Lay Off Donald PennJanuary 17th, 2014
These fans must be either taking Pro Football Focus stats as gospel and/or be prejudiced against fat people. Why? Because Penn absolutely was not the problem with the Bucs’ 32nd-ranked offense.
Penn, as of his performance last season, is an average starting left tackle — not great but not bad. And Penn is paid as such. The numbers guys at OverTheCap.com have Penn’s salary as the 15th highest at his position, just ahead of Falcons bust Sam Baker, a 2008 first-round pick who is often hurt and spent most of last season on injured reserve.
But throw in Penn’s leadership and durability — he’s never missed a start since getting the job in 2007 — and Penn’s value goes up.
Left tackle is not a position where teams can play games and mess around. It’s too important, and your quarterback’s blind side is not a place to run risks.
Every time Joe mentions Penn’s roughly $7 million payday coming in 2014 (salary plus incentives), Joe hears the cries of “dump Penn.” That would be downright foolish.
Yes, the Bucs might draft a premier tackle in the first round this year. But Joe would still hang on to Penn in 2014. Many great left tackles have played their first season at right tackle — to learn the NFL ropes while a veteran left tackle is phased out. Panthers LT Jordan Gross did just that when he was drafted in the first round in 2003.
Gross, 33, also restructured his contract last winter to cut his 2013 pay to $5.5 million. He’ll be a free agent in a matter of weeks. Perhaps the Bucs ask Penn, 30, to take a similar pay cut?
Regardless, there’s no reason to consider dumping Penn. He’s not the problem. If the Bucs are looking to purge cash on their highly-paid offensive line, then Joe thinks they should look at Carl Nicks, Davin Joseph and Jeremy Zuttah, guys who truly have been overpaid for their performance and positions.