Bucs Notes: Brady, TEs, OL, Free Agency
Tom Brady‘s transition to a new team in advance of his 21st NFL season has obviously been less than ideal, with the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the future Hall of Famer from working with teammates and coaches at the Buccaneers‘ facility. The first time the soon-to-be 43-year-old quarterback is expected to be permitted to enter his new team’s facilities will be training camp. But the Bucs do not plan to compensate for this by giving Brady more preseason work. Bruce Arians said Thursday he doubts Brady will need more preseason time to make up for the virtual offseason, per Greg Auman of The Athletic (on Twitter). Still, Brady’s preseason snaps figure to be more important than usual this year.
Here is the latest out of Tampa:
- Arians has not gotten much out of the tight end position during his stay as head coach in Arizona and Tampa. That should soon change. The Bucs currently house an all-time tight end stable, with Rob Gronkowski joining the team’s O.J. Howard–Cameron Brate duo already regarded as one of the NFL’s best. Arians said the Bucs will use a two-tight end offense as their base this season (via Auman, on Twitter). Going with more “12 personnel” looks would give Howard and Brate more time on the field and potentially represent an effort to conserve Gronkowski, who retired partially because of injury issues last year. This also points to the Bucs giving stronger consideration to keeping all three tight ends rather than trading Howard or Brate. Arians even said he’s interested in three-tight end looks.
- Tampa Bay is not expected to make a move to add interior offensive linemen to back up starters Ali Marpet, Alex Cappa and Ryan Jensen, Arians added (via Auman, on Twitter). The Bucs did not draft any guards or centers, but Arians likes what he has seen from backups Aaron Stinnie, Anthony Fabiano and Zack Bailey. A fifth-year blocker, Fabiano is now on his eighth team. Stinnie was a 2018 Titans UDFA; Bailey was a Bucs 2019 UDFA who spent much of last year on IR.
- However, the Bucs are keeping multiple roster spots open for possible veteran additions. Arians said (via Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com, on Twitter) he and GM Jason Licht discussed saving room for veterans who would be more prepared to play than rookie UDFAs. With Brady on a two-year deal, Tampa Bay stockpiling vets would make sense.
Devonta Freeman’s Asking Price Too High For Bucs
Interest in former Falcons RB Devonta Freeman has picked up significantly over the past couple of weeks. Atlanta released Freeman on March 16, and there were no public reports of interest in his services for some time, but the Jets, Eagles, Seahawks, and Buccaneers have recently kicked the tires on the two-time Pro Bowler.
Seattle ultimately filled its RB need by signing Carlos Hyde. The club submitted a one-year, $3MM pitch to Freeman, but when he did not sign, the Seahawks pivoted to Hyde, who landed a one-year pact worth up to $4MM with incentives. Philadelphia and Tampa have yet to pick up a veteran RB to add to their stable, and unless Freeman’s asking price comes down, he will not be joining up with the Bucs.
Tampa head coach Bruce Arians says his club would have interest in Freeman if his price tag wasn’t so high (Twitter link via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times). The way he phrased that statement is interesting, because an earlier report from Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Enquirer suggested the Bucs had made an offer to Freeman, who was considering that proposal along with one he received from the Eagles. Arians’ statement today implies that Tampa either never made an offer or else is not willing to further engage until Freeman lowers his demands.
The Bucs were rumored as a potential landing spot for an RB upgrade earlier this offseason, as their depth chart is currently topped by 2018 second-rounder Ronald Jones, who had an up-and-down season in 2019 after a disastrous rookie campaign. GM Jason Licht has expressed confidence in Jones, but the team was looking for a pass-catching back to complement him, and Licht did pick up two RBs in the draft: Ke’Shawn Vaughn (third round) and Raymond Calais (seventh). Freeman profiles as a potential upgrade for a team that suddenly has Super Bowl aspirations.
For his part, Freeman recently shot down rumors that he is considering sitting out the 2020 season. He appears to be aiming for a 2020 payout closer to the one that he was scheduled to receive from the Falcons (about $8MM), but that’s likely not coming his way, as he is now two years removed from his last effective season.
Coaching Staffs Permitted To Return To Facilities
As expected, the NFL has issued a memo authorizing coaching staffs to return to their team’s facilities tomorrow, June 5, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). Rapoport passes along the relevant portion of the memo in a separate tweet.
