April 18, 2025 • 18 mins
Tampa Bay host Tom Krasniqi joins Erin Summers to discuss the Bucs moves in free agency and their needs going into the NFL Draft.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, presently by Seacake.
You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters and writers that cover
the NFL on a daily basis. The New Orleans Saints
Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome into the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here
today it is all about the Tampa Bay Bucks, what
our NFC South opponent has done in the offseason, and
what they're looking to do in the upcoming draft. Joining
me today to help break it all down is Tea Kraz. Yes,
if you have ever been in Tampa Bay, you have
heard The Drive with Tea Kraz. It is on six
twenty am ninety five point three FM. Tom Krasniki is
(00:51):
the host of the Bucks extended pre and postgame shows
as well. He definitely is in the know when it
comes to Tampa Bay. Let's bring in Tom now. Tom,
thank you so much for joining me on the New
Orleans Saints Podcast. It's great to have you.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
How are you doing doing well, Larin, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
You were recently here in New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
Obviously a huge event for anybody that covers the NFL.
We had a good time, I assume I did.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It was a great experience.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
You have a wonderful city, The food was fantastic, the
people were great, and honestly, I can't wait to go back.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Good Well, hopefully you can come back and visit soon
because we love having people in town. But for the
purpose of this podcast, we're going to keep it in
Tampa Bay because we need to know everything about the
Bucks heading into the draft and what they've been doing
in the off season so US Saints fans can beware
and ready for the upcoming season. When you look at
free agency, what were the biggest storylines for the Bucks.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, Jason Lynton Todd Bowles went into free agency thinking
they have to improve the defense. Their offense was top
five in every category from total offense to points, to
passing to running to third downs. They were first and
third downs, so their offense was at a great place.
They went into free agency wanting to keep the offense
(02:11):
intact and add to a defense.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
They gave up a lot of.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Big plays because look, even though they had forty plus sacks,
again it's how they got to that number. They weren't
able to generate pressure from their front four, Todd Bowles
was constantly having to blitz and blitz early and often
and putting his defensive backs in peril, certainly on an island.
So what the Bucks wanted to do was improve their
pass rush. So they went out there and they got
(02:36):
Hassan Reddick. That was their big signing, a one year
deal twelve million guaranteed, fourteen million overall. He held out
last year he was traded to the Jets, and he
did not have a great year. But the Buccaneers are
convinced that that was just an outlier, if you will,
because the four prior years he had over fifty sacks,
and there are guys on the Buccaneer coaching staff who
(02:56):
have history with Hassan Reddick going back to when he
was with the Arizona car So the Bucks are hopeful
that he can add to their pass rush.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
When you look at the pass rush and what you're
able to do through free agency, is it still an
area that maybe the Bucks are looking at when they
go into the draft.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, I question Eric.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
They're looking at a number of guys coming out in
the draft. They have a number of guys that have
come in for top thirty visits, The edge rusher position
is a position that the Buccaneers like. I had Jason
Light on my show a couple of weeks ago, and
he said, I really like this group of edge rushers.
There's a number of guys who I think could come
here and help us. But the Buccaneers are also looking
(03:36):
at corner. They think that is a really big need.
On the back end, They're looking at off ball. Linebacker
Levante David was brought back on a one year deal,
but he's thirty five years old, so Father Tim is
going to get you one way or another. So they're
looking at those positions. Interior, defensive line, there's a straint there.
I think Jason Light likes the group of defensive tackles
(03:57):
in this upcoming draft, so I think this will be
a defense.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Centric draft of the Buccaneers. No question.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Linebacker Levante David. We got to Mario Davis over here.
It seems like they're just going to continue to play forever,
but at some point you do have to think of
when the time comes, who is the backup plan edge
rush group. They seem like they're very deep, but linebacker wise,
what are some of the names that you've been hearing.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Jiha Campbell's an interesting guy from Alabama. Now, the problem
with him is he's got this shoulder injury and the
Buccaneers and the medical people are looking at him right now.
