Bucs, Broncos, Falcons Aiming To Trade Up In Draft?
The Buccaneers, Broncos, and Falcons are among the NFL clubs with the most serious interest in trading up in the draft, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
Both Tampa Bay and Denver would move up with the intention of selecting an offensive tackle, per Breer. The clubs currently sit back-to-back at picks Nos. 14 and 15, and both could certainly use help along their respective offensive lines. The 2020 draft features a strong class of offensive tackles, with options including Mekhi Becton (Louisville), Jedrick Wills (Alabama), Tristan Wirfs (Iowa), and Andrew Thomas (Georgia).
Having added Tom Brady, the Buccaneers will need to keep the veteran quarterback upright — in 2019, Tampa Bay ranked just 22nd in Football Outsiders‘ pass-protection metric. Donovan Smith will line up at left tackle, but the Bucs could add another lineman to compete with free agent signing Joe Haeg on the right side.
The Broncos, meanwhile, would appear to be set at left tackle with Garett Bolles, whom Pro Football Focus grade as the NFL’s No. 18 tackle, and at right tackle with Ja’Wuan James. Bolles, however, has only one year left on his rookie contract (plus a potential fifth-year option in 2021), while injuries limited James to only three games in his first season as a Bronco.
It’s unclear what position the Falcons would target where they able to engineer a trade up from pick No. 16, per Breer. Speculatively, Atlanta’s offense appears mostly set, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if general manager Thomas Dimitroff attempts to target edge or cornerback help in the first round.
2020 NFL Cap Room By Team
The biggest names in NFL free agency might be off the board, but there are still plenty of noteworthy players on the board and high-profile cuts on the way. And, while some teams did their spending early, others are still sitting on lots of cash.
The latest cap figures from OverTheCap show that several teams are poised to pounce in the latter waves of free agency, starting with the Browns. The numbers also show that teams like the Rams still have work to do in order to sign their upcoming draft class. Also, the Eagles’ 2020 figure doesn’t quite tell the whole story – thanks to high-priced multi-year deals including Darius Slay’s new contract, they’re already overcommitted on dollars for 2021.
Here’s the complete rundown for all 32 teams, in descending order of cap space:
- Browns – $40.2MM
- Lions – $29.5MM
- Eagles – $27.1MM
- Colts – $24MM
- Dolphins – $23.9MM
- Redskins – $23.8MM
- Chargers – $22.3MM
- Titans – $21.5MM
- Bills – $20.9MM
- Texans – $18.6MM
- Broncos – $17.5MM
- Giants – $17.1MM
- Jets – $15.5MM
- Jaguars – $14.6MM
- Cowboys – $13.6MM
- Buccaneers – $13.5MM
- 49ers – $13.4MM
- Seahawks – $12.6MM
- Vikings – $12.3MM
- Ravens – $11.3MM
- Packers – $11.08MM
- Bears – $11.03MM
- Panthers – $9.4MM
- Raiders – $8.8MM
- Bengals – $7.3MM
- Steelers – $7.2MM
- Cardinals – $7MM
- Saints – $5.3MM
- Chiefs – $2.9MM
- Falcons – $2.4MM
- Patriots – $1.2MM
- Rams – (-$5.3MM)
AFC East Notes: Patriots, Edelman, Jets, Bills
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman won’t be prosecuted in connection with his January incident (via TMZ). One week after the Patriots were eliminated from the playoffs, Los Angeles police alleged that he jumped on the hood of someone else’s Mercedes and caused damage. His drunken escapade won’t result in legal consequences because the owner of the car doesn’t want him to be prosecuted and Edelman does not have a “known criminal history,” per the DA’s office. With that, it’s unlikely that the Super Bowl LIII MVP will face league suspension.
Last year, Edelman tallied 100 receptions for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns. Even as he enters his age-34 season, he remains a key player in the Patriots’ offense. Now, the Pats have to figure out who will be throwing to him in 2020.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- The Patriots still hold Rob Gronkowski‘s rights, which means that he wouldn’t be able to simply come out of retirement and rejoin Tom Brady in Tampa (if that’s what he wants to do). However, he could easily force the Patriots’ hand, as Mike Florio of PFT notes. Gronk could un-retire, put his $9MM salary back on the books, and push the cap-strapped Pats to trade or release him. In that scenario, Florio speculates that the Patriots could swing a trade for one of the Bucs’ talented tight ends – Cameron Brate or O.J. Howard.
- Despite the chatter, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY doesn’t think the Jets will trade Jamal Adams. He reasons that if the Jets wanted to trade the Pro Bowl safety, they would have done it already – the Cowboys reportedly offered a first-round pick for him, but they countered by asking for a whole lot more. That sky-high asking price, he says, is a pretty good indication that they want to keep Adams for the long-haul. Despite all of the drama, Adams is one of the game’s premier young defenders and the Jets seem to think that an extension is possible.
