Past No Excuse Not To Spend Now
March 31st, 2010
It has been well documented that the Bucs are going to build from the draft and when they need specific holes to put the team over the top, then Team Glazer’s pen will emerge from mothballs along with a checkbook.
While this sounds good in theory, Brad Biggs of the NationalFootballPost.com is calling Team Glazer’s bluff. In short, Biggs claims this building through the draft is nothing but a smokescreen to try to deflect attention from Team Glazer not spending cash.
“We endured a lot of criticism many years ago in that journey to get there (to the Super Bowl),’’ Glazer said. “That’s fine. We’ll do what’s best. A lot of people can’t handle criticism. A lot of people react to the press. We’re used to it and sometimes that’s leadership, to be able to take it on, fight through it and lead.’’
This doesn’t absolve the Glazers from keeping their hands in their pockets to guard their wallets. The cash committed by the Bucs over the last five years is dead last in the league. They’re not spending money, period. They replaced Allen and former coach Jon Gruden with two inexperienced men in Mark Dominik and Raheem Morris. Those guys are under pressure to deliver right now and you have to remember that they didn’t have a lot to work with when they took over.
As Joe has written many times, Joe firmly believes Team Glazer — and many other teams — just are not going to loosen up the pursestrings until a new CBA is signed with the NFLPA.
To be blunt, it’s rather difficult for anyone to justify paying out a big signing bonus when said player likely won’t be playing next year.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:12 am
joe bucs have not spend money for 7 straight years it has nothing to do with the lockout , even when the lockout is over i doubt we will spend any money then everyone will realize what 75 percent of the fans already know the owners are broke
March 31st, 2010 at 10:29 am
Just the fact that the Bucs have a smaller payroll than the Rays speaks volumes!!!
March 31st, 2010 at 10:30 am
That CBA excuse just doesn’t hold up.
Didn’t the Bucs claim they offered Hainsworth some humongous amount of money just last year? They were well aware of the contentious CBA negotiations at that time, and the lockout possibility. So that is either a smokescreen BS story about Haynsworth or behavior entirely inconsistent with the CBA theory.
And they actually did pay the Blocking Icon a fat salary, along with Winslow.
Plus, if you see a good player in free agaecy, and want to sign him, why would it make such a big difference if he would sit out one year in a lockout when they wouldnt be paying him anyhow?
March 31st, 2010 at 10:40 am
Joe, I don’t believe the collective bargaining agreement has anything to do with the Glazers lack of spending. As documented in this story they have been the lowest spending team in the last 5 years. So its rather convenient for you or anyone to say that this years its because there is no collective bargaining agreement. What about the other 4 years???????
March 31st, 2010 at 10:42 am
Justin F what hurts the most is that the Glazers are not broke and were just noted as one of the 3 richest owners in the NFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They took all of the Tampa areas hard earned tax dollars to build RJS and once we won a Superbowl they were done spending money. They are as bad as Hugh Culverhouse at this point and all of these “reasons” they are not spending money are a joke and an insult to the entire Buccaneer fan base.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:51 am
Guys, guys, it’s very simple.
Our payroll is so low because we haven’t drafted ANYONE worth re-signing.
Look at our 1st-3rd round picks from 2000-2004. Each of these players would have come out of their rookie contract between 2004-2009.
Tell me who from that we should have re-signed to a big contract?
Cosey Coleman
Nate Webster
Kenyatta Walker
Dwight Smith
Marquise Walker
Dewayne White
Chris Simms
Michael Clayton (Oops)
Marquis Cooper
These are the core players who we have had an opportunity to re-sign if they had become superstars. If they HAD, the amount paid out over the past 5 years that is continually referenced would be a lot higher.
