The resident sports business professor at NationalFootballPost.com has weighed in on the Bill Cowher-to-Tampa rumors.

His name is Robert Boland, who in real life is a lawyer who teaches sports business at New York University and has negotiated many an NFL contract.

Mr. Boland agrees with Joe, who has no such fancy degrees, that the Glazers are attracted to Cowher because he would sell tickets and attract sponsorship dollars that Raheem The Dream never could for 2010 and beyond 

After a year in which the franchise cut payroll to saved money, Tampa needs to give fans a reason to keep those revenues flowing and must be considered ripe to turn over their football future to a Cowher. It’s the dichotomy of the modern sports business — owners can make money by cutting payroll but only in the short term. To grow franchise value and have sustained revenue growth, they also need to spend. Owners must walk a tightrope between frugality and excess and show both qualities in equal measures.

The Glazers owe dead money to Gruden, which is not offset by his broadcast earnings. But ex-GM Bruce Allen just came off their books with his hiring by the Redskins, and both Morris and current GM Mark Dominik are on what has been described as “take it or you’re out” deals, so in a sense everyone in the Tampa organization is essentially an interim. It would not be expensive for Tampa to implode its current setup if it was to hire someone of Cowher’s status.

Joe really doesn’t care about the Glazers’ pocket books, especially if they’re not going to spend competitively on payroll. However, Joe knows the Glazers care about their wallets, and Raheem The Dream might be more of a cash gamble for them than Cowher.

Joe’s sure the Glazers’ accountants have laid out the Cowher-versus-Raheem scenarios for them in great detail.