In many circumstances, free agents are players that their previous team had no interest re-signing. Geno “Taze” Hayes would be an example in the case of the Buccanners.

But rockstar general manager Mark Dominik can be pleased to say that his big free agent pickups this offseason, Carl Nicks, Eric Wright and Vincent Jackson, were all desired by the former employers.

Per NFL.com today, Chargers QB Philip Rivers is still feeling the loss of Jackson.

“These questions are always hard to answer. You miss Vincent Jackson, I wish we never had to lose any of the big free agents that we lost,” said Rivers, set to begin his seventh season as starter. “But at the same time, I’m excited about who we gained in return. And getting Eddie Royal, getting Robert Meachem, those are guys that can make plays and do some different things.”

It will be fascinating to see how the chemistry builds between Josh Freeman and Jackson. There’s no question that Jackson was used to catching balls from a truly elite quarterback. Joe hopes the switch to Freeman doesn’t equate to a dropoff in Jackson’s impact.

Barring something unforeseen, Joe believes Lavonte David will start this season at weakside linebacker.

Last season the linebacker play for the Bucs was miserable beyond words. It didn’t help that powers that be at One Buc Palace came up with the wild idea of having a rookie play out of position with no offseason to speak of and place him in the starting lineup no less!

If the Bucs didn’t have the worst linebacker play in the NFL last year, Joe is open to suggestions as to what team was worse. Bulls would scoff at calling the second level “matador.”

The drafting of linebacker stud Lavonte David of Nebraska should help. On Buccaneers.com (intrepid Scott Smith?) breaks down one of the top battles of training camp: weakside linebacker.

Adding to the field of linebacker candidates was obviously important to the Buccaneers this spring, as they traded up to grab David in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. David is clearly seen as a potential starter, given both his draft position and the fact that he spent the team’s final mini-camp running with the first team defense. Schiano has made it clear, however, that he will continue to try different combinations with that three-man group, and David knows nothing will be handed to him.

The former Nebraska star is an intriguing candidate, though. He was a tackling machine for the Cornhuskers and the Buccaneers were deficient in that department in 2011, ranking last in the NFL against the run. David also has outstanding speed, which could help him develop into the kind of sideline-to-sideline playmaker that has driven Buccaneer defenses of the past (think Derrick Brooks and Hardy Nickerson).

Najee Goode and Rennie Curran — who Joe saw practice quite a bit with the starting linebacker unit this spring — were also mentioned as contenders for the void left by Geno Hayes.

In Joe’s mind, it is Lavonte David’s position to lose. The team has a lot invested in him. If, for some reason, David is slow to learn or has an injury, Joe’s money is on Curran starting at weakside linebacker.

“Olie, man, that didn’t even work on the chalkboard.”

You all remember the heinous, mind-numbing, bang-your-head-against-a-wall Benn’d around play, an obsession of Greg Olson that clearly was designed to pad the wallets of cardiologists across Tampa Bay.

If you blocked it out, here’s the 2011 compilation on YouTube. However, one of the runs, the successful one, is not a Benn’d around but a straight handoff in front of Josh Freeman. But it seems the stat geeks at Football Outsiders studied this play for a fancy 2011 season almanac and mistakenly included the nine yard run referenced above as a Benn’d around.

 Their bad numbers tricked Pat Yasinskas, who wrote up the data on ESPN.com.

Benn carried the ball six times on reverses last year. Only three of them went for positive yardage. The longest gain was nine yards. The other two gains went for three and two yards. Benn also carried for losses of four, five and 12 yards. 

I’ll total it up here. Benn carried six times on reverses for a grand total of minus seven yards.

Joe will not stand for the Benn’d around getting so much credit. In fact, it was executed five times for -16 yards.

Joe’s personal favorite was the last time the Benn’d around was seen — 3rd-and-2 in the red zone. Olson should have been relieved of his headset at that moment.

So far this season, about the only news that Bucs first round draft pick, safety Mark Barron of Alabama, made was being on the wrong end of a Brian Price right hook.

It appears Barron may be making some news in the near future, and it has nothing to do with getting blasted in the grill in a meeting room at One Buc Palace.

Joe often gets Twitter messages and e-mails asking why he doesn’t write about so-and-so signing a Bucs contract. In Joe’s eyes, only if a draft pick doesn’t sign is it news.

So far, Barron has not signed, but Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune believes both sides are nearing ink on paper.

Safety Mark Barron, the No. 7 overall pick and the first of the Bucs’ two first-round selections, remains the team’s only unsigned draftee, and there’s a chance he won’t report until his contract is finalized. That could happen as soon as today or take until just before the start of camp workouts.

Given the way rookie contracts are now structured, however, a holdout seems unlikely.

Barron’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, knows Barron eventually will sign a four-year contract with a club option for a fifth year that includes a base salary for 2012 of $390,000. He also knows that Barron will receive a signing bonus of approximately $9 million, because last year’s seventh overall pick, 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith, received an $8.96 million signing bonus.