Bad Drafting–>Not Re-signing Draftees–>Low Payroll
March 31st, 2010 at 10:51 am
Guys:
The CBA premise of course doesn’t hold water for four years ago. The last two, likely; the immediate future, you bet it does.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:53 am
i agree nick and we have the 3rd highest ticket prices in the nfl with the lowest payroll and the glazers blame the economy for blackouts this year they should blame themselves for not spending money on talent or getting good coaches the blackout has nothing to do with the economy tampa is and will always be a football town the fans are just tired of paying high money for tickets to watch a cheap run team with hardly any talent i cancelled my 4 season tickets the day they said raheem was staying because i knew they would not spend any money ill renew once the glazers open their wallet till then ill save my money
March 31st, 2010 at 10:54 am
Wasted signing bonus.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:05 am
I dunno Joe, seems like a rather “too convenient” truth for me.
Wouldnt be wasted if the player kicks butt in 2012 would it?
Might this all be a false premise to pull back on costs due to the devastating economy and maybe a tad bit of overextension by our beloved Glazers?
The second half of that possibility provides a better explanation for five years of lower payroll.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:11 am
@Matt: That argument doesn’t hold water. Why didn’t they re-sign AB? Why haven’t they re-signed Ruud? How about Penn? They have decent players to sign and won’t do it.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:14 am
Eric:
The Bucs are hardly the only team not spending cash this year. Look, even Danny Snyder has kept his wallet in his pocket.
Joe heard Kevin Colbert, director of player personnel for the Steelers, on Sirius NFL Radio around the Super Bowl and he said one reason the Steelers aren’t going to go nuts is because they have no idea what the salary cap will be and they don’t want to paint themselves in the corner.
Joe knows if he had, say, a store, and knew that there would be construction on the road in front of his shop that will all but shut down his business for a year, Joe wouldn’t be spending any cash to fix the place up until after the construction.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:18 am
Not only that, if the CBA was such a big issue, why would they go to such extaordinary efforts to obtain extra draft picks for this draft, which will cost some significant signing bonus money, when they presumably wont be taking the field either in 2011 during the lockout?
March 31st, 2010 at 11:27 am
Eric:
Because the draft is loaded and signing bonuses for a second round pick (not to mention the salaries) are cheaper than a big-name free agent. Draft picks are more of an investment than free agents, which are more often than not, middle-aged patches for holes.
March 31st, 2010 at 11:30 am
Anybody that believes that the Glazers overseas kickball team isnt driving the train on their spending is just burying their heads in the sand. All teams are facing the same issues with the CBA and many are spending money. The Bucs always are the first to grasp any excuse not to spend.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I understand all CBA agreements have a specific duration. I wonder how long it will take this excuse to rear its ugly head again?
Sounds all fishy. But then again I am tying to read tea leaves as to the true motivation of mega rich guys, from a computer in Tampa, FL, and I don’t expect to receive an invitation to sit in on their next Board Meeting.
But, when the CBA thing passes, I expect some damn spending!
March 31st, 2010 at 12:10 pm
As some have already pointed out, our payroll is the lowest because we dont have anyone on the roster worth paying (except a few). If you think about it, we have had horrible drafts for almost the past decade. Since getting Gruden, we lost 1st round draft picks for a couple years. That alone would set a team back, but combine that with pathetic talent evaluation from Chucky and his girlfriend Allen… you get our roster a few years later. This rebuilding will take time, and the Glazers will spend money when they have to, which will be when this team is on the upswing and this season will prove they are on that upswing.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Wow, I would have thought all the Rah supporters and Glazer apologists would have been spending their time getting ready for a personal visit from the Easter Bunny.
March 31st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Eric, I cant wait to see how quickly you turn when the Bucs show improvement this year. I’m no apologist, but yes, I am a Rah suppporter. What else am i going to be? A Rah hater like everyone else? What good will that do, since I have no control over who is the head coach and how long? I feel like I owe Rah support for atleast 2 seasons since I begged for Chucky to get fired and be replaced by ANYONE. Well, I got my wish and I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. Now, if he continues his mistakes this season also, well then you can call me Eric2, cause I will hate just like you!
March 31st, 2010 at 1:42 pm
I don’t hate Rah at all. To the contrary, I find him to be a very nice guy and a most endearing character.
Just don’t think he can coach, thats all.
Plus, if he turns it around in the face of all the doubters, all the more sweet for him right?
