention they can restructure evans.

 

[JMC00]

And what are you imagining for a D-line? Suh and Barrett are both UFA. They have about 28M in free cap and only 32 players signed. Gonna be tough to build that D-line unless they get people to take a MAJOR discount.

Barrett has 2 rings, he ain't taken a discount

Then you have Lavonte David who is also a FA and has come out and said he wants to be the highest paid LB.

I mean in theory it's cool to say when you're drunk and celebrating you want to maintain the team and do it again but hard thing to do.

One benefit though is no tax in Florida so maybe they let Suh and Barrett walk bring in Watt (on a Revis like deal the Pats did) who is looking for a ring. Retain David and use their 1st rd pick on the top pass rusher left on their board

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

Barrett has 2 rings, he ain't taken a discount

Then you have Lavonte David who is also a FA and has come out and said he wants to be the highest paid LB.

I mean in theory it's cool to say when you're drunk and celebrating you want to maintain the team and do it again but hard thing to do.

One benefit though is no tax in Florida so maybe they let Suh and Barrett walk bring in Watt (on a Revis like deal the Pats did) who is looking for a ring. Retain David and use their 1st rd pick on the top pass rusher left on their board

I would be cautious shelling out money to Barrett. He’s a product of the bucs DL. I would kiss him goodbye. Some dumb team will think he’s a great pass rusher. Where was that in denver? Another thing about David. He’s 31 years old. He’s not a young buck anymore. I expect Tampa to let Barrett go. Get his replacement at 32.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Agreed that despite the players' besotted rhetoric there will be big name turnover on the Bucs this year, as winning the SB promotes a rush to cash in. Cap rich teams have great choices this year in FA. Most, as always, will choose poorly and overpay for names. Those big money sinks plus a shrinking cap means there should be bargains for not-big-name solid quality players.

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

Agreed that despite the players' besotted rhetoric there will be big name turnover on the Bucs this year, as winning the SB promotes a rush to cash in. Cap rich teams have great choices this year in FA. Most, as always, will choose poorly and overpay for names. Those big money sinks plus a shrinking cap means there should be bargains for not-big-name solid quality players.

Players used to cash off us. The boogeyman cashed in but he was average with the dolphins. Flowers has been meh for the lions. He was injured this season.

 

[AlexB]

And what are you imagining for a D-line? Suh and Barrett are both UFA. They have about 28M in free cap and only 32 players signed. Gonna be tough to build that D-line unless they get people to take a MAJOR discount.

They can bring back Suh and either bring back Barrett or sign Watt. Bucs don't have much in dead cap and very little in amortized signing bonuses from previous restructurings (i.e., the stuff that can't be spread out anymore). As a result, there's plenty of ammo for them to create whatever cap space is necessary for whoever they want to sign.

 

[DaBruinz]

They can bring back Suh and either bring back Barrett or sign Watt. Bucs don't have much in dead cap and very little in amortized signing bonuses from previous restructurings (i.e., the stuff that can't be spread out anymore). As a result, there's plenty of ammo for them to create whatever cap space is necessary for whoever they want to sign.

You might want to re-look at their team. While they can restructure some, pushing money to 2022,. they have a TON of players becoming FAs in 2022 as well. Including 3 of their starting O-line.

The players that they can free up money on with just simple restructures are Marpet, Evans and Brate. Each of them have 3 years remaining on their contracts. So you could free up 6M, 8M, and 4M respectively. That would give them $46M roughly. Still not a lot when you consider they need to sign nearly 60 players.

They would have to work out extensions on Brady, Pierre-Paul, Devon Smith, Jensen, Stinnie, Howard, and Gholston because they are all in the last year of their contracts.

 

[AlexB]

You might want to re-look at their team. While they can restructure some, pushing money to 2022,. they have a TON of players becoming FAs in 2022 as well. Including 3 of their starting O-line.

The players that they can free up money on with just simple restructures are Marpet, Evans and Brate. Each of them have 3 years remaining on their contracts. So you could free up 6M, 8M, and 4M respectively. That would give them $46M roughly. Still not a lot when you consider they need to sign nearly 60 players.

They would have to work out extensions on Brady, Pierre-Paul, Devon Smith, Jensen, Stinnie, Howard, and Gholston because they are all in the last year of their contracts.

I have looked at their team. So what if they push money to 2022? They're in a Super Bowl window. Next year they can push more to 2023, etc. Bucs should be doing what the Saints have been doing recently. They're not trying to manage a team for 20 years like what the Pats have been doing.

Yeah, they'd need to work out extensions to get cap savings, and I think they'll be able to do so. But worst case, if for whatever reason they can't come to an agreement, they can always add in voidable years to spread the cap hit out instead. While players would need to agree to that, they're not being hurt in any way by accepting (just will be getting their base salary upfront), plus the savings is being used to surround them with more talent. Again, this is just the worst case scenario - the preference is to sign a real extension.

