Derrick Brooks Next Year?
 

Derrick Brooks is one of my favorite players but next year he will be worth 11 million is salary cap

those that where wondering that is double any outside linebacker and 25% more then any line backer

also he will be the most paid player in the whole NFL he will be worth 0.6 million more then Manning

my question will the buccaneers keep him , this year he was worth 10 million

i see he has a lot of football left in him
not to mention he is the only active player with 10 seasons in a row with 100 tackles

maybe 11 after this season , its been 11 great years he has been with them and he was there 1st round pick back in 95

edit : also but the offseason Brooks & Rice will be 33 years old and be worth above 10 million - i know some people say let them go and start rebuilding

dont forget they drafted rudd is big in Tampa also he was a top 36 pick

and for rice they have white to take his spot so they have there replace ments

i belive everyone agrees one of them has to at least go

will they let there to superstars go its realy hard to have 2 out of the 3 top paid players in the nfl on 1 team (if favre retires) not mation they are in there 30's so thats all i got tell me what you think

so my question to you is this

1. would you keep him? (and why)

2. would you trade him? (and why)

3. would you release him? (and why)

They have to keep him, he is the leader of that team and the face of that franchise. If they continue with how they are going this year and they get rid Brooks, their fanbase might turn on them entirely. That is just too much bad pub to handle in one offseason.

At that price I would release him if he won't take a pay cut. Brooks has slowed down noticeably this year and isn't worth anything near 11 million. The Bucs probably won't be in a position to compete next year, they would be better off cutting Brooks and begin bringing some more youth to that defense.

what game are you watching?

Brooks re-did his contract in the off-season, so i think you got the wrong amount up.

Ultimately, it comes down to one question? Is Derrick Brooks worth eleven million dollars?

The answer is a resounding no. He's on the tail end of his career. While it may not be entirely his fault, he's currently a member of one of the worst defenses in the league. Tampa Bay's cap situation is already in dire straits. Personally, unless he'd be willing to take a major pay cut, I don't see how they could justify keeping him on the roster.

Professional football is not a game of maintenance. It's a game of replacement. You don't get better in this league by having the oldest guy on your roster sucking up a big chunk of your salary cap. I understand they may suffer a backlash from the fans, but so what? You don't make decisions based on what the fans want. The responsibility of managment is to put as good of a product on the field as they can, and if that means cutting ties to a fan favorite to create cap space to help field a better team, then so be it.

Restructuring your contract and taking a pay cut are completely different things. By restructuring his contract this year, he is essentially making his cap number for next season swell even more.

IMO it is worth keeping him (bucs will never cut him) and he re-did his contract so he isnt making $11 million next year.

And why its worth keeping him until he retires is so a LB the bucs draft can learn from one of the all time greats at the LB position.

link to him re-constructing his contract.

Looks like he did take a major paycut to stay in Tampa. Kudos to him. That's a very respectable thing to do.

When Brooks comes to TC every year, he doesn't talk about being one of the greatest LBers to ever live, he doesn't talk about all his pro bowls, he doesn't really talk much...but he does say the same thing every year:

"I am just trying to make the team."

How often have you heard a future HOFer say that? I dont care if it does cost the Bucs 11 million, you keep a player with that kind of character and loyalty. The Bucs want him to retire a Buccaneer (I mean how many Bucs are in the HOF as Bucs?).

If the Bucs released him, I would release my fan loyalty from this team. You just don't treat a guy like that like a 7th round rookie. \

Thankfully, he is a lot of class and takes pay cuts.

I still thinks he starts next year; doesn't matter if we draft a replacement. But 2 years from now he will look into retiring I am sure. He has already lost some of his speed. I don't want to see him pull a Brett Favre.

The first time I have ever agreed with you, well put.

well the bucs made the contract, if they didnt think he was going to be worth something at 33 yrs old they should of thought about it first before giving it to him....he's still the face of that franchise, but if the chargers can part ways with brooks, so can tampa bay...they are just so old on defense, they are going to struggle for a long time until they get it back together

Most contracts in the NFL are structured like that. The last few years of just about any contract are nothing more than dummy years, so the team can prorate the signing bonus over a longer amount of time. They have huge increases in salary, so that the team is forced to come to a decision to restructure the contract, sign him to a new contract extension, or cut the player. That's exactly the reason Moose was released from the Panthers a couple of years ago.