No NFL team has invested so much in its secondary, with so little results, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Friday’s trade of safety Dashon Goldson became the third time the Bucs have cut bait on a secondary player who had been an enormous investment for the Buccaneers. The Bucs signed Goldson to a huge contract two years ago, only to trade him to Washington for the paltry compensation of swapping a seventh-round pick for a sixth-round in the 2016 draft. The Bucs have already paid Goldson $18 million and still have to pay him another $4 million this year, even though he’s not on the team anymore.
The Bucs also traded their 2013 first-round pick and 2014 fourth-round pick to the Jets for Darrelle Revis, paid Revis $16 million, and got one season of work out of him. After spending last season with the Patriots, Revis is back with the Jets.
And the Bucs used the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft on safety Mark Barron, who lasted two seasons in Tampa Bay before the Bucs traded him to St. Louis for a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick. The Bucs paid Barron more than $10 million before getting rid of him.
Add it all up, and the Bucs used two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick, and spent nearly $50 million, for three players in the secondary. Devote those resources to one position group, and you should end up with the best secondary in the NFL. Instead, they’re all gone.