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So far this season, not much has gone right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the promise of Lovie Smith and some nice talent, the defense is still struggling to stop just about anyone. Jameis Winston is still working out the rookie kinks, Vincent Jackson and Austin Seferian-Jenkins are banged up, and Mike Evans finally had an Evans-like game just last week.
The one consistent bright spot has been the play of rusher Doug Martin. And now is the time the team needs to trade him.
It’s almost a sickening thought to trade away what’s been your best offensive player, but it’s exactly the right move the Buccaneers need to make. The problem is that back in May, the team declined to pick up Martin’s 2016 option for $5.6 million. To be fair, at the time it wasn’t necessarily a bad decision — Martin was well on his way to earning his “bust” status and he hadn’t earned that fifth year at all. A total of $5.6 million is a pretty expensive risk to take.
So while Martin blowing up like this is a good thing for the team, in a way it’s pretty terrible. That $5.6 million looks like a bargain now to what Martin could ask for in the free agency he’s set to see next year. If Martin continues to produce at the clip he’s producing at now, he won’t have a hard time finding a starting job elsewhere.
The Buccaneers avoided the risk with Martin the first time around, and now they’re facing a new risk with Martin. Do they give him that big contract now, do they let him hit the market and compete for him, or do they get some value for him now and let his new team worry about next year?
In my opinion, they have to trade him immediately. Don’t risk him getting hurt, don’t risk him slowing down, just shop him around and get value. Martin most likely wouldn’t re-sign without seeing what free agency does for him, and at that point the Buccaneers are just another team vying for him. The only other option is the franchise tag, and Martin isn’t worth that kind of money or that kind of cap hassle.
It sounds like a raw deal because it kind of is, but the Buccaneers don’t have a choice. Unless this is a gamble they’re willing to take, they have a chance to get decent value for Martin. But in hindsight, maybe they should have gambled on him the first time.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
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