March 31st, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Eric and Justin F it looks like all of the Glazers apologists are coming full bore today. Here is something to think about.
Poor scouting dept hiring=Poor hiring practices=Clueless owners
Joe for you to keep arguing the reason the Glazers are not spending
any money because of the CBS without accounting for the previous 7 years of not spending money makes no sense. And also I suppose that Dominick and Raheem were hired because they were the best candidates available????? Give me a break this was a move for MONEY ONLY. Then when you have bad drafts because you won’t hire a competent scouting dept you can look right back at the Glazers. We haven’t had good free agents of our own to sign because the Glazers have not hired good evaluators of talent!!!!!! Its their fault either way GET IT????????????
March 31st, 2010 at 4:05 pm
@Nick
I think Joe might have said as much recently. Something about the Glazers “money is no object” BS didnt fly cause they had not hired the best scouting Department in the Industry.
I do, however, think Joe and others are confusing basic negotiating strategy with the real possibliity of a lockout. I think the Glazers and the other owners know that is not actually going to happen. So, the CBA excuse, which as far as I know they have never even claimed, goes poof.
March 31st, 2010 at 7:55 pm
What “team Glazer” consist’s of now is the 3 Scrooges. And it certainly wasn’t those 3 ugly ducklings that had control of the checkbook on that run to the Super bowl. It was the Father! All these 3 Scrooges have done since their Father went down is take what they can get. This current “team Glazer” is sorta like having a toothache. You wake up and hope that it is gone, but it only gets worse!
March 31st, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Eric, look at it objectively like some of the above. The dream & the Master of his craft, Dominik, will have a break out year in 2011 if the CBA really does go thru. Because They and “team Glazer” 3 Scrooges will have the best record they are ever going to have. No losses! None! Zip! Nada! And Raheem can go all over South Tampa drinking his Grey Goose crowing about his “undefeated” season.
Gary, you got your wish about Gruden! Hows that working out for ya! And, Joe, if I had construction in front of my store I would not dump all my inventory. Either suck it up and say business as usual, or close the store and sell out. Which is certainly what I wish “team Glazer”, the 3 Scrooges would do! To Eddie DeBartolo. Then the stadium would fill once again!
March 31st, 2010 at 9:35 pm
@Louie The argument DOES hold water.
Why didn’t they re-sign AB? Because he was an injured headcase that questioned their franchise QB? They paid him almost 10 MILLION in 2009. How is that cheap?
And why haven’t they re-signed Ruud and Penn? BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE TO. They can keep them at a lower price this year. It’s fiscally responsible. There are literally HUNDREDS of other RFAs in the NFL right now that are in the same boat. So unless you know the guy is an absolute superstar, NONE of them are getting extensions this year.
Next year (if there is the NFL), the following people will be UFAs for the Bucs: Ruud, Penn, Jackson, Joseph, Caddy, Sears, Black, and Trueblood. THEN we’ll know for sure if the Glazers are cheap.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Matt, your research is incomplete and you are not correct on all points
March 31st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Way too much money on the line and too much to lose for this CBA not to get done.
But as far as this “no one else is spending” excuse, the beloved bucs had the third poorest record in the NFL, and had what was one of the worst seasons in bucs history. That was pretty damn hard to do, but they pulled it off.
You would think they would take the opportunity while everyone else who is better than them are dormant, and riding out the CBA nonsense, to improve themselves. This should have been an opportunity to close the gap on some other teams.
Teams like the Steelers don’t need free agents! Easy for them to say “were sitting this out”!
The Bucs needed all the freakin help they could get, yet declined to participate. And then managed to make themselves worse, which hardly seemed possible, by not signing AB.
