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.