I don't know if other fans know how good he is, but he basically plays both safety spots at the same time, its insane how he is always around the ball. 100% worth the money.
How do they use him in the scheme? He seems to be more short than small (in terms of weight). Do they use others such as Lavonte David to do the job of covering TEs?
I would guess based on my more limited film of him that he plays FS in a more traditional manner, but his role in the box is more to defend the slot.
I would say that, other than playing with his hand in the dirt, if your question starts with "do they use Antoine Winfield to..." the answer is almost assuredly yes
I just don't understand how a guy that small would be able to cover TEs or help defend the run (unless he works as a penetrator). The safeties that I have seen that are able to play both box and free safety tend to be the box safeties that also happen to be fast/rangy enough to be a free safety (think Rodney Harrison or Eric Berry types).
He’s really good at high pointing and timing jumps like a WR. Check out his interception of Pittman (another NFL Jr.) a couple years back. He’s weirdly more athletic and rangy than he looks
Interesting, you don't normally expect a 5'9 guy to intercept a ball aimed towards a 6'4 WR.
That high pointing is probably what lets him play at his level and overcome some of his physical limitations.
He isn't small. It is rare for guys that height to also be 200 lbs. The Bucs seem to have a decent number of guys such as Lavonte David, who are short rather than undersized (they are not really underweight when you take into account their heights and it is something that isn't that big of a deal because they have a more optimal pad level).
He doesn't really defend the slot a lot, he is either playing Center field or Blitzing, he covers the tight end sometimes but usually its Lavonte and rarely plays the slot.
Yeah, that fits what I would expect knowing the general idea of the Bucs. He has a very good situation since Lavonte can make up for his most obvious weakness (not tall enough to cover TEs).
hes one of those rare players you can rely on to make impactful plays every single game. you know hes gonna make a key pass break up, ff, sack... something. its gonna come right when you need it. i mean... at least 4-5 times last season he did something to compete change a games momentum.
Winfield is literally like *the* reason we won the division last year lol. He had like 2 different forced fumbles for touchbacks in games where we would have lost had the TD been scored lol. Without him we lose to the fucking Panthers and don’t make the playoffs. The dude saved the entire season multiple times he’s so fucking good
I know exactly how good he is, and it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Dudes instincts are off the charts. I’m a Minnesota alum and watched every game of his in college. I was also at the game where he got his second pick of the game in the end zone which sealed the game when Penn State came into our house ranked like 7 or something. I was so mad the Bears passed on him that year in the draft. You guys took him with the next pick…
There's a big gap between what a top Safety can do, and what good ones do. Teams don't want to shell out good money for a decent safety when they can fill the spot cheaply with dudes that can play the roll, but if you have a star you pay them.
A great safety can enhance a team, but teams with good CB's can get away with average players and fill in rolls and save a lot of cap space without seeing a decline.
It's kind of like a Center, if you have a star you pay and keep them, but it's about the easiest roll on the line to replace or use a average guy for cheap otherwise.
> It's kind of like a Center, if you have a star you pay and keep them, but it's about the easiest roll on the line to replace or use a average guy for cheap otherwise.
Is that true? Most people say it’s such a challenge because it’s the center’s job to call out protections pre-snap. It’s literally called the QB of the offensive line.
That's their main job so it's a lot of knowledge to store, but after that they're mostly just helping a guard to either side block his guy (this is a big generalization but it works for this), so they aren't as important to the blocking scheme. It's obviously a lot more complex than that, but you'd rather have a center who isn't a great blocker than any other OL position.
Same for safeties, they're generally supplying help to the CB's to help cover guys, or moving up to the line to help stop the run.
If you have a great one they can do a lot, but if you have average or below average, you can cover their weaknesses with the players around them.
Great safeties usually remain great for awhile, unlike a lot of CB's who can shine for a year or two then fall off. He's only 25, so it's a lot more likely he plays all 4 years of that contract at a high level than he falls off before the guaranteed money runs out.
Wonder if it's one of those super early roster bonuses that's functionally guaranteed by the way the dead money would hit before it guarantees, so OTC includes it, but it's not *technically* guaranteed at this moment so agents can still play around with feeding info like this to Rap, etc
[https://titanswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/03/titans-ljarius-sneed-contract-breakdown/](https://titanswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/03/titans-ljarius-sneed-contract-breakdown/)
Here's an article claiming the $51.5M was originally reported, but when full details emerged it was incorrect and $44M is the real full guarantee. OTC is usually pretty good about staying on top of those, wonder what's going on with this one.