- With that said, Vacchiano doesn’t think the Jets are in any rush to extend Adams. The 24-year-old (25 in October) can be kept through 2021 through his fifth-year option. After that, they can realistically use the franchise tag twice over to keep him through 2023.
- The Bills are believed to have running back on their draft to-do list, but they also see rising sophomore Devin Singletary as a potential workhorse back. “I think Devin can do either or. He’s an unselfish player,” GM Brandon Beane said (via PFT). “If we want him to be the workload guy, I think he could definitely do it. I think Year Two is going to be better for him.” Singletary averaged over 5.0 yards per tote last year and could have had a chance at 1,000+ yards if he hadn’t missed time with a hamstring injury.
Licht: Jameis Winston Isn't A Bust
- Jameis Winston isn’t a bust, says the GM who drafted him. While the Buccaneers were eager to replace the former first-overall pick with a soon-to-be 43-year-old quarterback, Jason Licht is still optimistic about Winston’s future in the NFL. “We have a lot of respect for Jameis,” the executive told ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “Jameis was still part of our plan if things went a different route. We’ve got a lot of respect for him. I thought he did a lot of great things, and anybody in our office or building would say the same thing. He did some spectacular things for us. I would never say that, personally — and I think I speak on behalf of the organization — that he’s a bust. I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him.” Last season, Winston led the league in passing yards (5,109) and interceptions (30).
[SOURCE LINK]
Tom Brady On Free Agency, Leaving The Patriots, And Joining The Bucs
In a wide-ranging two-hour interview with Howard Stern on SiriusXM Radio, new Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady discussed his first foray into free agency, his decision to leave the Patriots, his journey to Tampa Bay, and his future in the NFL. Let’s take a look at the highlights from Brady’s sit-down with the King of All Media:
- Brady said he had a strong feeling he’d leave New England before the beginning of the 2019 NFL season, as James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. “I don’t think there was a final, final decision until it happened,” Brady said. “But I would say I probably knew before the start of last season. I knew that, it was just, our time, you know, our time was coming to an end.” Brady signed a renegotiated contract in August 2019 that prevented the Patriots from franchise tagging him in 2020, so the tea leaves regarding a possible departure were in place.
- Brady indicated he heard from “a lot” of interested teams when he reached free agency, tweets Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. However, Brady said he wrote down a list of 20 factors that would play into his decision, including location, wide receiver talent, and coaching, per Palmer (Twitter link), which helped lead him to the Buccaneers.
- While leaving the franchise he played for his entire career couldn’t have been an easy decision, Brady said he wasn’t concerned about tarnishing his NFL legacy. “I never cared about legacy,” Brady said, per Greg Auman of the The Athletic (Twitter link). “I could give a s— about … that’s not me, that’s not my personality. Why would I choose a different place? It was time. I had accomplished everything I could with an incredible organization.”
- Although he’s now entering uncharted territory as a mid-40s NFL quarterback, Brady doesn’t seem to be considering retirement any time in the immediate future. “You don’t tell a musician to stop singing, you don’t tell a great painter to stop painting at 42,” Brady said, per Auman (Twitter link). Brady, of course, inked a fully guaranteed two-year contract with Tampa Bay that will take him through his age-44 season.
- Despite reports of friction between Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, the future Hall of Fame quarterback said he doesn’t hold any resentment towards the future Hall of Fame coach, as Jenna Laine of ESPN.com tweets. “No absolutely not,” Brady said. “To have him allowed me to be the best I can be. So I’m grateful for that. And I very much believe he feels the same about me…”
Buccaneers To Re-Sign Blaine Gabbert
The Buccaneers have made it official: Blaine Gabbert is headed back to Tampa to serve as the backup to Tom Brady. His one-year deal is “guaranteed,” according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Bucs GM Jason Licht On Landing Tom Brady]
Gabbert, 31 in October, joined the Bucs this time last year. Unfortunately, his season ended before it could even begin, thanks to a dislocated shoulder suffered in the preseason.
Before that, Gabbert saw time in eight games (including three starts) for the Titans. As the QB2 to Marcus Mariota, he completed 60.4% of his passes for 626 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Now, he’ll serve as Brady’s clipboard holder while continuing his relationship with head coach Bruce Arians. Arians coached Gabbert in Arizona, including the 2017 season in which he started five games.
Gabbert, the former No. 10 overall pick in the 2011 draft, has 49 career starts with a career 13-35 record and a 56.2% completion percentage. He also has a nearly 1:1 TD-INT ratio.
GM: Tom Brady Made Pitch To Buccaneers
Emerging late in the running and winning the Tom Brady sweepstakes, the Buccaneers are set for one of the biggest publicity spikes any NFL franchise has seen.
The Bucs edged out the Chargers for Brady, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback was interested in signing with Tampa Bay to the point he pitched himself to Bucs management. Brady first spoke to Bruce Arians and Jason Licht about a deal on Wednesday, March 18, and the seventh-year Bucs GM understandably exuded confidence in the team being able to sign the all-time great.