 

[drewskie]

I have looked at their team. So what if they push money to 2022? They're in a Super Bowl window. Next year they can push more to 2023, etc. Bucs should be doing what the Saints have been doing recently. They're not trying to manage a team for 20 years like what the Pats have been doing.

Yeah, they'd need to work out extensions to get cap savings, and I think they'll be able to do so. But worst case, if for whatever reason they can't come to an agreement, they can always add in voidable years to spread the cap hit out instead. While players would need to agree to that, they're not being hurt in any way by accepting (just will be getting their base salary upfront), plus the savings is being used to surround them with more talent. Again, this is just the worst case scenario - the preference is to sign a real extension.

I think the Bucs will be able to retain everyone they want. The only real question mark to me is Shaq Barrett because someone is going to throw the bank at him. Luckily for the Bucs, ring chasers galore are ready to join the Tompa Bay Avengers.

 

[50-yard-line]

Barrett has 2 rings, he ain't taken a discount

Then you have Lavonte David who is also a FA and has come out and said he wants to be the highest paid LB.

I mean in theory it's cool to say when you're drunk and celebrating you want to maintain the team and do it again but hard thing to do.

One benefit though is no tax in Florida so maybe they let Suh and Barrett walk bring in Watt (on a Revis like deal the Pats did) who is looking for a ring. Retain David and use their 1st rd pick on the top pass rusher left on their board

Sigh...no tax in Florida...

Players pay taxes in states where they play road games, so in the final analysis, you're talking about a couple % difference to playing in MA. And when you're talking about millions of dollars, that isn't a bad day on Wall St.

 

[Rob0729]

Barrett has 2 rings, he ain't taken a discount

Then you have Lavonte David who is also a FA and has come out and said he wants to be the highest paid LB.

I mean in theory it's cool to say when you're drunk and celebrating you want to maintain the team and do it again but hard thing to do.

One benefit though is no tax in Florida so maybe they let Suh and Barrett walk bring in Watt (on a Revis like deal the Pats did) who is looking for a ring. Retain David and use their 1st rd pick on the top pass rusher left on their board

I think the Bucs will need to franchise either David or Godwin.

But the Florida tax thing isn't as big of a thing as people make it. I am pretty sure if a player lives away from Florida in the offseason, they have to pay taxes in their state. So if you are a permanent Massachusetts resident and you play for the Bucs, you still pay Mass tax.

 

[holyredeemer]

If Watson holds out his price will probably drop.

The team needs to take a stance. If the reports are true, you trade him for a kings ransom, or let his ass sit and pout. He had a chance to be free and go to whatever team he wanted, instead, he decided to sign that dotted line.

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

You might want to re-look at their team. While they can restructure some, pushing money to 2022,. they have a TON of players becoming FAs in 2022 as well. Including 3 of their starting O-line.

The players that they can free up money on with just simple restructures are Marpet, Evans and Brate. Each of them have 3 years remaining on their contracts. So you could free up 6M, 8M, and 4M respectively. That would give them $46M roughly. Still not a lot when you consider they need to sign nearly 60 players.

They would have to work out extensions on Brady, Pierre-Paul, Devon Smith, Jensen, Stinnie, Howard, and Gholston because they are all in the last year of their contracts.

The cap will likely be going up and not down so it doesn’t make a difference. Going up in 2022. We saw all those free agents but the majority of them don’t even play half of the snaps.

 

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

The team needs to take a stance. If the reports are true, you trade him for a kings ransom, or let his ass sit and pout. He had a chance to be free and go to whatever team he wanted, instead, he decided to sign that dotted line.

The texans might burned themselves. No way. He’s getting traded before the draft or near the draft.

 

[luuked]

The team needs to take a stance. If the reports are true, you trade him for a kings ransom, or let his ass sit and pout. He had a chance to be free and go to whatever team he wanted, instead, he decided to sign that dotted line.

As long as the franchise tag exists no player -- except the ones who have enough leverage to negotiate it out -- is "free to go to whatever team". Especially not great QBs.

 

[patsfanincleveland]

Agreed that despite the players' besotted rhetoric there will be big name turnover on the Bucs this year, as winning the SB promotes a rush to cash in. Cap rich teams have great choices this year in FA. Most, as always, will choose poorly and overpay for names. Those big money sinks plus a shrinking cap means there should be bargains for not-big-name solid quality players.

The 4 high cap space teams are Jacksonville/NY Jest/Indianapolis and us.

Tampa is seventh highest currently. Although overthecap has something called "effective cap" that drops that by half. There is not alot of cap space and cutting extending only gets you so far.

One would think they have enough to patch something together because nobody is breaking the bank on anything.

BB should be able to re-make 2021-2 based on guys wanting to retest when one think the cap goes up again

Overall, the Pats should be better 2023 under this as teams enter cap hell from extensions thinking the cap returned.