The league further noted that teams can have up to 100 people in their facilities at any one time (subject to state and local regulations, of course). As of right now, only players undergoing medical treatment are permitted in the facilities, as has been the case. However, the memo did note that the league will continue working with team medical staffs to implement testing for coaches and other club personnel prior to green-lighting the return of players.
Despite some earlier rumblings that the league would try to squeeze in a belated minicamp, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reiterates that the focus remains on getting coaches and players together for the scheduled start of training camp in July, not minicamp (Twitter link). Indeed, we have heard previously that some coaches would not take advantage of a minicamp even if one was authorized, and Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians said his players will not be at team facilities before training camp (Twitter link via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times).
That may be the case for most teams. As Mark Maske of the Washington Post notes (via Twitter), the NFL has left open the possibility of having players return on a limited basis later this month, but the union would have to agree to that, and it does not seem inclined to do so. In addition, multiple coaches tell Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com that they will remain away from facilities until training camp, in spite of today’s memo (Twitter link).
Still, this is a positive step towards the business-as-usual goal that the NFL has espoused all along. At this point, it appears as if only the 49ers‘ coaches will be unable to access their facilities tomorrow (Twitter link via Rapoport). Santa Clara County has been slower to lift restrictions than other Bay Area counties, as Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets, but the team is in communication with local authorities to obtain the necessary permission as soon as possible.
Longest-Tenured GMs In The NFL
When we ran down the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, we found that less than half of the league’s current coaches have been in their positions for more than three years. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there have been plenty of changes in recent years.
A handful of general managers have gotten to take their coats off and stay for a long while. Among coaches, Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003. Here, you’ll see that five GMs have been with their teams since before ’03 (Belichick, of course, is also on this list). Two of those five – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, and Saints, have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.
Here’s the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured GMs, along with the date they took over the job:
- Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
- Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
- Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000[4]
- Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
- Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006[5]
- Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
- John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010[6]
- Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
- John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011[7]
- Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
- David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
- Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
- Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
- Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
- Ryan Pace (Chicago Bears): January 8, 2015
- Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016
- Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions): January 8, 2016
- Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016
- John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017
- Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017
- Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017
- Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017
- Marty Hurney (Carolina Panthers): July 19, 2017
- Dave Gettleman (New York Giants): December 28, 2017
- Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
- Mike Mayock (Oakland Raiders): December 31, 2018
- Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
- Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019[8]
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020[9]
- Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 28, 2020
Footnotes:
- Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
- Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
- Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
- Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
- Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
- While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
- Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.
- In 2018, the Ravens announced that DeCosta would replace Ozzie Newsome as GM for Ozzie Newsome after the conclusion of the season. The Ravens’ ’18 season ended with their Wild Card loss to the Chargers on 1/6/19.
- Technically, the Redskins do not have a GM, as of this writing. Rivera is, effectively, their GM, working in tandem with Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith. Smith may receive the GM title in the near future.
Trade Candidate(s): Buccaneers’ O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate
To say that the Buccaneers are stacked at tight end would be a gross understatement. Even before the Bucs reunited Tom Brady with longtime teammate and bro Rob Gronkowski, they had the formidable 1-2 combo of O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate. Weeks after the draft, the Bucs still have that ludicrously talented TE trio in place. Logically, at least one of them probably has to go…and it obviously won’t be Gronk. 
The Buccaneers listened on trade offers for Brate and Howard towards the end of last month, but they didn’t get any offers to their liking. Publicly, the Bucs said they were okay with having all three TEs on the roster. Then, before the early May deadline, they exercised Howard’s fifth-year option for 2021. This doesn’t automatically mean that Brate is the odd man out, or that they’ll commit a total of ~$20MM to the position. Howard’s option – guaranteed for injury only – doesn’t hamper the Bucs’ ability to trade him. Also, this surplus of TEs would be opulent, even by Brady’s standards.