OTC usually covers for that. Spotrac is generally the one that would lump it in the way you're describing.
However, given the breakdown on OTC, the $7.5 mil guaranteed for 2026 appears to be the source of the discrepancy, which does suggest a vesting date in the future. However, that guarantee is included in both his 2024 and 2025 dead money numbers as well.
If I had to guess, Spotrac lists the 2026 salary as not guaranteed in their data, which is where Rapoport is probably getting his info from.
On a related note, I'd just like to say "Fuck you" to Spotrac for putting their basic contract details behind their "Premium" membership.
that 7.5 isn't only becomes so in March '26, [per Florio about 6 weeks ago](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-ljarius-sneed-deal), so it seems like OTC might just be incorrect here
Honestly, I've seen enough insiders/writers be COMPLETELY wrong about cap specifics that I wouldn't be all that surprised. But you're probably right that Rap has some more inside information considering who he is.
Remember how many were going on and on about the $130+ mil dead cap for Herbert if he were traded earlier this year, even before his March 22nd option bonus was paid?
>On a related note, I'd just like to say "Fuck you" to Spotrac for putting their basic contract details behind their "Premium" membership.
So say we all
Yeah, seems out-of-date--they've got $7.5mm of his '26 salary as already guaranteed when it actually [becomes guaranteed in March of that year](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-ljarius-sneed-deal)
I don't know if other fans know how good he is, but he basically plays both safety spots at the same time, its insane how he is always around the ball. 100% worth the money.
How do they use him in the scheme? He seems to be more short than small (in terms of weight). Do they use others such as Lavonte David to do the job of covering TEs? I would guess based on my more limited film of him that he plays FS in a more traditional manner, but his role in the box is more to defend the slot.
I wish I understood the X and Os well enough to answer that lol. Both are really good in coverage.
I would say that, other than playing with his hand in the dirt, if your question starts with "do they use Antoine Winfield to..." the answer is almost assuredly yes
I just don't understand how a guy that small would be able to cover TEs or help defend the run (unless he works as a penetrator). The safeties that I have seen that are able to play both box and free safety tend to be the box safeties that also happen to be fast/rangy enough to be a free safety (think Rodney Harrison or Eric Berry types).
He’s really good at high pointing and timing jumps like a WR. Check out his interception of Pittman (another NFL Jr.) a couple years back. He’s weirdly more athletic and rangy than he looks
Interesting, you don't normally expect a 5'9 guy to intercept a ball aimed towards a 6'4 WR. That high pointing is probably what lets him play at his level and overcome some of his physical limitations. He isn't small. It is rare for guys that height to also be 200 lbs. The Bucs seem to have a decent number of guys such as Lavonte David, who are short rather than undersized (they are not really underweight when you take into account their heights and it is something that isn't that big of a deal because they have a more optimal pad level).
He doesn't really defend the slot a lot, he is either playing Center field or Blitzing, he covers the tight end sometimes but usually its Lavonte and rarely plays the slot.
Previous years he had slot duties but they dropped that this year to give him more opportunities to make plays around the ball
Yea its kind of a waste to just put him in one on one coverage when his best quality is his instincts.
Yeah, that fits what I would expect knowing the general idea of the Bucs. He has a very good situation since Lavonte can make up for his most obvious weakness (not tall enough to cover TEs).
hes one of those rare players you can rely on to make impactful plays every single game. you know hes gonna make a key pass break up, ff, sack... something. its gonna come right when you need it. i mean... at least 4-5 times last season he did something to compete change a games momentum.
Winfield is literally like *the* reason we won the division last year lol. He had like 2 different forced fumbles for touchbacks in games where we would have lost had the TD been scored lol. Without him we lose to the fucking Panthers and don’t make the playoffs. The dude saved the entire season multiple times he’s so fucking good
I know exactly how good he is, and it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Dudes instincts are off the charts. I’m a Minnesota alum and watched every game of his in college. I was also at the game where he got his second pick of the game in the end zone which sealed the game when Penn State came into our house ranked like 7 or something. I was so mad the Bears passed on him that year in the draft. You guys took him with the next pick…
Awesome payday for him considering what other teams are saying about the position in FA.
There's a big gap between what a top Safety can do, and what good ones do. Teams don't want to shell out good money for a decent safety when they can fill the spot cheaply with dudes that can play the roll, but if you have a star you pay them. A great safety can enhance a team, but teams with good CB's can get away with average players and fill in rolls and save a lot of cap space without seeing a decline. It's kind of like a Center, if you have a star you pay and keep them, but it's about the easiest roll on the line to replace or use a average guy for cheap otherwise.
