So Santonio Holmes gets traded on Sunday to the Jets for a 5th rounder and the next day quite a few people in the Tampa Bay area started complaining about the Buccaneers not trading for him first. I started to kind of just let it go but I think its best if I make my own personal feelings known on the issue.
First off I am not one of these people who look down their knows at others, or at least I try not to be. So for me its not like I would totally dismiss trading for a guy who had problems. But I will say this, I support the Bucs not trading for Santonio Holmes in this situation. The thing of it is is that over the years Holmes has gotten into trouble repeatedly and he has repeated some of the same mistakes. For instance he got arrested for marijuana possession a few years back, then just last week he got on his twitter and announced to his followers and the world that it was time to "wake and bake" and damn near on the same day word comes out that he is about to serve a 4 game suspension for a violation of the drug policy. That's what you call a pattern.
Do people deserve second chances?
Of course.
Do we have to be the team to be the ones giving Holmes a 4th or 5th chance?
Absolutely not.
If you are looking at it strictly from a business standpoint, why would Coach Morris or Mark Dominick trade for a guy they know is going to miss the first 4 games next year when the truth is if we don't have a decent record after 4 games their jobs might be in jeopardy? Hell by the time Holmes would have touched the field for us their fates might have already been sealed.
Now I fully acknowledge that Holmes is an excellent player but I feel like trading for him right now with the state of our team being as it is would be silly even if it only took a 5th round pick. Its like asking for a PR nightmare.
You may ask well whats the difference between Holmes's situation and Brandon Marshall? Id say pretty much everything. Although Marshall has been in trouble in the past he hasn't been in any off the field trouble lately. He isn't facing a suspension and he would be available from day one. And real talk he is a level above Holmes in my opinion anyway. People have compared Marshall to TO but in my opinion he's TO with much better hands.
There are other reasons that the Bucs really COULDN'T trade for Holmes anyway. First off after they let Antonio Bryant leave via free agency the Bucs tried relentlessly to spin it as a move brought on by Bryant's bad attitude. Unfortunately a lot of fans bought that particular line of bullshit and started really heaping smears on him that I don't think he deserved. I saw on more than one forum fans calling AB a scumbag etc. So how then could the Bucs justify bringing in a guy who has even MORE problems?
Not only that but the Bucs have put SOOOO much focus on their draft up to this point and to hear them tell it every single pick from the 1st rounder to the 7th rounder is going to be a starter and a future all star...or so they hope. And keep in mind that the supposed depth of this draft is the reasoning behind why the Bucs haven't been active in free agency...allegedly. So in that situation a 5th rounder isn't really a fifth rounder anymore. Instead its the potential steal of the draft, a guy who could have gone 1st round in any other year blah blah blah. So for the Bucs to give up said 5th round pick they would have again had to go back and contradict what they have been saying all along. And of course couldn't have that could we?
Last but not least Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris are very close and there is no doubt in my mind that they at least had a conversation about Holmes and I would kind of lean toward believing whatever was said in that conversation convinced the Coach Morris that it wasn't worth it.
Now we have our share of knuckleheads on the team true enough but we drafted most of them. The truth is the last time we brought in a guy with a questionable background it didn't work out so well for us. Can you say David Boston? And I know people will throw Jeremy Stevens into the mix but the thing to remember is that when he was signed nobody really knew about the rape allegations against him. Instead what we knew about were his run ins with the law over drinking and driving. And it turns out that he ended up serving a suspension after he got here for those issues. Not exactly the kind of thing that would be encouraging the brass to go out and get Holmes.
And please keep in mind that this is a guy who had been in trouble with weed before, got in trouble again this time to earn his 4 game suspension. Who REALLY believes 100% that he won't get in trouble again and get suspended for the whole year?
Not many rational people I suspect.
You know the saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. My addition is fool me three times and I'm getting fired.
Its worth noting finally that Holmes will be on the last year of his contract this year. Considering he would be missing a quarter of the season and then be a free agent would it really make sense to trade for him when its obvious you can't sign him right off the bat to a long term deal but on the other hand if you wait till after the season you may lose him to the highest bidder?
Again I think not.
Now the Jets are in a totally different situation than we are. Under Rex Ryan its apparent that they have a win now attitude and they are all about bringing in guys via trade or free agency to accomplish that goal and they will evidently worry about the future later. Now maybe that works for them but its certainly not the approach that the Bucs have been preaching all offseason.