April 1st, 2010 at 1:30 am
Matt we have had the lowest payroll over the last 7 years. What are you not getting here? You think the Glazers coincidentally are not spending any money year after year after year after year? NO they are not spending it because they don’t have to. The problem is now we have very few good players and if you think we have a better receiver now than Antonio Bryant I want to check that koolaid you drank after you left one buc place. It amazes me how many people think the Glazers are spending plenty of money and they are happy with it. Do you all even watch the games??? We sucked last year!!!!! And we have done NOTHING to improve. In fact we are worse off than we were at the end of last year and 10 draft picks are not going to get us even to .500!! The biggest sign for everyone must have been when they hired Raheem and Dominick. If the Glazers want to smokescreen everyone and say they got rid of high priced veterans for a younger team whatever but you don’t do that with head coaches and GM’s!!! You want seasoned experienced people in those positions not rookies unless you want to SAVE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 1st, 2010 at 8:06 am
@BigMacAttack If my research is incomplete, great. Please explain how so.
@Eric “Teams like the Steelers don’t need free agents!” –> You’re right, that’s because they build through the draft…which is what we’re trying to do.
@Nick Yes, we have had the lowest payroll over the last 7 years. Which coincides with having almost no early draft picks from 2000-2003 and the terrible early picks I listed as well. If we hadn’t traded picks for Keyshawn and Gruden we would have drafted players with those picks that we would have re-signed for bigger contracts.
I never said that we have a receiver on our team better than AB, that’s not true at all. I said that we was probably perceived to be more trouble than he was worth.
Would I have loved to bring in some good FAs? Of course. But that’s a short term fix and we know the team is committed to building through the draft.
As far as not improving…Last year we did just about everything wrong. Literally, just about everything. We’re going to improve this year by:
1) Not doing everything wrong (schemes, coordinators, etc.)
2) Having a SINGLE possible franchise QB entering his 2nd year.
3) Having a LOT of young players (especially on D) improve through experience.
4) Drafting well, especially by plugging the gaping hole at DT at #3 (and hopefully by keeping Sabby on the sidelines).
That’s the plan.
Do I think we’ll be a playoff team? No.
Do I think well put up 25 points/games on offense? No.
But do I think we’ll be a lot better on defense last year? Absolutely.
But do I think Freeman will improve this year, especially as the season goes on? Yes.
It’s going to be a slow process though. The fans need to realize that we are STILL paying for our Super Bowl run.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:38 am
The Steelers have the best scouting department in pro football, and have had a couple of guys named Noll and Cowher on the sideline.
Your going to seriously compare that to the Bucs current situation?
April 1st, 2010 at 8:50 am
@Eric lol, no. I’m not trying to say our scouting is as good at the Steelers. I said that’s what we’re TRYING to do. It’s the best way to field a competitive team year after year.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:57 am
Matt what do you think if the Patriots fans were told well we have won a Superbowl so we will have to pay for it. Or the Steelers fans?? No if you have a well run organization with good competent owners you win year in and year out. You do not hire poor scouting recruiters that can’t draft and if they have two bad years in a row you are fire the whole staff. Excellence has to be looked at every day. You don’t just wake up 7 years later and say “wow these guys we trusted messed up now we will suck for the next 5 years sorry.” Its the Glazers fault plain and simple and I have no confidence anything will change this year. Will the team be better? Probably only because it can not be any worse. But definitely not by this grand plan you talk about.
April 1st, 2010 at 9:35 am
@Nick The Patriots didn’t trade a total of FOUR first round picks to that they could win a Super Bowl. They did it they right way when they won. We probably didn’t. Now, would you take away that Super Bowl win to do it the right way? Hello no.
Before 2009, we spend five years in a row with Gruden and Allen just trying to use FA to put together pieces to try and salvage a playoff run. They didn’t focus on the draft and didn’t develop players.
The Glazers put a stop to that last year. It will take a while, however, due to years of bad decisions. And firing Morris and Dominik after one year on the job and starting over is not the answer.
I don’t want it to come off as me being a homer that says everything went right last year. It definitely didn’t.
But I just think it’s funny that Bucs fans, of all people, are whining and crying after one 3-13 season. We went 15 years without a winning season! We’re trying to rebuild so that we don’t have to go through this cycle all the time, and I think it’s the right decision.
I would definitely rather be where we are now after a 3-13 season with a young defense and a potential franchise QB than where we were after 2006, a 4-12 team made of aging veterans, no QB solution, and a coach who just kept trying to piece it together year after year.