Photo by Mike Carlson/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carlton Davis III spent his entire four-year career in a Bucs uniform and will continue to do so for the next three years
Obviously, getting TB12 back is huge, but the resigning of top cornerback Carlton Davis III and starting center Ryan Jensen are pretty key, too.
Davis, a former Auburn Tiger, has spent his entire four-year career in a Bucs uniform and will continue to do so for the next three years while getting paid $45 million.
Jensen—who’s been passing the ball from under his nuts and into Tom Brady’s hands for the last two years—signed a 3-year, $39 million deal not long after Brady made his big announcement.
The bad news, however, is that the Bucs lost starting right guard Alex Cappa to the reigning AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, as Who Dey nation looks to shore up arguably one of the worst offensive lines from all playoff teams last season (and yet Cincinnati was a few plays away from winning the whole damn thing, go figure).
Cappa signed with the Bengals for four years, $40 million total. The Bucs will now look to potentially replace two of their interior offensive linemen, with left guard Marpet’s retirement.
But with Davis and Jensen back in the fold, that frees up Tampa Bay’s draft picks. Without Davis, the Bucs would certainly have had to take a serious look at a corner with their first or second, and without Jensen they’d likely be spending their first two draft picks on interior linemen due to Brady’s need for an elite O-line to be successful, but now they can maybe only spend one early pick on a guard and sign another.
Hell, a lot of mock drafts have them taking a wide receiver. I don’t know that I’d go that far, considering they’ve franchise tagged Chris Godwin and still have talented receivers like Scotty Miller and Tyler Johnson (OK, maybe talented is overselling it, but they’re decent) in the wings waiting for reps alongside franchise all-time great Mike Evans.
For once, I’m optimistic. I’ve seen what life could be like for the Bucs without Brady, and boy, it ain’t pretty. This Davis signing is hopefully a sign of things to come this off-season, with Gronk and many others still available and potentially coming back for a reunion.
Fire those cannons.
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