Aaron Sears is nearly as much a mystery as D.B. Cooper.

Earlier this week, Joe brought you the news, via Jeff Faine, that Sears, a Bucs starting offensive lineman who parachuted into hiding in Alabama in the offseason, resurfaced in Tampa recently, apparently willing to risk peeking out of the blanket of the Buccaneers Witness Protection Program.

Sadly, by trying to cover for Sears as if he’s some clandestine operative in the CIA working undercover to expose more animals that lop off people’s heads and fly planes into buildings, the Bucs have done nothing but fuel speculation about why Sears is AWOL.

And no, Joe doesn’t buy into the nonsense that Sears should be left alone when there are major questions to be asked. Sears chose to work in a very public, high-profile environment. If he treasures privacy so much, maybe he should have been an accountant?

Just issue a release as to specifically why he’s missing and that’s it. End of story. Real simple.

Joe’s made some phone calls and sent e-mails and learned that Sears’ return trip this week to Tampa has not been his first. Also, Bucs front office types were unaware he was in town.

In short, anyone expecting Sears to show up in a Bucs uniform in the near future should also expect Santa Claus to climb down the chimney this winter, and for a scantily-clad Rachel Watson to be waiting for them — drinks in hand — when they return home from work tonight.

Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, in a question-and-answer post earlier this week, noted that Sears NFL career is all but finished.

Q: Any indication on what the resolution will be with Arron Sears? There is a shroud of mystery and silence and I’m just wondering if we’ve seen the end of it.

Kevin Nieto, San Francisco, CA

A: I think we’ve probably seen the last of Arron Sears in a Bucs uniform. We’ve probably seen the last of him in any kind of an NFL uniform. We’re still not sure what the details are but for him to miss an entire season and pass up a very large paycheck indicates that he is dealing with something very serious.

— Roy Cummings

Joe just doesn’t get all this cloak-and-dagger nonsense from the Bucs. If Sears is suffering from some anxiety disorder or depression, say it. This is not the 1950s when one stricken with such an ailment was thought to be subhuman. Joe is confident whatever is wrong with Sears, Bucs fans would assist in some way, financial if not spiritual, in droves.

What, does this guy have the ebola virus or something?