In summary regardless of the ultimate reason why, I think the Bucs were wise to pass on Santonio Holmes.
Just my opinion.
First off I am not one of these people who look down their knows at others, or at least I try not to be. So for me its not like I would totally dismiss trading for a guy who had problems. But I will say this, I support the Bucs not trading for Santonio Holmes in this situation. The thing of it is is that over the years Holmes has gotten into trouble repeatedly and he has repeated some of the same mistakes. For instance he got arrested for marijuana possession a few years back, then just last week he got on his twitter and announced to his followers and the world that it was time to "wake and bake" and damn near on the same day word comes out that he is about to serve a 4 game suspension for a violation of the drug policy. That's what you call a pattern.
Do people deserve second chances?
Of course.
Do we have to be the team to be the ones giving Holmes a 4th or 5th chance?
Absolutely not.
If you are looking at it strictly from a business standpoint, why would Coach Morris or Mark Dominick trade for a guy they know is going to miss the first 4 games next year when the truth is if we don't have a decent record after 4 games their jobs might be in jeopardy? Hell by the time Holmes would have touched the field for us their fates might have already been sealed.
Now I fully acknowledge that Holmes is an excellent player but I feel like trading for him right now with the state of our team being as it is would be silly even if it only took a 5th round pick. Its like asking for a PR nightmare.
You may ask well whats the difference between Holmes's situation and Brandon Marshall? Id say pretty much everything. Although Marshall has been in trouble in the past he hasn't been in any off the field trouble lately. He isn't facing a suspension and he would be available from day one. And real talk he is a level above Holmes in my opinion anyway. People have compared Marshall to TO but in my opinion he's TO with much better hands.
There are other reasons that the Bucs really COULDN'T trade for Holmes anyway. First off after they let Antonio Bryant leave via free agency the Bucs tried relentlessly to spin it as a move brought on by Bryant's bad attitude. Unfortunately a lot of fans bought that particular line of bullshit and started really heaping smears on him that I don't think he deserved. I saw on more than one forum fans calling AB a scumbag etc. So how then could the Bucs justify bringing in a guy who has even MORE problems?
Not only that but the Bucs have put SOOOO much focus on their draft up to this point and to hear them tell it every single pick from the 1st rounder to the 7th rounder is going to be a starter and a future all star...or so they hope. And keep in mind that the supposed depth of this draft is the reasoning behind why the Bucs haven't been active in free agency...allegedly. So in that situation a 5th rounder isn't really a fifth rounder anymore. Instead its the potential steal of the draft, a guy who could have gone 1st round in any other year blah blah blah. So for the Bucs to give up said 5th round pick they would have again had to go back and contradict what they have been saying all along. And of course couldn't have that could we?
Last but not least Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris are very close and there is no doubt in my mind that they at least had a conversation about Holmes and I would kind of lean toward believing whatever was said in that conversation convinced the Coach Morris that it wasn't worth it.
Now we have our share of knuckleheads on the team true enough but we drafted most of them. The truth is the last time we brought in a guy with a questionable background it didn't work out so well for us. Can you say David Boston? And I know people will throw Jeremy Stevens into the mix but the thing to remember is that when he was signed nobody really knew about the rape allegations against him. Instead what we knew about were his run ins with the law over drinking and driving. And it turns out that he ended up serving a suspension after he got here for those issues. Not exactly the kind of thing that would be encouraging the brass to go out and get Holmes.
And please keep in mind that this is a guy who had been in trouble with weed before, got in trouble again this time to earn his 4 game suspension. Who REALLY believes 100% that he won't get in trouble again and get suspended for the whole year?
Not many rational people I suspect.
You know the saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. My addition is fool me three times and I'm getting fired.
Its worth noting finally that Holmes will be on the last year of his contract this year. Considering he would be missing a quarter of the season and then be a free agent would it really make sense to trade for him when its obvious you can't sign him right off the bat to a long term deal but on the other hand if you wait till after the season you may lose him to the highest bidder?
Again I think not.
Now the Jets are in a totally different situation than we are. Under Rex Ryan its apparent that they have a win now attitude and they are all about bringing in guys via trade or free agency to accomplish that goal and they will evidently worry about the future later. Now maybe that works for them but its certainly not the approach that the Bucs have been preaching all offseason.
In summary regardless of the ultimate reason why, I think the Bucs were wise to pass on Santonio Holmes.
Just my opinion.
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