Was my statement incorrect? Was it nearly 2 years ago? Then why does it bother you? He didnt have any other issues since then, unless you count him yelling at a referee, which is ridiculous. This is a new issue, and yes my timing is bad. Again, I choose to reserve judgement until the facts are all in. I will concede that it doesn’t look good, and now is probably the time to start looking for alternatives.

As for us using our resources, of course I do. However, that doesn’t mean we go out and go free agent crazy. If you haven’t noticed, the teams that do that have not been successful. What we have been doing has been working, so I see no need to deviate too much.

Let me quote you here “Besides, that cab punching incident happened nearly 2 years ago – let it go.”

I was bothered by that line since apparently you weren’t aware or willing to admit the many other times Talib got in trouble which made him a huge risk so I found a nice article going through the list, then thought better of it. Bottom line you felt “that our secondary is the last thing that we need to address .”

Timing is everything, and yours appears to suck. But sure, make it out to be that your only argument was about the 1 game to season suspension, which coincidentally could very well happen. Bottom line is this team has great talent and it has holes and weaknesses. If you are a fan that wants your team to be SUCCESSFUL then you want your owners to use their resources (including the almighty dollar) to address those holes rather than going through a BS line about “building through the draft” while simultaneously avoiding free agency like it’s the plague. Yes, even great teams use both successfully and the team is so far underneath what the cap would be that they could get a top flight CB, DE, LB and have spare change left over for an assortment of other vets to give the young players competition.

But on second thought, let’s rely on our 7th round “top 10″ corner to be the leader of our secondary. Right Joe?

“Remember he was busted for smoking Pot right before the combine”

LMAO… I mean, that right there is better than ANY test that a player can be put through. Major FAIL on sooooo many levels.

And I wasn’t “gloating”. Joe and I had a a long discussion over this topic. He loves our secondary, and thinks it’s great even without Talib. I think our secondary is a major weakness- even with Talib due to his mental instability.I love Ronde- but he’s gonna lose a step sooner than later. Meybe this year, in camp. I said Talib would do something like this in my January discussion with Joe. That leaves Biggers( great potential- limited playing time- ready to start??), Lewis( same as Bigger), Elbert Mack( ah, no thank you), and ??? Ready to defend Brees and Ryan’s 4 recieve sets. As I said to Joe- good luck with that! They’ll be dying to play us 2 times each a year. Joe thinks the secondary is a strength. I still would like him to list our 4 starters if Talib is lost- as I said he probably would be. I saidthen I hoped Aqib had grown up, but he hasn’t ever shown any signs of being anything but an idiot. This shouldn’t have been a surprise to any of you.

I do agree with Joe that LB is a bigger disaster. I think Ruud will get more money elsewhere, and will leave. No big deal either way. But as all the experts are saying, and everyone here is starting to realize- we need to replace both outside LBs. Their play was terrible last year against the run. Have to upgrade both spots.

And Of course, we need a pass rushing DE desperately. No CB will be sucessful with pressure on the QB. I feel we will be fine on the DLine with a good First round DE. I have more faith in Crowder, Bennett, and Magee than most.

To say I’m “a step above Thomas and Eric” – geez, you got your head in your butt today, GotBucs?? Nobody as defended the team, coaches, and owners more than I. To the point that some less informed fans have implied I am a homer. I’m not. I believe in this team. But not blindly. Talib, Jaxkson, Stevens,Sears, and Adams( among others) are all players no longer with this team due to Non- football related issues. 2 due to illness, 3 due to chronic character flaws. Considering how few players Lil Chucky actually sadder to the team, it’s amazing how many we lost. Especially young draft picks, where he was the worst in the league at drafting players who made the team!

Our secondary needs a CB we can count On. It also needs another Safety, as Jones was average at best. Grimm, like Biggers and Lewis, shows real potential. But potential means ya haven’t done nothing yet! I believe in those young guys. But even if they suceed, we still need a dependable shutdown corner. And it isn’t the mentally unstable Talib. Anymore than Jackson is dependable at Safety . This secondary isn’t a strenght. It’s a train wreck with the potential to improve. Just because our OLBs are horrible, doent mean we ignore our secondary. Fortunately Dominck is running the Bucs, not Joe or us. I am sure he was already aware of Talib’s mental deficiencies, and has been planning to jettison yet another of Gruden’s many failures. Almost exorcised them all from the team. Just a few more!!

“March 28th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Fishdaddy217

Joe, I understand that EJ grades out well but why wouldn’t you at least entertain the idea of Asomugha?

Sigh. Joe’s been pretty clear as to why. No need to repeat it for the 800th time. ”

Right…sigh… and the previous 799 times were before Talibs latest transgression, when that point of view made sense. Myron Lewis may end up great but he’s unproven, EJ showed flashes but also got burnt against Detroit, Ronde is more than likely in his last year. Signing Aso would NOT hurt our ability to lock up Free, Blount, and MW down the road, especially since now they won’t be paying Aqib the 7 or 8 mill a year that he would have likely gotten after this year or next. Thanks.

Last time Joe will comment on this subject:

Even without Aqib Talib, the Bucs secondary is better than its linebacker corps and offensive line.

Barrett Ruud — per a very good source — is gone and if you believe the correct people, the Bucs defense will crumble without him calling assignments due to so many young, inexperienced players on the defense. Joe just doesn’t see how anyone can justify spending a Brinks truck on a player at a position where the team has much bigger, much more significant holes and needs to fill.

That’s like saying you have a hole in your roof and your driveway is cracked, so with the limited amount of cash you have in your checking account, you’re going to spend a fortune to repave your driveway and ignore the hole in the roof despite the Florida rains.

Joe can totally understand going after modest, average to above-average cornerbacks in free agency that don’t break the bank. Joe’s on board with that.

The passion and desire for Nnamdi Asomugha, Joe just doesn’t get. If the only weak link on the Bucs was secondary, Joe would be all for this guy. But that’s simply not the case with the Bucs.

Maybe this hunger for Asomugha is some fantasy football philosophy that’s lost on Joe?

(Joe doesn’t play fantasy football.)