He had labram surgery right after the Combine, so that's
probably going to knock him out for a few months,
and the Buccaneers have to weigh, Okay, do we spend
(04:41):
the nineteen pick on a guy who's probably going to
miss the entire offseason and maybe some training camp heading
into the regular season. So he's a guy that I
know the Buccaneers like, but they certainly have to weigh
the injury risk and Jason light is certainly well aware
of that. Demetrius Knight is another guy that the Buccaneers
have met with at the Senior Bowl. He's the inside
(05:01):
linebacker from South Carolina. They like him a lot. He
could be an option in round two.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
What other position groups are they interested in, because I've
seen a little bit of need for help on the
offensive line. Potentially wide receiver as well.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Yeah, wide receiver is an interesting position because they have
Mike Evans Hall of Famer in waiting. They re signed
Chris Godwin. That was a very difficult negotiation. He got
three years sixty six million, forty four mill guaranteed, but
the Buccaneers had to fight off the Patriots who kept
adding to their offer. And I think the Buccaneers spent
a little bit more than they wanted to for Chris Godwin,
(05:39):
who's coming off the devastating a dislocated ankle injury, but
they are confident that he's going to be ready for
Week one. So they have those two guys. Jayalen McMillan
is a guy they took in Round three last year.
He really came on strong late in the year, seven
touchdowns in his last five weeks, so they like him.
They've got Trey Palmer as a reserve. They re signed
(05:59):
Sterling chef. But I think that's a position that the Buccaneers.
If there's one offensive position in this draft that they
could address, I think it's wide receiver. They had Matthew Golden,
the speedzer from the University of Texas in for a
top thirty visits, so there could be some interest there.
I don't think they would take him at nineteen, but
I think later on in the draft, I think wide
receiver is a position that they could go after.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Six picks so not too many. Definitely got a hit
on a few of them. When you are looking at
the mock drafts, what would you say they should do
in the first few rounds.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
And it's hard to project who's going to be there
at nineteen, but I think the Buccaneers would like to
address the defense and it could be edge rusher. There's
going to be several guys that are going to be available,
several guys that they like. Todd Bowles likes guys who
are bigger, who can set the edge. Now, they had
Hassan Reddick. They just signed him. Yah Yadavi's a guy
(06:54):
who had a little bit of a down second year.
First year was really good, but I think the Buccaneers
are banking on the fact that he could take that
next step. Chris Braswell's the guy they drafted last year
out of Alabama.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
They like him.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
They re signed Anthony Nelson. But I think edge rusher
and Jason Light told me this a couple of weeks ago,
and I thought this was telling Look who just won.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
The Super Bowl? The Eagles, Right, how do they do it?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Pressure and they can't bring in these guys and cycling
these guys who can go after the passer, and that's
how the Buccaneers beat Patrick Mahomes five years ago. They
had all these pass rushers from Jason Pierre Paul to
Shaq Barrett to when Dominican tu to harass Patrick Mahomes.
That's how the Eagles beat Patrick Mahomes because they brought
in waves after waves of pass rushers. So pass rushers
(07:40):
are like pitchers in baseball. You can never have enough
of them. So I think the Buccaneers are honing in
on pass rusher. They like corner. They want to address corner.
I don't know if anybody is going to be worthy
enough at pick number nineteen. I think later on in
the draft, I think round two, round three, they will
undoubtedly pick a corner of my opinion, interior de defensive line,
(08:00):
off ball linebacker. I think those are the positions that
the Buccaneers are really honing in on.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
With the negotiations that were going on with Chris Godwin
and the amount of money that had to be spent there,
how active were the Bucks able to be in free agency?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I had Chris gott went on right after he decided
to come back, and I asked him about the negotiation.
I said, Hey, how close were you, he goes, I
was really close to leaving. It almost happened because the
Patriots had all this cap space. They came at him
really hard, and they forced the Buccaneers probably to up
their offer a little bit more than what they wanted
(08:37):
to spend. I think they wanted to spend nineteen to
twenty million. Mike Evans makes twenty and a half million,
but they ended up going to three years and sixty
six million because Chris god was the kind of player
that you can cultivate a culture with. He's a great
player on the field. He's even a great player and
an ambassador for the Tampa Bay community off of it.
He does a lot of charitable work in the community.
