The NFL Scouting Combine ended Monday, and for Joe and other media it ended Saturday. And none too soon. Joe needed to escape frozen Indianapolis. Nice town, so long as the weather isn’t South Pole-like.

So who “won” the combine? Joe still thinks what you see on TV is nothing more than a glorified high school track practice. (more…)

Sorry, Joe won’t rest calmly on his memory-foam mattress cover until the Buccaneers make legitimate upgrades to their Bad News Bears offensive line.

The thought of a rookie playing behind that sorry 2014 bunch sends Joe into a fit of heart palpitations. (more…)

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, former national champion Jameis Winston, the pride of Florida State University, continues to look like a much better quarterback prospect than Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

It’s Joe’s daily nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback ever to wear No. 5 in the state of Florida. (more…)

Last year, the Bucs went big game hunting in free agency and bagged quite a lot of talent, so they thought.

They got a starting quarterback, starting left tackle and a starting defensive end and a starting cornerback out of the hunt — critical positions for every team.

And what did the Bucs get out of it? (more…)

Yes, Joe is a little late on this. Better late than never.

Behold are photos Joe took with his crappy cell phone camera — unless there is direct, bright sunlight, these Samsung Galaxy 4 photos always turn out fuzzy (Joe wishes he could use his Canon SLR, but one only has two hands and can only juggle so many tasks at one time). So Joe apologizes to the nuts out there he knows will criticize the quality of the photos. (more…)

Alterraun Verner explains

“True football fans” can see the Bucs are “on the verge.”

Lovie Smith told all of us that in mid-December. That wasn’t just a bizarre one-liner on a radio show. No, Lovie walked that walk with his players. (more…)

Unlike ghostly Michael Johnson, at least left tackle Anthony Collins played more than six quarters of good football last year.

But Collins is dead Buc walking, says a prominent Tampa Bay beat writer. (more…)

First, let Joe say Tampa Bay cornerback Alterraun Verner likely is the most intelligent guy in the Buccaneers’ locker room. He replaced Ronde Barber when it comes to vocabulary.

Feel free to Google Verner’s academic accomplishments. (more…)

Just like the Bucs are in no position to get rid of productive players, Tampa Bay also shouldn’t waste another nickel — or valuable developmental snaps — on proven unproductive football players.

This is why Joe can’t grasp why the Bucs would keep defensive end Michael Johnson. (more…)

Popular radio and TV personality Adam Schein is turned off by Jameis Winston’s off-field antics, but is a proponent of sleazy Titans QB Zack Mettenberger

Look, before Joe gets going here, let it be crystal clear: Joe LOVES popular sports radio and TV personality Adam Schein. His SiriusXM Radio show, featured on “Mad Dog Radio” weekday mornings, is dynamite. Joe loves his passion, guests and nearly all his takes. It’s quality radio.

Monday, Schein threw Joe a massive curveball.

In his opening monologue, Schien raved about the combine performances of Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, the two top quarterbacks in the draft. (more…)

The cutting season has begun. Just yesterday, several name potential free agents were tossed aside by teams whittling payrolls in order to keep star players.

Reggie Bush and A.J. Hawk were given pink slips by the Lions and Packers, respectively. (more…)

Pass.

Joe isn’t sure if some folks are just mentally trained to follow football focused solely on fantasy football, or if they recognize a name and immediately think the player is a must-get because, ‘Hey, I recognize the name.’ (more…)

FOX Sports senior NFL writer and Joe’s friend Pete Schrager admits he left Jameis Winston’s news conference last week “rolling my eyes.”

Schrager was annoyed by Winston’s cocky attitude, as if Winston already had been crowned King Jameis. So Schrager reached out to NFL players to see if they were equally disgusted. (more…)

The free agency dinner bell rings March 10. Just around the corner. Hope you grab your popcorn.

Of course, it isn’t just free agents that will find new homes around that time. Involuntarily, so will a lot of overpriced veterans, as clubs slash cash to either get under the salary cap, or free up funds for a spending spree. (more…)

Still don’t think the Bucs should take Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota? Well, if you are in the crowd that wants to trade down, maybe this is for you.

(more…)

Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With the free agency dinner bell ringing in 13 short days, allow Joe to remind Bucs fans of that famous Lovie Smith quote from January 2014:

“Just as a general rule, you know there’s a reason why there is a salary cap.  And we want to use all of our resources to get as many good football players in here. It’s kind of as simple as that. We want to be right up; we don’t want to have a lot of money in reserves. No one does. I mean you want to use money to get as many good football players. And it takes money to get good football players in here. So that’s our approach.” (more…)