Howard, ostensibly, holds more trade value than Brate. The Alabama product hasn’t lived up to his first-round billing, but he’s flashed serious ability and uncommon athleticism for a 6’6″ receiver. The Bills saw that first-hand last year, as Howard went off for six catches, 98 yards, and two scores in Buffalo. And, roughly one year earlier against the Eagles, he got nearly as many yards, just with better efficiency – three catches for 96 yards, mostly thanks to a 75-yard connection with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Teams aren’t sleeping on Brate, either. It’s true that he’ll turn 29 in July (Howard won’t be 26 until November), but he’s a proven playmaker and blocker. Between 2016 and 2017, he averaged 52 catches for 625 yards and seven TDs. After that, the Bucs rewarded him with a six-year, $41MM deal, including $18MM guaranteed. He’s been slowed by a surgically-repaired hip, but he’s more than a year removed from the operating table. It also helps that the Bucs restructured his deal in January. The exact terms of the restructure aren’t clear, but he’s probably on the books for less than the $4.5MM in guaranteed dollars he was slated for.
Howard wouldn’t be especially pricey for other teams, either – his rookie deal calls for a 2020 cap hit of just $3.5MM. The Bucs, meanwhile, would carry a $1.5MM charge for trading him.
The Bucs didn’t find any worthwhile deals for them in April, but interest should pick up between now and September. Even after drafting Cincinnati’s Josiah Deguara in the third round, the Packers could use a high-end TE to pair with Marcedes Lewis. The Bengals may also want to give the Bucs a call as they look to surround Joe Burrow with extra artillery. The list goes on. Depending on the asking price, the Bucs could have a market of 20+ teams for either Howard or Brate.
Longest-Tenured Head Coaches In The NFL
Things move fast in today’s NFL and the old adage of “coaches are hired to be fired” has seemingly never been more true. For the most part, teams change their coaches like they change their underwear. 
A head coach can take his team to the Super Bowl, or win the Super Bowl, or win multiple Super Bowls, but they’re never immune to scrutiny. Just ask Tom Coughlin, who captured his second ring with the Giants after the 2011 season, only to receive his pink slip after the 2015 campaign.
There are also exceptions. Just look at Bill Belichick, who just wrapped up his 20th season at the helm in New England. You’ll also see a few others on this list, but, for the most part, most of today’s NFL head coaches are relatively new to their respective clubs. And, history dictates that many of them will be elsewhere when we check in on this list in 2022.
Over one-third (12) of the NFL’s head coaches have coached no more than one season with their respective teams. Meanwhile, less than half (15) have been with their current clubs for more than three years. It seems like just yesterday that the Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, right? It sort of was – Kingsbury signed on with the Cardinals in January of 2019. Today, he’s practically a veteran.
Here’s the list of the current head coaches in the NFL, ordered by tenure, along with their respective start dates:
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000
- Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): January 18, 2006
- Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007
- John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008
- Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks): January 9, 2010
- Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 2, 2014
- Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings): January 15, 2014
- Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons): February 2, 2015
- Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles): January 18, 2016
- Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017
- Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars): December 19, 2016 (interim; permanent since 2017)
- Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers): January 12, 2017
- Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017
- Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017
- Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears): January 7, 2018
- Matt Patricia (Detroit Lions): February 5, 2018
- Frank Reich (Indianapolis Colts): February 11, 2018
- Jon Gruden (Las Vegas Raiders): January 6, 2018
- Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans): January 20, 2018
- Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2019
- Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019
- Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos): January 10, 2019
- Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019
- Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins): February 4, 2019
- Adam Gase (New York Jets): January 11, 2019
- Bruce Arians (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 8, 2019
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020
- Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers): January 7, 2020
- Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys): January 7, 2020
- Joe Judge (New York Giants): January 8, 2020
- Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/4/20
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: RB Marcus Murphy
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived: RB Jeremy McNichols
Kansas City Chiefs
- Waived: TE Alize Mack, RB Mike Weber
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: OT Josh Wells
Wells is returning to Tampa Bay on a one-year deal, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Wells spent the 2019 campaign with the Bucs, starting two of his 13 games. He previously spent five seasons with the Jaguars, appearing in 39 games (nine starts).
Murphy had a solid run with the Bills back in 2018, rushing for 250 yards on 52 carries. After getting cut by Buffalo prior to the 2019 regular season, Murphy didn’t find a deal until inking a futures contract with the Panthers in December.
McNichols, a 2017 fifth-round pick, has four career carries. He’s spent time with seven organizations during his career.