(08:58):
He's well liked within the locker room. He's Mike Evans's
best friend. So this is a guy that the Buccaneers
felt like, Hey, we can't let this guy walk out
the door. I think it would have been a pr
nightmare for them, so they had to fend off the Patriots.
I think the fact that Florida was a no state
income tax state, I think that really helped in bringing
(09:19):
him back. And he definitely left more money on the
table and fifteen to twenty million is the number that
I kept hearing was left on the table by Chris Godwin,
because that's how much he values his relationships here in
Tampa Bay, especially the one with Mike Evans. He loves
Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield loves Chris. He's great in this offense.
If you go somewhere else, you have to learn from
(09:41):
a new quarterback, learn new teammates, learn a new city.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
And I think that's something that Chris Godwin was not
interested in.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Outside of resigning, I guess of Godwin any other players
that the Bucks were able to hold on to.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
I think Ben Brendison was a guy at left guard.
The Buccaneers signed him a year ago on a one
year prove it deal, and he came in and he
established himself as a starter at left guard, and he
had a really good year for them, you know, playing
in between Tristan Wurks and the rookie Graham Barton. They
felt like he was a guy that they wanted to
bring back, so they brought him back on a three year,
(10:15):
twenty one million dollar deal, and it was very important
for the Bucks. They lost Liam Cohen right he went
to Jacksonville to become their head coach, and they promoted
from within. Josh Grizzard was an offensive assistant who was
in charge of third downs. The Bucks were number one
in the NFL on third downs, so they wanted to
give Grizzard that promotion. They wanted to keep all the
(10:35):
starters intact. They re signed Chris Gowin, they resigned Ben Bredeson,
their left guard, so all eleven starters are back on offense.
So it was very important for them to carry over
what they had going last year continuity wise, and they
were able to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yeah, Top five total offense and scoring as well, So
definitely seems like got a good thing going on that
side of it. Bolstering the defense seems to be a
common theme here with the rest of the NFC South
is what they're trying to do through the draft. So
when you look at August September training camps wrapping up,
(11:10):
how do you think this NFC South is gonna look?
Speaker 4 (11:14):
It's a great question eron because I think a lot
of the teams in this division are in transition. The
Saints are trying to figure out what their quarterback situation
looks like. They've got the ninth pick, I think Caroline
is an interesting team to watch because late in the
year Bryce Young started to play like the Bryce Young
we saw in college, and Dave Canalis, who was here
(11:36):
as the Bucks offensive coordinator, has done a great job
of turning that young man around. And I think that's
one team to watch for heading into twenty twenty five,
because if the Panthers can make the right moves in
the draft, I think they might put themselves in a
position to maybe challenge the Buccaneers in twenty twenty five.
Then you've got a Landa that's a team that really
has to figure out exactly what their identity is. Michael Pennix,
(11:58):
who's from the Tampa Bay A, did a really good
job at the quarterback position. Kirk Cousins looks like the
most expensive backup I've ever seen. I have no idea
what they're going to do with him there, and the
defense needs a lot of help.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
They need pass rushers.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
They had one of the worst pass rushers pass rushes
rather in the NFL from a year ago, so I
expect them to go defense heavy like the Buccaneers.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
In the draft.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Didn't the Bucks just look out with Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
They did and Baker when he became a free agent,
he was looking for the best possible place for him,
and consequently the Buccaneers were looking for a guy who
can follow the legend. That was Tom Brady. So usually
you don't want to follow the legend. You want to
be the guy who follows the legend, you know. But
(12:46):
Baker wasn't afraid of that. And from the moment he
got here on a one year prove it deal, he
really became ensconced with this locker room, with this community.
Guys rallied around him. Brady led in a very different way.
He was very meticulous, very disciplined, very focused, very structured,
(13:07):
and I think he learned that when he was in
New England. Baker Mayfield just one of the guys. He
comes in, He's like, hey, guys, what are we doing?
This is how I like to go about it. Very friendly,
puts his arm around guys, very amicable, very affable. He
gets along great with a lot of the guys. He
and Tristed works hit it off right away. All of
a sudden they're.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Around town having dinner, hanging out at this place or
that play.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
So he really warmed himself up to the guys and
all the guys warmed up to him too, so he
really took that locker room by storm. He instantly gained
the respect of everyone in that locker room. The fans
loved this guy because he might be an undersized quarterback,
but he goes out there and he plays the game
with almost a reckless abandon running guys over extending plays.
