You be the GM.........
Alright so as usual as fans most of us want EVERYTHING for our team each offseason: Understandable but not very realistic, additionally teams are making free agency decision right now in terms with what they would like to keep on their roster. So I produced this letter exercise to allow everyone to take a look at what may be available "menu wise" in terms of the cost of free agents along with selection options for our first three draft picks. This will give you a chance to add 7 or 8 players (or retain them). It works, a bit like a cheap Chinese menu so feel free to follow the instructions (note: I've made the free agency groups based on who should be available and their likely cost). PLEASE NOTE I've only included players that their hometown teams have not indicated or wouldn't be fools not to franchise tag, borderline on that is Finely who the Packers may or may not tag)
FREE AGENCY
GROUP A. (If you pick a player from group A, skip group B entirely)
1) Carl Nicks G NO
2) JerMichael Finley TE GB
3) Vincent Jackson WR SD
4) Mario Williams DE HOU
5) Cliff Avril DE DET
6) Matt Flynn QB GB
GROUP B.(Make 1 Selection, if you skipped group A, and want to skip group D as well you can make two)
1) Cortland Finnegan CB TEN
2) Marques Colston WR NO
3) Ben Grubbs OG BAL
4) Curtis Lofton LB ATL
5) Steve Johnson WR BUF
6) Paul Solali DT MIA
7) Robert Mathis DE IND
8) Stephen Tulloch LB DET
9) Brent Grimes CB ATL
10) Peyton Hillis RB CLE
11) Broderick Bunkley DT DEN
12) Brandon Carr CB KC
13) Michael Bush RB OAK
14) Carlos Rodgers CB SF
GROUP C. (If you still have a group C Selection pick 1)
1) Michael Bennett DE TB (If you'd like to retain him)
2) John Abraham DE ATL
3) Corey Redding DE BAL
4) Stanford Rout CB OAK
5) David Hawthorne LB SEA
6) Evan Mathis OG PHI
7) Jeremy Mincey DE JAC
8) Laurent Robinson WR DAL
9) Michael Grffin S TEN
10) Jared Gaither OT SD
11) LaRon Landry S WSH (Assume a possibility he may not play as well)
12) Reggie Wayne WR IND
13) Tracy Porter CB NO
GROUP D. (Options Among the rest)
1) Brandon Lloyd WR STL
2) Scott Wells C GB
3) Jaret Johnson OLB BAL
4) Sione Pahou DT NYJ
5) Robert Meachum WR NO
6) Fred Davis RB WSH
7) Nick Hardwick C SD
8) Kory Biermann DE ATL
DRAFT SELECTIONS(Obviously alot can happen, but right now its my value estimate on them and excluded players for need)
ROUND 1.
1) Morris Claiborne CB LSU
2) Trent Richardson RB ALA
3) Justin Blackmon WR OSU
ROUND 2.
1) Doug Martin RB Boise St.
2) Donta Hightower LB Aalabama
3) Zach Brown OLB North Carolina
4) Alfonzo Dennard CB Nebraska
5) Mohammad Sanu WR Rutgers
6) Chris Polk RB Washington
7) David Wilson RB VA Tech
8) Coby Fleener TE Stanford
9) Kelechi Osemele OG/OT Iowa St.
10) Nick Foles QB Arizona
Round 3.
1) Kellen Moore QB Bosie St.
2) Chris Rainey HB/WR Florida
3) Nick Toon WR Wisconsin
4) Jarius Wright WR Arkansas
5) LaDarius Green TE UL Lafeyyette
6) Kevin Zeitler OG Wisconsin
7) Matt McCants OT UAB
8) Lucas Nix OG/OT Pittsburgh
9) Ray Graham RB Pittsburgh
10) Mike Brewster C Ohio St.
11) Tank Carter LB TCU
12) Coryell Judie CB Texas A&M
13) Harrison Smith S Notre Dame
14) Tremain Thomas S Arkasnas
15) Antonio Allen S South Carolina
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Claiborne edition
B. Finnegan, Johnson
C. Landry (I really hate losing Bennett, but he’s a luxury)
1. Claiborne
2. Brown
3. LaMichael James (he isn’t on your list, but should be for 3rd round)
Richardson edition
B. Finnegan, Grimes
C. Landry
1. Richardson
2. Brown
3. Nix
Yeah I missed him
Missed LaMichael James oversight on my part.
by DraftPhantom on Feb 17, 2012 4:17 PM EST up reply actions
My version
Clairborne version:
B) brandob carr (especially if ronde doesn’t return.)
