Tyrann Mathieu and Bucs Free Agency Buzz

I’ve seen it time and time again where fans and media are consistently buzzing over the connection between our new head coach and safety Tyrann Mathieu. It’s cool that our new head coach has ties to some of the most prolific players in the league. However, in order to get one of them, we would have to release a bunch of players, and then we would have to talk them into leaving their teams. For some of them, It’s not likely we will be able to do so..

As Greg Auman cited on his Twitter,  that we really don’t need any secondary players, and in my opinion he is correct.

“They[Bucs] don’t need a new secondary. They’ve put a ton of draft picks into Davis, Evans, Stewart, Whitehead, Hargreaves. They need an outside corner to replace Grimes, perhaps a safety. [Paraphrasing] Fans should understand that adding a Mathieu means letting a Kwon or Humphries or other in-house free agent go and not having much $$ to replace them.”

Many fans are fine with letting Kwon Alexander leave Tampa, while many are dead set against the idea, and as far as Adam Humphries is concerned, no fan wants him to go. None that I can recall. Sadly, as said by Pewter Report, Humphries may end up being one of the odd men out this offseason with Godwin taking the slot.  

Considering a large number of fans are in a current state of sign every player, and if they could have their way, the Buccaneers would have to release Gerald McCoy, Kwon Alexander, Jason Pierre-Paul, DeSean Jackson, Adam Humphries, and maybe even Lavonte David, to fulfill their wish list. Targeting players like Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, Patrick Peterson, and Mathieu, come with a steep price and a tremendous cost to the team.

Auman also cited via Twitter Humphries, while listed as a 4th receiver last year, would most likely be considered a 2nd or 3rd on another team. Likely, a bunch of other teams.

“It would be hard to measure Humphries as the Bucs’ No. 4 receiver last year. I think most teams would think of him as a 2 or 3, and very productive and consistent as slot receivers go.”

Mathieu made $7,000,000 last season with the Houston Texans and is an unrestricted free agent, but has expressed a desire to remain with the team next season. The Texans will most-likely re-sign Mathieu to another contract. One in the 2-3 year span and to the tune of $14-21,000,000. A hefty price to pay for a guy who wants to stay where he is.

Last season Mathieu played in all 16 games for the Texans, recording 2 interceptions, 8 passes defended, 1 fumble recovery, 3 sacks, 89 combined tackles, 4 QB hits, and 5 tackles for a loss.