(13:53):
I mean talking trash after every tackle where he's running
over a defensive back or a linebacker.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So the fans love him. Jason Line and Todd Bowles
love him.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
And look Todd Bowles when he was coach of the
Jets wanting a draft Baker, but in that twenty eighteen
draft he ended up going first overall. Todd Bowles took
Sam Donal third overall. So when Baker Mayfield got available,
he made no bones about it. He wanted Baker, they
got him, and it really paid off in a big way.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, the draft is shaken up to be very interesting.
Who's the first off the board? Then which quarterbacks go
and in what order and to who? And how much
movement is there going to be with these picks? The
Saints picking at nine, there's so many different rumors out there, options, things,
that they're going to do, so we're looking forward to it.
What are you looking forward to about the draft finally
(14:45):
taking place in this next Thursday?
Speaker 4 (14:47):
And this is one of my favorite times of the year, Aaron.
I love the Draft. I love watching it. There's so
much suspense and drama, and it's always about the quarterbacks. Right.
We have a pretty good feeling who's going first to Tennessee.
It's going to be Ward. I mean, that's the worst
kept secret. And then the draft kind of starts with
the second pick with Cleveland, and then what are the
Giants doing with the third pick? That's a team that
(15:09):
could use a quarterback, and then you have the Saints
at nine with the whole situation with Derek Carr. I'm
very interested in seeing what they end up doing at nine.
So it's a cat and mouse game. And usually this
time of year, when we get this close to the draft,
you will see different stories that get leaked out to
the media and people have to be very careful because
(15:30):
it's lying season because you never truly know what a
team is going to do. When I had Jason Lyn
on the show a couple of weeks ago, the Buccaneers
are one of the more buttoned up organizations in the NFL,
you just truly never know what they're thinking. Like a
lot of teams and a lot of people in the media,
a lot of fans, they will look at the top
thirty visits and they will think, Oh, this guy's in
(15:52):
for a top thirty visit.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
The team must like this guy or that guy. Well.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
A couple of years ago, the Buccaneers took Kalijh can
See first with their first round pick. He didn't come
in for a top thirty visit. The Buccaneers liked him
a lot, and they didn't want anyone else to know
how much they liked him, so they did not host
him for a top thirty visit. But last year they
had Graham Barton in for a top thirty visit. They
(16:17):
ended up drafting him. Chris Braswell was in for a
top thirty visit. They drafted him, Bucky Irving, Jayleen McMillan,
all these guys came in for a top thirty visit.
So the Buccaneers are one of those teams that gets
very mysterioso when it comes to the pre draft process.
So I'm kind of interested in seeing what they do
and the other thing that Jason like told me when
(16:39):
he was on my show a couple of weeks ago,
is like I tell my staff all the time, get information,
don't give it.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yeah, those are very wise words for surely when you
work for a team, you know, or we're here, I'm
not saying anything.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
I'm sure you we know a little bit more than
what you're leading on, but I totally get it. And
that's what makes the draft and the pre draft process
so fun and entertaining because you just never know.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, it's all official though April twenty fourth, so we're
all counting down the days and ready for it. Thank
you so much for all the insight onto the Bucks, Aaron.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
My pleasure, enjoy the draft. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Thank you appreciate all the insight from Tom. Great to
have him on the podcast, and if you ever in
Tampa Bay, tune him in. As for us here, we
are counting down to April twenty fourth, when the Saints
will make that ninth overall pick. We are going to
have a full preview show on golf CoA sports and
entertainment network, and on New Orleans Saints dot com, So
(17:43):
make sure you stay tuned to the website or on
Twitter slash x at Saints. Everything you need to know
in regards to the Saints is going to be great.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
There.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I will see you on that preview show and as always,
you can find me at Aaron E. Summers on Twitter
slash x. Thanks so much for tuning in today, have
a great weekend, and it all goes down next week.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Saints Podcast presented
by Seat Geek. Join us three times per week on
New Orleans Saints dot com, the Saints Mobile app, or
you can download the podcast on iTunes. We'll see you
next time right here on the New Orleans Saints Podcast
presented by Seat Geek
Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, presently by Seacake.
