The offseason

[emby]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Brady was on McAfee talking about the Mahomes comparison and in his usual way, he talked about if Mahomes could win 7 Superbowls he'd be the first one to congratulate him because he knows how hard it is to do.



That last line sticks out to me (because I bolded it) and has been on my mind all morning. Just how hard it is to win a seventh Superbowl and what it took to pull off.

The "narrative" has been that Tom had enough of Bill Belechick and chose us to dance with like a homely girl at the homecoming dance. And after the whirlwind romance was over it was time to go back to being homely.

That was laid on so thick that fans wanted to tank the whole season last year because "the bill has come due" and in an amazeballs twist of fate, Baker Mayfield comes in and gets us a playoff win.

Who the fuck saw that coming? I did.

Why? Because Tom Brady knows how hard it is to win a Superbowl.

What that narrative ignores is the years spent drafting almost a dozen guys just to field an above average pair of corners. Same at WR. Same at DT.

Then in that same off-season we signed literally two hall of Fame guys to the DL, another hall of famer in Gronkowski, Bellcow back Lenny Fournette, and then signed Antonio Brown to be the #3 receiver, LeSean McCoy to be the #3 RB and that's just off the top of my head.

Point is that Brady saw that there were a good group of guys here, Licht added everyone he could sign and BA coached it.

And STILL only could win one chance out of three.

Since 2020 we've drafted impact players on every level of the offense and defense. Continuing to build the team's core as the ring hunters moved on and retired.




Should it have been a surprise for a former #1 overall pick with a playoff win to fall in on Tom Brady's stacked roster, win the division title, and thump Philly on the road in an "off year"?



Our Super Bowl window never closed.


Because the roster is still too good. Everyone was too busy thinking Brady did it on his own like he's Achilles vs the Trojans when the reality is that this franchise was on its way to becoming one of the most talented organizations in the league prior to Brady and his presence simply cemented it.

We wanted to come out of the backside of the Brady era with a team that competes every year with a winning culture. I think we got that.

Maybe since it takes a stacked roster to get one SB out of Tom Brady in three tries, it'll take a stacked roster and five tries to get one out of Baker Mayfield.


Reload.

[The Outsider]

Yeah, we were one of the actual real life examples of 'a QB away from a Super Bowl' in Jameis's last couple of years.

[emby]

I gotta stop trying to write big posts on mobile.

[nybf]

Welcome back, Mike.

[The Outsider]

Just came here to post that. Fuck yes. This all but confirms that Baker will be back as well, I don't think Mike wants a situation where the QB is a total unknown. Now we just need deals for LVD and Winfield Jr. and we're set.

Also, that's a pretty good deal for Mike and the Bucs, even if he's over 30 26 million a year and only 35 total guaranteed is less than I thought he could get on the open market. He's around the 4th highest paid wr in the league with this contract.

[emby]

Rejoice and be glad in it.

Greatest Buccaneer of all time.

[nybf]

[emby]

Folks were saying this would happen.

Would the extension begin next season with him playing under the tag this year?

[The Outsider]

Folks were saying this would happen.

Would the extension begin next season with him playing under the tag this year?

They've supposedly already been working on an extension. I saw the tag referred to as a placeholder until they get a deal done. I wouldn't be surprised to see him extended between now and training camp/the preseason. If that happens the tag is basically voided in favor of his new long term contract. Or at least that's how I understand it from times when people have been tagged, traded, and then worked a deal out with their new team.


I'm also reading that we've agreed to terms with Baker and are going to be announcing his contract tomorrow. That basically leaves LVD and Wirfs to wrap things up and I think we can get LVD pretty cheap considering he all but said he was retiring if we don't re-sign him.

[emby]

Folks were saying this would happen.

Would the extension begin next season with him playing under the tag this year?

They've supposedly already been working on an extension. I saw the tag referred to as a placeholder until they get a deal done. I wouldn't be surprised to see him extended between now and training camp/the preseason. If that happens the tag is basically voided in favor of his new long term contract. Or at least that's how I understand it from times when people have been tagged, traded, and then worked a deal out with their new team.


I'm also reading that we've agreed to terms with Baker and are going to be announcing his contract tomorrow. That basically leaves LVD and Wirfs to wrap things up and I think we can get LVD pretty cheap considering he all but said he was retiring if we don't re-sign him.

LVD publicly said it's Tampa or the couch. Totally fine with him going year by year if he wants to do it that way.

[The Outsider]

Folks were saying this would happen.

Would the extension begin next season with him playing under the tag this year?

They've supposedly already been working on an extension. I saw the tag referred to as a placeholder until they get a deal done. I wouldn't be surprised to see him extended between now and training camp/the preseason. If that happens the tag is basically voided in favor of his new long term contract. Or at least that's how I understand it from times when people have been tagged, traded, and then worked a deal out with their new team.


I'm also reading that we've agreed to terms with Baker and are going to be announcing his contract tomorrow. That basically leaves LVD and Wirfs to wrap things up and I think we can get LVD pretty cheap considering he all but said he was retiring if we don't re-sign him.

LVD publicly said it's Tampa or the couch. Totally fine with him going year by year if he wants to do it that way.

Yeah, I'm thinking 1 year at 4-5 mill a year is perfect for him. It's like a mid-range salary for a MLB, but not disrespectfully low and it makes him affordable for us in terms of the cap. I think he's been around enough to know that while he's definitely a key component that guys like Wirfs, Winfield Jr and Baker are more important than he is in football terms.