Buccaneers Sign 13 UDFAs
After adding seven rookies via the 2020 NFL Draft, the Buccaneers announced the signing of nine undrafted free agents today:
- Michael Divinity, OLB (LSU)
- Cam Gill, OLB (Wagner College)
- Javon Hagan, S (Ohio)
- Travis Jonsen, WR (Montana State)
- John Molchon, G (Boise State)
- Nasir Player, OLB (East Tennessee State)
- Benning Potoa’e, DT (Washington)
- Zach Shackelford, C (Texas)
- Reid Sinnett, QB (San Diego)
Sinnett is naturally one of the most notable name on the list, as the quarterback guided the University of San Diego to the FCS playoffs after tossing 3,528 yards and 32 touchdowns. While he’s unlikely to crack a roster that includes Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert, and Ryan Griffin, it sounds like the Bucs want to hang on to a developmental QB on their practice squad.
Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle previously reported (via Twitter) that Sinnett will earn $152K in guaranteed money.
Jonsen proved to be a Swiss Army Knife during his time at Montana State, as he finished the 2019 campaign with 580 receiving yards and 527 rushing yards. He also completed six of his seven pass attempts for 64 yards and one score.
UPDATE
The Bucs announced the signing of four additional UDFAs:
- John Hurst, WR (West Georgia)
- Nick Leverett, G (Rice)
- Parnell Motley, CB (Oklahoma)
- Josh Pearson, WR (Jacksonville State)
Buccaneers Claim K Elliott Fry
Earlier this week, Buccaneers GM Jason Licht said he planned to bring in competition for Matt Gay. The Bucs are doing so via the waiver wire, claiming recently cut Panthers kicker Elliott Fry, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Fry has not yet kicked in a regular-season game. He spent four years as South Carolina’s kicker, entering the NFL as a UDFA in 2018. The Bucs will be his fourth NFL team.
Fry, 25, kicked in the short-lived Alliance of American Football then caught on with the Bears and Ravens in 2019. He then participated in several workouts but did not land a deal. The Panthers signed him to a reserve/futures contract. At South Carolina, he made 66 of 88 field goals. The former walk-on earned second-team All-SEC acclaim in 2014.
Tampa Bay has not enjoyed two straight seasons of kicker continuity since Connor Barth served in this capacity from 2009-12. The Bucs drafted Roberto Aguayo in Round 2 in 2016, but after that investment bombed, the team used multiple kickers in 2017 and ’18. Last season, Gay missed eight field goals and five extra points.
NFC South Notes: Saints, Bucs, Brady
Despite the three Pro Bowl selections on his resume, Larry Warford‘s standing with the Saints is in flux. The Saints have been pondering his status throughout the offseason, according to Larry Holder of The Athletic.
Warford has started in every game he’s played throughout his career, including these last three Pro Bowl seasons with the Saints. Still, Sean Payton followed through on his promise to prioritize the interior line by drafting center Cesar Ruiz in the first round. He’s also indicated that Ruiz could be a first-stringer and that Warford will have to compete for his starting gig.
Warford is still on the right side of 30 (he turns 29 in June), but the Saints aren’t sold on him. It’s a situation to monitor as he enters the final year of the four-year, $34MM deal he inked as a free agent in 2017. If released, Warford would count for $5.125MM in dead money versus $7.75MM in cap savings.
The Saints are giving real thought to shedding that deal, especially with a combined $28MM committed to Terron Armstead and Andrus Peat in 2020. They also have an extension on the horizon for standout tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who just recently had his 2021 option exercised.
More from the NFC South:
- When Tom Brady visited Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, he accidentally walked into the wrong house. He also triggered some questions regarding league rules, since the visit occurred during the league’s “dark period” prior to virtual offseason activities. However, the league looked into it and determined that there were no rule violations, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link).
- The NFL has also determined that the Saints‘ signing of Jameis Winston will not count against their compensatory formula (Twitter link via Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football). It’s not clear whether Winston’s signing was actually borderline in this regard – his deal was reportedly signed after the deadline for the compensatory pick formula, which should have made this an automatic. In any case, Winston is now set to watch and learn from Drew Brees on his one-year contract.
- Meanwhile, the Buccaneers are hoping to finally figure out their kicking situation. They’re hopeful that Matt Gay will improve this year, GM Jason Licht says, but the Bucs are also “definitely planning on adding competition,” (via the Tampa Bay Times). Gay made only 27 of 35 field goals last year, but he did nail five of his tries from 50 yards out.