Does Leonard Fournette's cryptic message hint toward future with the Bucs?
We are officially one week away from the start of free agency. Which means it's cryptic tweet season. Players who's futures aren't set in stone will sometimes hint at their current -and future- situations through social media. Whether it's Twitter, Instagram (the usual route), or another medium – players will inform the public how they're […]
We are officially one week away from the start of free agency. Which means it's cryptic tweet season.
Players who's futures aren't set in stone will sometimes hint at their current -and future- situations through social media. Whether it's Twitter, Instagram (the usual route), or another medium – players will inform the public how they're feeling whenever/if they want to.
Jordan Whitehead has been known to get vocal on social media. Carlton Davis III recently reposted an Instagram picture from a couple years ago. Antonio Brown is still posting to this day. Rob Gronkowski has even done it.
And now Leonard Fournette has joined the party.
Fournette recently took to Instagram and posted the following. After reading the post, it's not difficult to see why many would take it as a precursor to an eventual/upcoming departure from the Buccaneers.
Does it have anything to do with Fournette's future? Who knows. Players have done this before and they'll continue to do it as long as media exists. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's what makes the NFL offseason so interesting.
But what we do know is three things: the Buccaneers are close to $19.5 million over the cap, they have several other important free agents to re-sign, and the running back position just doesn't get paid and isn't thought of as highly anymore. Teams feel like they can make it work with a cluster of guys these days.
At the same time, however, the Buccaneers love Lenny. And he did develop into a three-down back last year as he took slowly but surely took control of the backfield. That in itself is an impressive feat and a rare commodity in today's NFL. I mean, Derrick Henry isn't even really considered to be a three-down back. So, he deserves a good deal.
It just depends on whether or not the Buccaneers can afford it.
It's hard to determine Fournette's fate based off real-life factors, so it'll be interesting to see where things go from here. But it's important to keep in mind that this post doesn't -and won't- have anything to do with the final outcome.
H/T to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times
Featured image via Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
