One man's opinion.............
In what was easily the most ill-advised deal of the free agency period, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed punter Michael Koenen to a six-year, $19.5 million contract. That's right. A punter. That's $3.25 million a year, equaling 2.7 percent of the $120 million the Bucs have to spend for this year's team. Now, let's compare that figure to a team that actually wins on a consistent basis, like the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. They pay their punter Tim Masthay a mere .41 percent of their $120 million salary cap. In these inflated NFL numbers, the difference between 2.7 percent and .41 percent is a whooping $2.7 million. Let the record show that $2.7 million would pay the salaries of both Seattle Seahawks LB Lofa Tatupu and Houston Texans LB DeMeco Ryans, who have five Pro Bowls and 163 starts between them. You take your pick. You can have a punter. Or, you can have a punter with a Super Bowl ring and the core of your defense for the next five years, minimum, but probably closer to eight or ten. Tough call.
hno:
In what was easily the most ill-advised deal of the free agency period, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed punter Michael Koenen to a six-year, $19.5 million contract. That's right. A punter. That's $3.25 million a year, equaling 2.7 percent of the $120 million the Bucs have to spend for this year's team. Now, let's compare that figure to a team that actually wins on a consistent basis, like the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. They pay their punter Tim Masthay a mere .41 percent of their $120 million salary cap. In these inflated NFL numbers, the difference between 2.7 percent and .41 percent is a whooping $2.7 million. Let the record show that $2.7 million would pay the salaries of both Seattle Seahawks LB Lofa Tatupu and Houston Texans LB DeMeco Ryans, who have five Pro Bowls and 163 starts between them. You take your pick. You can have a punter. Or, you can have a punter with a Super Bowl ring and the core of your defense for the next five years, minimum, but probably closer to eight or ten. Tough call.
hno:
