Alvin Harper is one reason the Bucs don’t like to turn to Free Agents to build a team. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gone back to their original blueprint of building a winning team, by drafting players, keeping those players locked up for some time, and augmenting them with Free Agents when prudent to do so.
It matters not what the plan is this month, because the Glazers are going to be forced to spend almost 60 Million dollars in as short as a week.
The reason for this is the new CBA if it gets approved by the players today, that for this year, 2011, and next, NFL teams will have a salary cap of 120.4 Million dollars. Here is the kicker though; Both this year and next, ALL NFL TEAMS will have to spend up to 99% of that cap! That means the Tampa Bay Buccaneers MUST pay 119 Million dollars towards player salaries, and that must be real cash, no hidden monkey business the Gruden/Allen regime was famous for.
By all estimates, the Bucs will have to spend 60 million dollars in a matter of weeks. How will they do it? For starters don’t expect them to spend it just for the sake of spending it. They will be smart in how they distribute the money, and a deal for 30 year old Corner from Oakland is not likely to happen.
The Bucs have a history under the Glazers of re-signing their own players to long term contracts. That will be the first order of business. It may be too early for LeGarrette Blount and Mike Williams to get those big contracts just yet, but with another season like last, you can expect them to be big contract winners next year when the same 99% rule is in effect.
Instead, expect Bucs QB Josh Freeman to be locked up for a great time, then Free Agents will be signed to long term contracts, players like Davin Joseph can expect to be rich soon. It does not mean the Bucs will throw big money at Barrett Ruud, they may still franchise him and pay him for one year, enough time to train his replacement. That is assuming of course the Bucs dont have long term plans for Ruud; if he is not part of the long term solution, a franchise tag is a solid bet.
Even with their own players getting nice contracts, that wont account for all of the 60 million, so some Free Agents are going to have to be acquired, and the Bucs will be big time players in Free Agency; something local fans have wanted for a long time.
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