You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters and writers that cover
the NFL on a daily basis. The New Orleans Saints
Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome into the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here
today it is all about the Tampa Bay Bucks, what
our NFC South opponent has done in the offseason, and
what they're looking to do in the upcoming draft. Joining
me today to help break it all down is Tea Kraz. Yes,
if you have ever been in Tampa Bay, you have
heard The Drive with Tea Kraz. It is on six
twenty am ninety five point three FM. Tom Krasniki is
(00:51):
the host of the Bucks extended pre and postgame shows
as well. He definitely is in the know when it
comes to Tampa Bay. Let's bring in Tom now. Tom,
thank you so much for joining me on the New
Orleans Saints Podcast. It's great to have you.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
How are you doing doing well, Larin, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
You were recently here in New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
Obviously a huge event for anybody that covers the NFL.
We had a good time, I assume I did.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It was a great experience.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
You have a wonderful city, The food was fantastic, the
people were great, and honestly, I can't wait to go back.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Good Well, hopefully you can come back and visit soon
because we love having people in town. But for the
purpose of this podcast, we're going to keep it in
Tampa Bay because we need to know everything about the
Bucks heading into the draft and what they've been doing
in the off season so US Saints fans can beware
and ready for the upcoming season. When you look at
free agency, what were the biggest storylines for the Bucks.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, Jason Lynton Todd Bowles went into free agency thinking
they have to improve the defense. Their offense was top
five in every category from total offense to points, to
passing to running to third downs. They were first and
third downs, so their offense was at a great place.
They went into free agency wanting to keep the offense
(02:11):
intact and add to a defense.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
They gave up a lot of.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Big plays because look, even though they had forty plus sacks,
again it's how they got to that number. They weren't
able to generate pressure from their front four, Todd Bowles
was constantly having to blitz and blitz early and often
and putting his defensive backs in peril, certainly on an island.
So what the Bucks wanted to do was improve their
pass rush. So they went out there and they got
(02:36):
Hassan Reddick. That was their big signing, a one year
deal twelve million guaranteed, fourteen million overall. He held out
last year he was traded to the Jets, and he
did not have a great year. But the Buccaneers are
convinced that that was just an outlier, if you will,
because the four prior years he had over fifty sacks,
and there are guys on the Buccaneer coaching staff who
(02:56):
have history with Hassan Reddick going back to when he
was with the Arizona car So the Bucks are hopeful
that he can add to their pass rush.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
When you look at the pass rush and what you're
able to do through free agency, is it still an
area that maybe the Bucks are looking at when they
go into the draft.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, I question Eric.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
They're looking at a number of guys coming out in
the draft. They have a number of guys that have
come in for top thirty visits, The edge rusher position
is a position that the Buccaneers like. I had Jason
Light on my show a couple of weeks ago, and
he said, I really like this group of edge rushers.
There's a number of guys who I think could come
here and help us. But the Buccaneers are also looking
(03:36):
at corner. They think that is a really big need.
On the back end, They're looking at off ball. Linebacker
Levante David was brought back on a one year deal,
but he's thirty five years old, so Father Tim is
going to get you one way or another. So they're
looking at those positions. Interior, defensive line, there's a straint there.
I think Jason Light likes the group of defensive tackles
(03:57):
in this upcoming draft, so I think this will be
a defense.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Centric draft of the Buccaneers. No question.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Linebacker Levante David. We got to Mario Davis over here.
It seems like they're just going to continue to play forever,
but at some point you do have to think of
when the time comes, who is the backup plan edge
rush group. They seem like they're very deep, but linebacker wise,
what are some of the names that you've been hearing.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Jiha Campbell's an interesting guy from Alabama. Now, the problem
with him is he's got this shoulder injury and the
Buccaneers and the medical people are looking at him right now.
