Anthony Nelson holds the ball aloft after walking into the end zone with his first NFL pick-six at New Orleans.
The way Joe looks at it, the Bucs need to count nickels because they are going to have to spend a bunch of Team Glazer loot on defense and maybe more than they want on a backup quarterback.
(Joe can just hear the Sage of Tampa Bay sports, Ira Kaufman, yelping in delight, saying, “That’s it! A backup quarterback and a running back who catches three-yard passes in the flat. That’s winning football!”)
If the Bucs are truly serious about doing damage in the playoffs and not just winning eight games and the NFC title and being one-and-done in the playoffs, the front-seven of the Bucs needs a total makeover.
You can’t do that with just rookies, not with the Bucs needed to fill so many holes. So that means buying players. They aren’t cheap.
To that end, NFL data scientist Sam Hoppen on his Substack page tossed out the idea that maybe Anthony Nelson could be a cap casualty. Per Hoppen, Nelson is due a hair south of $2 million this fall.
DE Anthony Nelson ($1.9m) – The Bucs also don’t have a ton of great options, potentially leaving Nelson on the chopping block. He did have his best [season] since 2021 this year, but he’s still just a rotational edge rusher.
Nelson is one of these “tweeners.” He’s not a starting edge rusher and he’s not built to dominate against physical teams. Over the years, Joe has seen Nelson fully taken out of games by physical teams.
But Nelson is a damn smart player and when he is not blasted by physical opponents, always seems to be in the right spot. Remember his game-saving forced fumble two years ago at Carolina? And last year he went wilding against the slimy Saints in New Orleans.
Would Joe try to restructure Nelson’s contract? Sure, but it takes two to tango. Joe thinks Nelson is a valuable backup but maybe he could be coerced into redoing his deal?
If it comes between being able to get a starting stud edge rusher (Maxx Crosby, Trey Hendrickson) or keep a quality backup (Nelson), of course Joe is going to side with the stud starter.