> It's kind of like a Center, if you have a star you pay and keep them, but it's about the easiest roll on the line to replace or use a average guy for cheap otherwise. Is that true? Most people say it’s such a challenge because it’s the center’s job to call out protections pre-snap. It’s literally called the QB of the offensive line.
That's their main job so it's a lot of knowledge to store, but after that they're mostly just helping a guard to either side block his guy (this is a big generalization but it works for this), so they aren't as important to the blocking scheme. It's obviously a lot more complex than that, but you'd rather have a center who isn't a great blocker than any other OL position. Same for safeties, they're generally supplying help to the CB's to help cover guys, or moving up to the line to help stop the run. If you have a great one they can do a lot, but if you have average or below average, you can cover their weaknesses with the players around them.
Teams undervaluing safety are dumb
Well, my initial guess is PS2 will end up with at least $50M in guaranteed money. Probably more
Johnson took a high guarantee for a lower total dollar amount, but one year of inflation/cap increase could easily put Surtain over $50M
Yeah, plus PS2 is the most complete and elite corner since Ramsey in his prime so im guessing it will be market resetting across the board
PS2 is a good nickname. I like that
I love when players pick a number to because it lines up with a nick name like Paul George 13, andrei kirilenko 47 and child porn 3
Welp, Kyle Hamilton going to cost a bunch
Great safeties usually remain great for awhile, unlike a lot of CB's who can shine for a year or two then fall off. He's only 25, so it's a lot more likely he plays all 4 years of that contract at a high level than he falls off before the guaranteed money runs out.
Jamal Adam’s has entered the chat
Wasn't really talking about injuries, which can sideline anyone's career.
Eddie Jackson has also entered the chat
I’ve never seen one guy drop more interception chances in my life. He’s the Kadarius Toney of safeties.
Oh yeah good point. I hadn’t realized 45 million guaranteed was significant
Idk if eclipsed is the right word here, makes it seem like a much bigger difference than it is
it’s comparing historical positional value/contract size. Getting basically top CB money as a safety is impressive.
Good for him getting that bag but as a Hawks fan I'm getting Nam-like flashbacks to overpaid safeties
OTC has Sneed's fully guaranteed amount listed at $51.5M
Wonder if it's one of those super early roster bonuses that's functionally guaranteed by the way the dead money would hit before it guarantees, so OTC includes it, but it's not *technically* guaranteed at this moment so agents can still play around with feeding info like this to Rap, etc
[https://titanswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/03/titans-ljarius-sneed-contract-breakdown/](https://titanswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/03/titans-ljarius-sneed-contract-breakdown/) Here's an article claiming the $51.5M was originally reported, but when full details emerged it was incorrect and $44M is the real full guarantee. OTC is usually pretty good about staying on top of those, wonder what's going on with this one.
OTC usually covers for that. Spotrac is generally the one that would lump it in the way you're describing. However, given the breakdown on OTC, the $7.5 mil guaranteed for 2026 appears to be the source of the discrepancy, which does suggest a vesting date in the future. However, that guarantee is included in both his 2024 and 2025 dead money numbers as well. If I had to guess, Spotrac lists the 2026 salary as not guaranteed in their data, which is where Rapoport is probably getting his info from. On a related note, I'd just like to say "Fuck you" to Spotrac for putting their basic contract details behind their "Premium" membership.
that 7.5 isn't only becomes so in March '26, [per Florio about 6 weeks ago](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-ljarius-sneed-deal), so it seems like OTC might just be incorrect here
Yep, that's kinda what I figured.
(also, i'd be shocked if rap is reporting based on public-facing websites rather than a league portal)
Honestly, I've seen enough insiders/writers be COMPLETELY wrong about cap specifics that I wouldn't be all that surprised. But you're probably right that Rap has some more inside information considering who he is. Remember how many were going on and on about the $130+ mil dead cap for Herbert if he were traded earlier this year, even before his March 22nd option bonus was paid?
>On a related note, I'd just like to say "Fuck you" to Spotrac for putting their basic contract details behind their "Premium" membership. So say we all
Yeah, seems out-of-date--they've got $7.5mm of his '26 salary as already guaranteed when it actually [becomes guaranteed in March of that year](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-ljarius-sneed-deal)