He had labram surgery right after the Combine, so that's
probably going to knock him out for a few months,
and the Buccaneers have to weigh, Okay, do we spend
(04:41):
the nineteen pick on a guy who's probably going to
miss the entire offseason and maybe some training camp heading
into the regular season. So he's a guy that I
know the Buccaneers like, but they certainly have to weigh
the injury risk and Jason light is certainly well aware
of that. Demetrius Knight is another guy that the Buccaneers
have met with at the Senior Bowl. He's the inside
(05:01):
linebacker from South Carolina. They like him a lot. He
could be an option in round two.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
What other position groups are they interested in, because I've
seen a little bit of need for help on the
offensive line. Potentially wide receiver as well.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Yeah, wide receiver is an interesting position because they have
Mike Evans Hall of Famer in waiting. They re signed
Chris Godwin. That was a very difficult negotiation. He got
three years sixty six million, forty four mill guaranteed, but
the Buccaneers had to fight off the Patriots who kept
adding to their offer. And I think the Buccaneers spent
a little bit more than they wanted to for Chris Godwin,
(05:39):
who's coming off the devastating a dislocated ankle injury, but
they are confident that he's going to be ready for
Week one. So they have those two guys. Jayalen McMillan
is a guy they took in Round three last year.
He really came on strong late in the year, seven
touchdowns in his last five weeks, so they like him.
They've got Trey Palmer as a reserve. They re signed
(05:59):
Sterling chef. But I think that's a position that the Buccaneers.
If there's one offensive position in this draft that they
could address, I think it's wide receiver. They had Matthew Golden,
the speedzer from the University of Texas in for a
top thirty visits, so there could be some interest there.
I don't think they would take him at nineteen, but
I think later on in the draft, I think wide
receiver is a position that they could go after.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Six picks so not too many. Definitely got a hit
on a few of them. When you are looking at
the mock drafts, what would you say they should do
in the first few rounds.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
And it's hard to project who's going to be there
at nineteen, but I think the Buccaneers would like to
address the defense and it could be edge rusher. There's
going to be several guys that are going to be available,
several guys that they like. Todd Bowles likes guys who
are bigger, who can set the edge. Now, they had
Hassan Reddick. They just signed him. Yah Yadavi's a guy
(06:54):
who had a little bit of a down second year.
First year was really good, but I think the Buccaneers
are banking on the fact that he could take that
next step. Chris Braswell's the guy they drafted last year
out of Alabama.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
They like him.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
They re signed Anthony Nelson. But I think edge rusher
and Jason Light told me this a couple of weeks ago,
and I thought this was telling Look who just won.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
The Super Bowl? The Eagles, Right, how do they do it?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Pressure and they can't bring in these guys and cycling
these guys who can go after the passer, and that's
how the Buccaneers beat Patrick Mahomes five years ago. They
had all these pass rushers from Jason Pierre Paul to
Shaq Barrett to when Dominican tu to harass Patrick Mahomes.
That's how the Eagles beat Patrick Mahomes because they brought
in waves after waves of pass rushers. So pass rushers
(07:40):
are like pitchers in baseball. You can never have enough
of them. So I think the Buccaneers are honing in
on pass rusher. They like corner. They want to address corner.
I don't know if anybody is going to be worthy
enough at pick number nineteen. I think later on in
the draft, I think round two, round three, they will
undoubtedly pick a corner of my opinion, interior de defensive line,
(08:00):
off ball linebacker. I think those are the positions that
the Buccaneers are really honing in on.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
With the negotiations that were going on with Chris Godwin
and the amount of money that had to be spent there,
how active were the Bucks able to be in free agency?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I had Chris gott went on right after he decided
to come back, and I asked him about the negotiation.
I said, Hey, how close were you, he goes, I
was really close to leaving. It almost happened because the
Patriots had all this cap space. They came at him
really hard, and they forced the Buccaneers probably to up
their offer a little bit more than what they wanted
(08:37):
to spend. I think they wanted to spend nineteen to
twenty million. Mike Evans makes twenty and a half million,
but they ended up going to three years and sixty
six million because Chris god was the kind of player
that you can cultivate a culture with. He's a great
player on the field. He's even a great player and
an ambassador for the Tampa Bay community off of it.
He does a lot of charitable work in the community.
(08:58):
He's well liked within the locker room. He's Mike Evans's
best friend. So this is a guy that the Buccaneers
felt like, Hey, we can't let this guy walk out
the door. I think it would have been a pr
nightmare for them, so they had to fend off the Patriots.