steve johnson
C) Bennett
1st rd. CLAIRBORNE –
2nd zack brown (we need backers badly)
3rd ray graham rb
by frostphoenix on Feb 20, 2012 10:17 PM EST up reply actions
This is mine. Assuming we have to play by the rules. I am not sure why re-signing Bennett woul dkeep us from pikcing someone else up though
B. Brandon Carr CB KC
B. Steve Johnson WR BUF
C. Michael Bennett DE TB
1. Morris Claiborne CB LSU
2. Zach Brown OLB North Carolina
3. Chris Rainey HB/WR Florida
^^ This ^^
Except I would get Lamicheal James in the third.
by bucswillwin on Feb 17, 2012 11:42 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Benett
I wanted to make it as realistic as possible, so I figured them out by cap space and cap size. With the estimation the Bucs would be willing to add about 25 million in salary figure this off-season. Thats how I came up with the combinations and re-signing Benett would take money.
It’s a “game” based on making choices. So I figured I would throw out some challenging ones, as fans we always want everything sometimes thats not reality so I added a dose or so to see what solutions everyone would come up with based on a limited set of options and resources.
by DraftPhantom on Feb 17, 2012 4:19 PM EST up reply actions
I say
B. Finnegan
B. Carr
C. Bennett
1. Claiborn
2. Lavonte David (you don’t have him listed, and Zach Brown will go late 1st, but I’d take David over Brown in the first place. He should be there in the 2nd) If I must go off your list give me Dennard.
3. LaMichael James should be here also, and he is my choice, but if not, from your list I would take Nick Toon.
Also, If I can't take David in the 2nd and I pick Dennard
Then I wouldn’t take Finnegan. Instead I’d take Benn Grubbs.
I think David is going to be there in the 3rd round
He is, at tops, a late second rounder imo. Brown is probably a first rounder. No way would I take David over Brown.
Brown is a drag down tackler
Brown has great physical ability, but a team can not have to many drag down tacklers, and we already have to many. David, on the other hand, is one of the better tacklers from what I’ve seen, and has more physicality than Brown. I’d love to have Brown, but I’d take David over him.
I'd say Brown has a higher ceiling and David has a higher floor
David is closer to a polished prospect, Brown is raw. I’d still take Brown.
Fair enough
Don’t get me wrong, if this defense didn’t have an absurd problem with making tackles I’d take Brown, no question. But right now, we need fundamentals, and David has them in spades.
I can understand that
I’m not high on him, but I see your reasoning. I picked Finnegan up above because I thought we needed a dose of nasty on the tackling end even if he strays too close to dirty occasionally.
True
I like Finnegan, but I like Carr more, and If my list were to stick to the post rules, I’d have Morris Claiborn and Alfonzo Dennard, so I didn’t see the point in drafting both and signing Carr and Finnegan. I also believe Finnegan either gets franchised or goes to St. Louis and plays for Fisher. I figure Claiborn and Carr start and Dennard plays nickle.
Could be
Hard to peg down order before the Combine many will rise and fall I left of Alshon Jeffery specifically because at this point he could go anywhere if he is really that overweight.
Another combine note, at this point last season many were talking about Ryan Mallett going in the late first round and Christian Ponder in the 2nd or 3rd….ended up way different mostly based on injury.
Yeah missed on LaMichael James but he needs to show he can help out in pass protection, thats the big knock on him right now.
by DraftPhantom on Feb 17, 2012 4:23 PM EST up reply actions
My Own answer,
Obviously no correct answer on an opinion piece and yes this was hard as hell for me too (I set the rules based on expected cap hit of each player and looking at how much I expect Tampa to spend this off-season).
A. Vincent Jackson WR (Big time playmaker true #1 WR, I think he would make Mike Williams better just by lining up)
C. Stanford Routt CB (We need some serious help at CB and Rout even coming off a less than great year would benefit from being in our scheme)
D. Scott Wells C (Faine was atrocious last season could really stand to improve right in the middle)
Draft
RND 1- Morris Claiborne CB LSU (The 2nd starting CB and a mainstay at CB for a decade)
RND 2- Kelechi Osemele OG/OT Iowa St (Powerful mauler, at first he’s gonna struggle with speed rushers until his footwork improves. He can start at LG , then mature to RT and be a major upgrade to Trueblood.)
RND 3- Kellen Moore QB Bosie St. (I see backup QB as NEED in Tampa, simply put its the style Freeman plays, his mobility extending plays is crucial to his style – but ill get him banged up often,, like Big Ben. I dont see a veteran alternative and Moore looks like a slightly better version of Fitzpatrick.)
I think Rudy Carpenter will be a legit back up QB
The few times i’ve seen him on the field he has done well. Given more play time i think he is actually pretty good.