Now that RGIII has signed with the Redskins, Joe believes the dominoes will quickly fall, and that Barron will be in a Bucs uniform within a few days.

Barron’s fellow Buccaneer rookies are getting drilled and grilled at One Buc Palace — rookies reported today — while Barron waits for his lawyers to slug it out with rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and put his signature on a deal.

It’s easy to say Barron’s absence before full squad training camp starts next week is rather meaningless. But if you go there, then you can’t buy in to the theory floated last year by Raheem Morris and others that claimed any and all offseason time with coaches is critical to a player’s development.

Joe is of the mind that the Bucs, potentially, could have a damned impressive run-blocking offensive line. But when it comes to pass blocking, the statistical geeks at ProFootballFocus believe the Bucs need to do some brushing up.

The spreadsheeters pored over tape of all games last season, and for pass blocking, the Bucs did not grade out so well.

Khaled Elsayed, who did the research, showed that Bucs tackles Jeremy Trueblood and Donald Penn were in the top three of tackles giving up the most quarterback pressures per snap. Levi Brown of Arizona was the worst culprit, per Elsayed.

Jeremy Trueblood take a bow, as even after earning a benching in 2010 you still snared second spot, with three total pressures more than Buccaneers teammate Donald Penn and the Vikings’ former left tackle (now left guard) Charlie Johnson.

Now Joe knows Trueblood has struggled with pass protection, but he was a whole lot better last year than in 2010. The listing of Penn stunned Joe. Penn has been able to lock up some of the best defensive ends in the game.

Now Joe knows Penn slipped a little bit towards the end of last year, but Joe attributes that more to the Bucs’ season blowing up amid a grotesque 10-game losing streak than any of Penn’s talents diminishing.

Joe’s intrigued by a cornerback concerned about passing running tests

One thing the leader of the New Schiano Order mentioned after one late spring OTA session was that players would return and have to pass a “fair” fitness test. But Davin Joseph talked about how the Bucs’ new strength and conditioning standards have been ramped up considerably and that left Joe wondering just how challenging Schiano’s fitnesss demands would be.

Well, now it seems the Schiano conditioning edict even has svelte defensive backs worried about running up to par. 

In an extensive Yahoo.com feature on Eric Wright, the recently exonerated corner talks about adjusting his workouts and being prepared for what awaits him when the Bucs return to the practice field next week. This really stood out for Joe. Wright had 4.3 speed coming out of college and clearly doesn’t have any kind of weight issue.

And it isn’t just about moving to a different part of the gym because your new position coach has you as more of a run-fit defender this season — as Wright told me, there are purely football and purely athletic concerns to consider, and they will clash at times.

“First and foremost, the run tests are different, and that’s what you’re obligated to do when you show up to camp,” he said. “Things change a little bit, and you have to cater your workouts to that — being prepared for the football aspect, but also being prepared to take a run test. That’s something totally different than being in football shape. So, it’s sort of a task for Travelle to make sure he meshes both of those elements. You can run sprints and gassers, but you won’t be ready to play football. And vice versa — someone can do football-specific stuff, and not pass the conditioning test. it’s a juggling act for Travelle to make sure he integrates both sides.”

Hmmm, “more of a run-fit defender?” Perhaps that’s a small glimpse into the now covert Schiano defensive scheme?

Of course, Wright addresses his dropped DUI charge in the feature. Click through above to read.

Wright also is back on Twitter (@EWrighteous21) spitting out takes to his minions. He took a break after his arrest but returned last week dishing out lessons he might have learned from the dismissed DUI charge.

@EWrighteous21 – They bring you flowers when you dead but no soup when you sick … “But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered … all who make spoil of you, I will despoil.. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds” Jer 30:16-17 ‪#ThankYouLord

Joe’s pleased that Wright is on track, and Joe’s also eager to see how the roster tackles the Schiano fitness test. #JobsOnTheLine.

A hot topic on glorious SiriusXM NFL Radio, and one on Warren Sapp’s mind, is how Cam Newton will be defended — and respond — in his sophomore season.

And a lot of that focus centers on the Bucs and Greg Schiano’s currently mysterious defense.

Last season, Newton had only five touchdown passes against seven interceptions in four total games against NFC South rivals New Orleans and Atlanta, and the Panthers lost all those games. But against the Bucs, well, Newton padded his stats, gutting and gashing the Bucs on the ground and tossing four touchdowns to zero interceptions. Of course, the Panthers seal-clubbed the Bucs in both games.

Sapp makes the common case that the Bucs and other teams facing Newton will be poring over Panthers game film all offseason and should be able to force Newton to improve or suffer a setback.

For Joe, that means the Panthers-Bucs game is arguably the second most intriguing game on the opening day slate behind the Steelers-Broncos game on Sunday Night Football. Nobody can even pretend to know what the hell the Bucs are going to look like defensively, or what they’ll throw at Newton. And Newton’s going to have a hard time matching his 2011 numbers if the Bucs aren’t pushovers like they were last season. Throw in the Bucs unveiling the run-it-down-your-throat attack, and that should be a damn interesting game.

