Chris Conte, S: 1 year, unknown amount
Grade: TBD
Robert Ayers, DE: 3 years, $21 million
Grade: B+
This is the exact contract I felt Ayers deserved.
He’s not getting paid like a premium pass rusher, because he isn’t one on every down. He consistently grades out as a dominant rotational end, so he was a prize in this free agency period.
The Bucs have had some awful contracts, but I like this one. Ayers had 9.5 sacks in 12 games as a part-time guy with the Giants in 2015. He also doesn’t have much tread for a 31-year-old. He could regress, but it’s not too likely he’ll fall off completely through the life of this contract.
Brent Grimes, CB: 2 years, $16.5 million
Grade: BAALKE EVIL GRIN GRADE
Wow. Just wow. Grimes was awful last season and has starkly regressed.
He was playing at a high level as recently as 2014 and granted, this deal is fairly heavily incentivized, but the base is still over 6 mil a year.
He’s old, slowing down, not a viable starter anymore, and it’s kind of unbelievable that he got more than $2 million a year to be honest. Baalke (F) Grade material.
J.R. Sweezy, G: 5 years, $32.5 million
Grade: B
Sweezy is a solid road-grader, so it makes sense that they follow up the Doug Martin signing with some help for the offensive line.
However, Sweezy is not a great pass-protector and will be asked to do that with Jameis Winston behind center.
He’s getting paid a little less than the other guards that have signed today, which makes sense because he’s a little worse than the rest of them.
Doug Martin, RB: 5 years, $35.75 million, $15 million guaranteed
Grade: BAALKE JIM TOMSULA FETISH GRADE
Shoutout to Walter Football for the inspiration, the Baalke (F) Grade is derived from Walt’s Millen.
As you all know by now, Baalke sucks. I have to wonder if he had to possess Jason Licht’s body to make this deal.
Doug Martin has has two good seasons: his rookie season and last season. You have to wonder why that is.
Regardless of that, no running back ever is worth $7 million. Besides that, the Bucs could have simply drafted Ezekiel Elliott at 9 to replace Martin. Elliott might even be a better back. This is a pathetic move.
Keith Tandy, S: 2 years, $1.85 million
Grade: A-
Tandy is a strong reserve at safety and a good special teams player to boot. He’s just 27 too so he should be entering his prime.
In a market where backup safeties like Sendejo are getting ridiculous contracts, this is a very agreeable number.
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