“We had a great conversation — Bruce and I — we talked to him for over an hour and a half. And he made it clear in the conversation that he was very, very interested,” Licht said during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (via ESPN.com’s Jenna Laine). “It was almost like a recruitment on his part, telling us why it would make sense for him to come to Tampa Bay. The next call we made, we signed him, but it was at that phone call that we realized, that we felt like we had him.”
Licht first contacted Brady’s agent, Don Yee, the moment the legal tampering window opened at noon ET March 16. Two days later, the sides had an agreement in place. By Friday, the deal became official.
Brady signed a fully guaranteed two-year, $50MM deal. He joins a Bucs franchise that has Pro Bowl wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. While Brady has been linked to an Antonio Brown reunion for a while, Arians slammed that door. Brady has displayed strong rapports with slot receivers throughout his career — from Troy Brown to Wes Welker to Julian Edelman — but the Bucs are also not expected to pursue another veteran wide receiver.
“We feel like there’s a lot of teams that are struggling to find one really good receiver. And we have two really outstanding receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin,” Licht said. “Right now, there is only so much money that can go around. There are no plans to sign any other receiver at this time.
“Antonio is somebody that Bruce has come out and had some words about, and Bruce knows him better than all of us. So right now, I would just say that we’re focused on other areas of our team.”
In addition to Evans and Godwin, the Bucs have 2016 sixth-rounder Scott Miller and 2018 fifth-rounder Justin Watson under contract. Working behind the since-departed Breshad Perriman last season, those two combined for 359 receiving yards in 2019.
Agent Notes: Suh, Thomas, Harris
Here are some updates on a number of players’ representation, all reported by Liz Mullen.
- Ndamukong Suh chose not to sign with an agent prior to his most recent free-agency and instead represented himself when he agreed to a one-year, $8MM deal to stay with the Buccaneers (Twitter link).
- Draft prospect Jeff Thomas, a wide receiver out of Miami, has decided to change his representation as we approach the home stretch to the draft. Instead of going forward with First Round Management LLC, he will be represented by Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey at Rosenhaus Sports (Twitter link).
- Broncos defensive lineman Shelby Harris re-signed with the team on a one-year deal worth up to $3.25MM. However, that did not come before a recent game of musical chairs representing Harris. Ryan Williams of A1 NFL negotiated his re-up in Denver, but he had switched from the National Sports Agency to Rosenhaus Sports in January (Twitter link).
Bucs Notes: Winston, Jefferson, Crowell
Throughout his first season as the Buccaneers’ head coach, Bruce Arians was generally non-committal towards former starting QB Jameis Winston. In one memorable sound-bite towards the end of the 2019 campaign, Arians was asked if Tampa could win with a different signal-caller, and he replied, “With another quarterback? Oh yeah. If we can win with this one (Winston), we can definitely win with another one, too.”
Despite that, Arians recently told Rich Eisen of the NFL Network that he is trying to sell other clubs on Winston (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “I’ve called a couple teams,” Arians told Eisen. “You’re going to get one of the hardest workers you’ve ever had and a great young man.”
However, none of the teams that Arians spoke with indicated they were interested in Winston as a starter. And indeed, teams that entered the offseason with QB needs have either filled those needs, plan to stay the course with their current group of passers, or are expected to use a high draft pick on a quarterback. So at this point, Winston will just need to get on a roster and hope that an opportunity opens up.
Now for more on the suddenly interesting Bucs:
- We recently heard that the Buccaneers’ top QB choices were Tom Brady, then Teddy Bridgewater, then Winston, and Arians confirmed as much in the above-referenced interview with Eisen. “[A Winston re-up] didn’t work out for us only because [Brady] was available and we had [Bridgewater] if that wouldn’t have worked out,” Arians said. “We were going full steam ahead back with Jameis.”
- After entering the offseason with a ton of cap space, the Bucs have only about $14MM left to spend, as Greg Auman of The Athletic observes, and some of that will be needed to sign the club’s draft picks. Auman takes a look at a few veteran FAs still available that could fit the Bucs’ remaining needs. One such player is safety Tony Jefferson, who played for Arians for four years in Arizona and who would represent a quality veteran presence in Tampa’s young defensive backfield.
- The Bucs could wait until the draft to fill their need for a pass-catching RB, but if they are unable to do so or unwilling to wait, they could look at Isaiah Crowell, per Auman. Crowell does not have a past connection to Arians but did play for DC Todd Bowles when Bowles was the Jets’ head coach in 2018.
- DB Ryan Smith re-signed with the Buccaneers several days ago, and Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports says Smith’s one-year deal has a max value of $2.25MM (Twitter link).
- Even though Brady may want him, the Buccaneers have no intention of signing Antonio Brown.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/27/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: RB Tyler Ervin
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: DB Ryan Smith