Tampa Bay Buccs - GM Edition

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the cusp of turning the corner and becoming a very good football team. This offseason, they will be in the perfect position to make some powerful moves that will make them a much better football team. The Buccs are in a very fortunate situation having their 3 franchise players, Jameis Winston, Mike Evans and Gerald McCoy locked up for the next 3+ years. There is no better time to go all in. The Buccs currently have $70M in cap space, good for third best cap situation in the league. They will obviously need to re-sign multiple players such as Tight End- Cameron Brate, Center- Joe Hawley, Safety- Bradley McDougald, Wide Receiver- Adam Humphries, Running Back -Jacquizz Rodgers and others as well as draft picks. With all the re-signs and draft picks, they should have roughly $33M left to spend which should be enough to lure in Free Agent Jason Pierre-Paul from the Giants who is estimated to collect $13-$15M annually. He would be an immediate upgrade to the defensive front, pairing him up with All Pro Defensive Tackle, Gerald McCoy. The spending should not stop there…The Buccs should then go after Free Agent Wide Receiver, DeSean Jackson, giving Jameis Winston a very dangerous Wide Receiver who can take the lid off the top of the defense, playing alongside one of the best young Wide Receivers in the game, Mike Evans. These are two moves that are very possible for the Buccs to make. Once these players are signed, the final piece would be to selecting Defensive tackle, Malik McDowell out of Michigan State if available. With proper cap management These moves are very possible.The Buccs would be stacked all around, making them an absolute force in the NFC, Period.

Charles Harris Comparison

It’s no secret that the Missouri Tigers know how to produce pass rushers. Charles Harris is the latest product that will be drafted this April. The most captivating skill Charles Harris has is his ability to explode at the snap. Behind Myles Garrett, I don’t see another player in this draft who is quicker at jumping off the line of scrimmage. Charles Harris has a relentless motor that sometimes gets him into dead zones, especially against the run. Whichever teams decide to draft Harris will need to understand they are drafting a project with a high ceiling. Charles Harris has a gift to be great, but is still raw considering he only played one year as a full-time starter. Aside from maybe adding a few pounds, he will need to work on his run defense... mainly his awareness as well as sharpening his hands to eventually develop an arsenal to go along with his deadly timing off the snap. Harris is a workhorse and very coach-able. He has the foundation to be great. Time and coaching is key for his development.  

Super Bowl LI Key Player

The New England Patriots took a gamble on Offensive Tackle. Marcus Cannon, when no one else would by drafting him in the 5th round back in 2011 out of TCU. This was mainly because Cannon was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma just before the draft. Cannon has since been a part of two Super Bowls, winning one and he will be playing in his 3rd this Sunday. This Super Bowl will be a little bit different that the previous two. Cannon has now entrenched himself as arguably the best lineman on the team when before he was considered a backup Guard or a Swing Tackle. He now has the job of starting Right Tackle and protecting the greatest QB to ever play the game. This Sunday, he will have his hands full when asked to hold off NFL sack leader, Vic Beasley Jr. and the surging Atlanta Falcons Defense. 

The Angry Birds

When talking about the Atlanta Falcons, People think Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and that explosive offense. What about the defense? Since Dan Quinn has arrived in Atlanta, the roster has transformed into a much more ferocious unit. For those who don’t know, Dan Quinn was the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014 in which they ranked 1^st in total defense in both seasons. Although the Falcons finished 25^th in total defense, this season the unit is starting to hit its stride into becoming a physical and feared unit. The Falcons have added key parts before this season to mold a great defense. They brought in Dwight Freeney to mentor Vic Beasley which paid off tremendously as Beasley leads the league in sacks with 15.5. They also drafted hard hitting safety, Keanu Neal out of Florida to add a physical presence to the defense. The addition of Neal elevated the play of 2^nd year safety, Ricardo Allen making them one of the better safety tandems in the league. The emergence of cornerback, Jalen Collins has been a huge bonus for the Falcons since they lost Desmond Trufant early in the season to a torn pectoral. Starting rookie linebackers usually don’t pan out well for the first season but for 2^nd round pick, Deion Jones, it’s been the total opposite. Jones has been an absolute force in the middle of the field and should be a staple for this defense for many years to come. The Falcons are on the right path to building an elite defense that we just saw completely obliterate Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers to go onto Super Bowl Ll.

