“Todd, you going to have these rookies ready for Week 1?”
Hopeful the Bucs return to the playoffs, Joe despises leaning on “hope.”
Joe watched how the Bucs lost a Hall of Fame receiver, a Hall of Fame linebacker and their best corner and cannot see how the team didn’t take a step back as a result.
Yes, the Bucs had really nice signings and the draft seems like a home run — in May. Still, banking on three rookies, one on each level of the defense, to turn around the defense right away seems like an uphill climb.
Oh, it could happen. But banking on rookies is a dicey proposition.
Well, it seems Joe isn’t alone. Mike Sando of The Athletic, right before the draft had one of his famous columns where he shares input from NFL suits on every NFL team. Two NFL executives were convinced the Bucs not just took a step back losing Mike Evans, Lavonte David and Jamel Dean, but Evans’ exit left an unknown stench.
The general feeling among execs was that the Buccaneers slipped this offseason after receiver Mike Evans and cornerback Jamel Dean signed elsewhere.
“They have definitely taken a step back,” one exec said. “I don’t know how they are better.”
[Said another suit], “Losing Mike Evans is huge, and the fact that he left for what he perceived to be a closer contender, and for less money, seems like an indictment on the direction in Tampa.”
Right before the free agency dinner bell rang, monster sackmeister Trey Hendrickson, through his proxy Adam Schefter, let it be known he craved playing for the Bucs as he could return home to Florida.
When the Bucs reached out to Hendrickson, he seemingly turned a cold shoulder. Maybe it was their offer, maybe something else. No one has told Joe the following, but Joe is convinced Evans bolting Tampa Bay spooked Hendrickson, who made it known he wanted to play for a contender.
While Joe doesn’t believe the Bucs are better without David, Dean and Evans, if defensive rookies Rueben Bain, Josiah Trotter and Keionte Scott ball out, the Bucs could return to the playoffs.
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