Bucs Pass Up Draft Pick to Keep Free-Agent Bust
This past offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost two key players in free agency, as linebacker Kwon Alexander and wide receiver Adam Humphries made big money on the open market.
The silver lining to losing high-caliber players to lucrative deals in free agency? Getting compensatory draft picks in return. Thanks to the amount of money Alexander and Humphries got from their new teams, the Bucs were in line to land a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick in next year's draft.
The only problem? The Bucs signed enough "qualifying" free agents of their own to cancel out the picks they would have received, even though none of the deals they struck came close to equaling the deals inked by Alexander and Humphries.
Still, there was a potential out for the Bucs. If they cut any of those qualifying free agents by Saturday, they could still get the comp pick instead.
The Bucs took advantage of this little wrinkle when they cut linebacker Deone Bucannon earlier this season, after he failed to make a significant impact on the defense. His leaving should give the Bucs a third-round pick in next year's draft thanks to Alexander's huge deal with the San Francisco 49ers.
In order to get an additional fourth-round pick in return for losing Humphries, the Bucs would have had to cut another new addition.
A prime candidate? Wide receiver Breshad Perriman, who was injured for part of the season, and only have seven receptions for 58 yards at the halfway mark. Instead, the Bucs opted to keep Perriman, rather than taking a fourth-round pick in next year's draft.
It's a puzzling move for a Bucs team that currently sits at 2-6 after a four-game losing streak, especially considering Perriman's lack of impact on the offense so far this season, and the fact that he's only on a one-year, $4 million deal.
Heading into this year's trade deadline, Bucs head coach Bruce Arians made it clear he wasn't looking to sell, making an understandable if rose-colored "win-now" pitch. It's likely that mindset that kept Perriman on the roster instead of cutting losses and getting a solid draft pick in return for a free-agent miss.
Sure, Tampa Bay's other depth options at receiver haven't produced much. Justin Watson and Scotty Miller have just one reception each so far this season. But Perriman has struggled with drops, catching just seven of 24 targets, gave the team one of the league's most embarrassing highlights by slamming into his own teammate and causing a fumble, and scored his only touchdown by catching a deflected pass against the Seattle Seahawks last week.
Considering the ridiculous numbers put up by Mike Evans and Chris Godwin so far this season, the Bucs haven't exactly needed much from their ancillary pass-catching options. They're barely even used one of the league's best tight end tandems in Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard.
Arians clearly believes Perriman is the team's best option for a No. 3 receiver right now. But this is a situation where general manager Jason Licht should have overruled his old friend and head coach, prioritizing the team's long-term success over a player who isn't even providing a current solution to one of their problems.