Cornerstones for the Cleveland Browns.....

The Cleveland Browns have been the laughing stock of the league since they re-entered back in 99’ with just 2 winning seasons. They have had 9 different coaches and 26 different Quarterbacks during that span. Current coach, Hue Jackson is coming off his first full season where the Browns finished 1-15. The record may show the same old story but I do think Jackson has a chance to start this franchise on the right foot going into 2017. The Browns have a few key players on the roster who look very promising. 2^nd year run stuffer, Danny Shelton had a great sophomore season and looks to be even better in 2017. They also invested 2^nd and 3^rd round picks in the 2016 draft in pass rushers, Emmanuel Ogbah and Carl Nassib who hopefully can make the leap in production that Danny Shelton made in their sophomore seasons. The nucleus of the defense is All-Pro CB Joe Haden who is signed through 2020. The Browns also have two Premier players in Linebacker, Jamie Collins and Wide Receiver, Terrelle Pryor are set to hit free agency. The first key move would be to sign Jamie Collins, whom they traded for during the season, giving up a compensatory 3^rd round pick to the New England Patriots in a classic Belichick move, which is getting rid of players a year too early rather than a year too late. Collins is best suited for a 4-3 scheme which is what newly hired defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams will look to run in 2017. It has been reported that Jamie Collins would like to stay in Cleveland and is asking for a Luke Kuechly-type deal which would be worth $62M over 5yrs. The Browns have the most cap room in the league at just over $47M, so even though Collins’ demands are a little high for his services, the Browns do have the extra money to make a player want to sign with a perennial losing team. On the offensive side of the ball, the Browns have a lot more work to do with the current roster. 1^st rounder, Corey Coleman has the talent to be very successful in this league. The run game was successful for the most part behind Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson Jr. Crowell is also set to hit the open market. Outside of Cameron Erving, the offensive line played well considering they were under duress most of the time, which will happen when you have 6 different starting quarterbacks in one season. The most productive Brown without a doubt was Terrelle Pryor. Pryor had astonishing season totaling 1000 yards receiving on 77 catches with 4Tds. Pryor was a supplementary draft pick back in 2011 by the late, Al Davis for the Oakland Raiders. Since then he has bounced around the league before finding a home in Cleveland. Pryor has expressed feelings and desire to stay in Cleveland, it is up to the owners if he does. The wise move would be to sign the 27-year-old former Ohio St star to a multi-year contract that will roughly command $7-$10M annually.  

Kirk Cousins Market Value

It has been reported that the Redskins will tag Kirk Cousins again if they do not reach a deal this off-season. Kirk Cousins led the Skins to a division title last season, something The Redskins did only twice since 1999. In doing so, he set a franchise record, throwing for 4,166 yards. To go along with 29TD passes, something that had not been done since 1983 by Joe Theisman. After a record setting season from Cousins, the Redskins were still reluctant to hand him the key to the city by making him the franchise Quarterback. Instead, they franchised him for $19.95m. What will Mr. Snyder decide to do this off season?? Well, we can start by running down his options… Realistically, there is only one which is to lock him up long term. Kirk Cousins has proved to be more than worthy by outperforming himself this season. Cousins has thrown for 4,630 yards this season, shattering his own franchise record still with one game left to go. Cousins puts this team in perennial playoff contention if signed and with good strategic off-season moves and good drafts, this team is not too far from Super Bowl talk. Franchising Cousins would cost the Redskins roughly 24M but they would be taking a huge gamble on losing him for good after that. I am guesstimating Kirk Cousins will receive a max contract this off-season roughly around $125-$130M over 5YRS. 

Seahawks extend Michael Bennett

The Seattle Seahawks have signed 32-year old, DL Michael Bennett to a 3-yr extension worth $31.5M, $17.5M in guaranteed cash. This signing keeps a vital piece of the Legion of Boom around until 2020. The Seahawks have now locked up Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas, K.J. Wright and Cliff Avrill until at least 2019.This was a smart move by the Seahawks to give Michael Bennett what he asked for. Michael Bennett is arguably the most vital part of the front 7 for the Seahawks defense that has been the best defense in the league more than not since he’s been there. The money seems to be accurate as this contract marks him as the 3rd highest paid 4-3 defensive end in the league. In my opinion he is the most versatile player and probably the best at his position outside of Khalil Mack who is more of a hybrid defensive end.