I think the fact that Florida was a no state
income tax state, I think that really helped in bringing
(09:19):
him back. And he definitely left more money on the
table and fifteen to twenty million is the number that
I kept hearing was left on the table by Chris Godwin,
because that's how much he values his relationships here in
Tampa Bay, especially the one with Mike Evans. He loves
Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield loves Chris. He's great in this offense.
If you go somewhere else, you have to learn from
(09:41):
a new quarterback, learn new teammates, learn a new city.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
And I think that's something that Chris Godwin was not
interested in.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Outside of resigning, I guess of Godwin any other players
that the Bucks were able to hold on to.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
I think Ben Brendison was a guy at left guard.
The Buccaneers signed him a year ago on a one
year prove it deal, and he came in and he
established himself as a starter at left guard, and he
had a really good year for them, you know, playing
in between Tristan Wurks and the rookie Graham Barton. They
felt like he was a guy that they wanted to
bring back, so they brought him back on a three year,
(10:15):
twenty one million dollar deal, and it was very important
for the Bucks. They lost Liam Cohen right he went
to Jacksonville to become their head coach, and they promoted
from within. Josh Grizzard was an offensive assistant who was
in charge of third downs. The Bucks were number one
in the NFL on third downs, so they wanted to
give Grizzard that promotion. They wanted to keep all the
(10:35):
starters intact. They re signed Chris Gowin, they resigned Ben Bredeson,
their left guard, so all eleven starters are back on offense.
So it was very important for them to carry over
what they had going last year continuity wise, and they
were able to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yeah, Top five total offense and scoring as well, So
definitely seems like got a good thing going on that
side of it. Bolstering the defense seems to be a
common theme here with the rest of the NFC South
is what they're trying to do through the draft. So
when you look at August September training camps wrapping up,
(11:10):
how do you think this NFC South is gonna look?
Speaker 4 (11:14):
It's a great question eron because I think a lot
of the teams in this division are in transition. The
Saints are trying to figure out what their quarterback situation
looks like. They've got the ninth pick, I think Caroline
is an interesting team to watch because late in the
year Bryce Young started to play like the Bryce Young
we saw in college, and Dave Canalis, who was here
(11:36):
as the Bucks offensive coordinator, has done a great job
of turning that young man around. And I think that's
one team to watch for heading into twenty twenty five,
because if the Panthers can make the right moves in
the draft, I think they might put themselves in a
position to maybe challenge the Buccaneers in twenty twenty five.
Then you've got a Landa that's a team that really
has to figure out exactly what their identity is. Michael Pennix,
(11:58):
who's from the Tampa Bay A, did a really good
job at the quarterback position. Kirk Cousins looks like the
most expensive backup I've ever seen. I have no idea
what they're going to do with him there, and the
defense needs a lot of help.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
They need pass rushers.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
They had one of the worst pass rushers pass rushes
rather in the NFL from a year ago, so I
expect them to go defense heavy like the Buccaneers.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
In the draft.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Didn't the Bucks just look out with Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
They did and Baker when he became a free agent,
he was looking for the best possible place for him,
and consequently the Buccaneers were looking for a guy who
can follow the legend. That was Tom Brady. So usually
you don't want to follow the legend. You want to
be the guy who follows the legend, you know. But
(12:46):
Baker wasn't afraid of that. And from the moment he
got here on a one year prove it deal, he
really became ensconced with this locker room, with this community.
Guys rallied around him. Brady led in a very different way.
He was very meticulous, very disciplined, very focused, very structured,
(13:07):
and I think he learned that when he was in
New England. Baker Mayfield just one of the guys. He
comes in, He's like, hey, guys, what are we doing?
This is how I like to go about it. Very friendly,
puts his arm around guys, very amicable, very affable. He
gets along great with a lot of the guys. He
and Tristed works hit it off right away. All of
a sudden they're.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Around town having dinner, hanging out at this place or
that play.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
So he really warmed himself up to the guys and
all the guys warmed up to him too, so he
really took that locker room by storm. He instantly gained
the respect of everyone in that locker room. The fans
loved this guy because he might be an undersized quarterback,
but he goes out there and he plays the game
with almost a reckless abandon running guys over extending plays.