Ok i'll go with this:
A: passed
B: Brandon Carr, Curtis Lofton
C:Stanford Routt
Round 1: Trade to Steelers for Mike Wallace
Round 2: Zack Brown (Trade back into 1st if need be)
Round 3: LaMichael James
This setup really gives us some major pieces in major places. Bringing in Lofton to MLB will bring the experience needed to play the position. Also allows us to move Mason Foster outside in Combo with new rookie Zach Brown. Immediate upgraded LB corp.
Getting Routt and Carr gives us 2 starting caliber CB’s. Also gives us an option to trade our first round pick for Mike Wallace WR . Which immediately helps us with the need of speed and true #1 WR. Trust me i want Claiborne as much as the next man. But would gladly take Wallace over him any day. Adding LMJ to the back field just makes us more explosion at that point. 2 pieces that could severely help Freeman out.
I went for Balance for both defense and offense, tho i agree Defense is in much worse shape.
The way i see it.
The defense really just needs experience and leadership. The Offense just needs explosiveness.
Problem is....
Trades require two partners, even as high as our pic is I’m not sure they move it for Wallace. I also don’t think TB would really want to make that move either. WR’s have pretty high bust %’s when changing teams. Even as good as Keshawn was he was much less effective after moving. If you make that deal as a GM and the guy isnt a habitual pro bowl WR year in and year out your likely going to need to switch careers.
by DraftPhantom on Feb 17, 2012 9:20 PM EST up reply actions
Well Tomlin and Tampa still have strong ties.
And they are over the cap but quite a bit and can’t keep everyone. He is a RFA and there is at least a small possibility. It’s the only reason i brought it up.
And i understand the bust rate.
Wallace is a deep threat speed receiver. He also is experienced and i think could fit very well in our offense. Freeman plays a lot like Big Ben so i don’t think it would be a hard change. Also another note to mention, The offense we are supposed to be installing sounds very similar to the way the Steelers run theirs.
Its not "sexy" but if we can grab knicks or grubbs in f/a and draft konz if he slips to the second round, LGB might rush for 1500 yards
by Carlitin1988 on Feb 17, 2012 9:45 PM EST via Android app reply actions
Yeah I left Konz off because....
I could see alot of negative posts about it, I actually think he will slip to the second round because he has missed parts of each of the last three season with injury.
by DraftPhantom on Feb 17, 2012 10:19 PM EST up reply actions
My take
B. Finnegan
B. Lofton
C. Bennett
1. Claiborne
2. Zach Brown
3. LMJ
With the 5th pick of the 2012 NFL draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select....
I would go with
Skip group A.
B – Brandon Carr
B – Stephen Tulloch
C – Jared Gaither
D – Skipped for the additional B.
1st – Claiborne
2nd – Coby Fleener
3rd – LaMichael James
Carr and Claiborne should solidify our CB position for several years. Biggers, Lewis and the rest of our reprobates can handle depth, or we can find some 3rd-tier FAs for that. Tulloch at MLB will allow us to move Foster out to his natural OLB position, and give us a serious upgrade on our LB corps. Gaither should be able to be a major upgrade at RT, and would allow us to at least experiment with Trueblood as a LG, where his lack of quickness and speed shouldn’t hurt him as much. LMJ is an obvious pick, as we desperately need a true 3rd down and change of pace back.
Taking Fleeney in the second doesn’t look like it would be a popular move, especially after having grabbed Stocker last year, but with K2 having apparently lost the speed that made him special, finding a replacement for him should be a priority. Fleeney and Stocker should make a good TE tandem, though I’d still like to add a John Carlson or Martellus Bennett to that group and let them kind of fight it out to see what the depth chart would be.
mine...
Assuming Talib stays:
A. V. Jackson
B.
C. L. Landry
1. Claiborne
2. Hightower
3. Rainey
If Talib is gone:
A.
B. Carr, Tulloch
C. Bennett
1. Claiborne
2. Brown
3. Rainey
BUCS fan from CANADA
Mine
A. Carr
B. Finnergan
C. Stevie Johnson
D. Richardson
E. Hightower
F. An OT in the draft
ALL ABOARD THE TRENT RICHARDSON TRAIN!!!
Did you understand the point of this?
"Number one song and a Grammy, now I'm smashing
Maserati crashing, swerving through the traffic
Wrap it 'round a pole, sell a mil off the tragedy
I defy gravity "
It's cool
It’s mostly dated at this point….I’m thinking about doing a new one on March 5th when the franchise tag deadline hits and most of the extensions are done.
by DraftPhantom on Feb 21, 2012 10:50 PM EST up reply actions

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