(13:53):
I mean talking trash after every tackle where he's running
over a defensive back or a linebacker.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So the fans love him. Jason Line and Todd Bowles
love him.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
And look Todd Bowles when he was coach of the
Jets wanting a draft Baker, but in that twenty eighteen
draft he ended up going first overall. Todd Bowles took
Sam Donal third overall. So when Baker Mayfield got available,
he made no bones about it. He wanted Baker, they
got him, and it really paid off in a big way.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, the draft is shaken up to be very interesting.
Who's the first off the board? Then which quarterbacks go
and in what order and to who? And how much
movement is there going to be with these picks? The
Saints picking at nine, there's so many different rumors out there, options, things,
that they're going to do, so we're looking forward to it.
What are you looking forward to about the draft finally
(14:45):
taking place in this next Thursday?
Speaker 4 (14:47):
And this is one of my favorite times of the year, Aaron.
I love the Draft. I love watching it. There's so
much suspense and drama, and it's always about the quarterbacks. Right.
We have a pretty good feeling who's going first to Tennessee.
It's going to be Ward. I mean, that's the worst
kept secret. And then the draft kind of starts with
the second pick with Cleveland, and then what are the
Giants doing with the third pick? That's a team that
(15:09):
could use a quarterback, and then you have the Saints
at nine with the whole situation with Derek Carr. I'm
very interested in seeing what they end up doing at nine.
So it's a cat and mouse game. And usually this
time of year, when we get this close to the draft,
you will see different stories that get leaked out to
the media and people have to be very careful because
(15:30):
it's lying season because you never truly know what a
team is going to do. When I had Jason Lyn
on the show a couple of weeks ago, the Buccaneers
are one of the more buttoned up organizations in the NFL,
you just truly never know what they're thinking. Like a
lot of teams and a lot of people in the media,
a lot of fans, they will look at the top
thirty visits and they will think, Oh, this guy's in
(15:52):
for a top thirty visit.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
The team must like this guy or that guy. Well.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
A couple of years ago, the Buccaneers took Kalijh can
See first with their first round pick. He didn't come
in for a top thirty visit. The Buccaneers liked him
a lot, and they didn't want anyone else to know
how much they liked him, so they did not host
him for a top thirty visit. But last year they
had Graham Barton in for a top thirty visit. They
(16:17):
ended up drafting him. Chris Braswell was in for a
top thirty visit. They drafted him, Bucky Irving, Jayleen McMillan,
all these guys came in for a top thirty visit.
So the Buccaneers are one of those teams that gets
very mysterioso when it comes to the pre draft process.
So I'm kind of interested in seeing what they do
and the other thing that Jason like told me when
(16:39):
he was on my show a couple of weeks ago,
is like I tell my staff all the time, get information,
don't give it.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yeah, those are very wise words for surely when you
work for a team, you know, or we're here, I'm
not saying anything.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
I'm sure you we know a little bit more than
what you're leading on, but I totally get it. And
that's what makes the draft and the pre draft process
so fun and entertaining because you just never know.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yeah, it's all official though April twenty fourth, so we're
all counting down the days and ready for it. Thank
you so much for all the insight onto the Bucks, Aaron.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
My pleasure, enjoy the draft. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Thank you appreciate all the insight from Tom. Great to
have him on the podcast, and if you ever in
Tampa Bay, tune him in. As for us here, we
are counting down to April twenty fourth, when the Saints
will make that ninth overall pick. We are going to
have a full preview show on golf CoA sports and
entertainment network, and on New Orleans Saints dot com, So
(17:43):
make sure you stay tuned to the website or on
Twitter slash x at Saints. Everything you need to know
in regards to the Saints is going to be great.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
There.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I will see you on that preview show and as always,
you can find me at Aaron E. Summers on Twitter
slash x. Thanks so much for tuning in today, have
a great weekend, and it all goes down next week.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Saints Podcast presented
by Seat Geek. Join us three times per week on
New Orleans Saints dot com, the Saints Mobile app, or
you can download the podcast on iTunes. We'll see you
next time right here on the New Orleans Saints Podcast
presented by Seat Geek
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