With the first training camp practice a mere 237 hours away, Joe’s just getting fired up for real football and opening day.

Joe’s got a visual of Greg Schiano holed up today in a 67.2 degree room with a steaming plate of properly cooked pasta studying Newton and figuring out exactly when, where and how he’s going to blitz Lavonte David.

Every year Forbes magazine ranks the value of sports franchises using some sort of top secret formulas that can magically see privately held accounting books.

What a fabulous scam to drive traffic to their website!

Joe has taken their bait and is pleased to say Team Glazer’s Buccaneeers checked in as the 29th most valuable sports franchise in the world with a Forbes value of $981 million.

Joe still remembers all the howling in the local and national media when Malcolm Glazer slammed down $190 million or so in his bid for the Buccaneers and kicked aside George Steinbrenner and various other big shots in 1995.

Glazer overpaid, the pundits said. Ha!

Joe’s drooling at the thought of watching the Rays tonight while enjoying this amazing deal at Hooters on 4th St. in St. Pete, and at the Tyrone Square Hooters in St. Pete.

What a great way to feast and watch baseball! Don’t miss it! Click here to get the exact locations.

It seemed as though Bucs fans in unison cheered last week when Team Glazer decided to take advantage of the NFL’s new blackout policy to lift blackouts of local televised home games if a team sells enough tickets to fill 85 percent of non-luxury seats.

The Bucs were the lone team in the NFL to utilize this new rule. Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times writes that this decision will cost Team Glazer a pretty penny.

There are financial implications here that haven’t been taken into consideration by fans. Because the Bucs agreed to this, they have to share 50 percent of revenue from tickets beyond the 85 percent mark with the visiting team. That caveat was added to influence teams not to set too low of a threshold because it would be financially punitive.

For teams that are generally close to sellouts most weeks, it might be more cost-effective to simply “buy up” remaining tickets at the reduced cost of 34 cents on the dollar, declare a sellout and get the game on local TV.

That’s something we’re still likely to see elsewhere in the league. But for the Bucs, who in 13 of their past 15 home games have been well short of sellouts, that option had become rather expensive.

Joe has written again and again that the reason the Bucs haven’t been drawing fans is a combination of the rotten Florida economy, and that watching games at home on TV is often more pleasurable and certainly more economical.

So this is a very interesting move in Joe’s eyes by Team Glazer. Just like JoeSixPack is taking it for the state’s depression, so too, it appears, is Team Glazer, all in the name of helping fans watch the Bucs.

Last month’s report of Greg Schiano and Bill Belicheat plotting joint training camp practices appears to have reached done-deal status.

The Boston Globe says a league source confirmed the Bucs-Pats practices, and Joe sees that the folks running the Patriots’ official website had no problem regurgitating that news to fans via a roundup of Pats news. Also, Joe has done his share of pounding his email and phone this morning, and Joe’s learned nothing to lead him to believe this isn’t happening.

The Patriots and New Orleans Saints are practicing together during the two days prior to their Aug. 9 preseason game. So it’s reasonable to assume the Pats will have their toes on the line with the Bucs on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23, prior to their Aug. 24 preseason game in Tampa.

As Joe’s written before, this is a good thing. The young Bucs being exposed to the Patriot Way can only further help rid themsevles of the demons and bad habits that led to the heinous 10-game losing streak.

Taking an odd yet firm both-sides-of-the-fence stance on Bucs blackouts this morning on WDAE-AM 620, Trey Wingo sympathizer and notorious Joe basher Tom Jones, of the Tampa Bay Times, said Team Glazer has done its part to end blackouts and now the “onus is on the fans.”

But then in the next breath Jones told his radio audience that he’s not telling anyone how to spend their money. And then Jones repeated the whole take again seemingly in the interest of clarity.

Which is it, Jones?

If you think fans need to step up and buy tickets, just go with that. Or as Sam Kinison might have said, SAY IT! (2:00 of linked video)

Of course, fans and the community need to support the Bucs, which has happened, but Joe can’t put all the onus on fans. Ultimately, it’s a team’s and league’s duty to get games televised by whatever clever, creative and conscientious means necessary.

The 2011 season for the Bucs was uglier than Rosie O’Donnell in a thong.

Ineptitude with the running game, forced passes to a me-first tight end, ole defense, Joe doesn’t know where to begin… or stop.

Despite this, 2012 is a new season. Training camp is just days away. But the stench of 2011 has the Bucs ranked at No. 26, so writes Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com.

And while the Bucs are among the teams that could really use a quick start to dispel some of last year’s problems, the first month of the season opens with a visit from the Panthers and trips to the defending champion Giants and the Cowboys.

Win a pair of those, and it becomes a lot easier for Schiano to sell his program at the pro level. Drop enough games to push the losing streak into the teens, and it becomes much tougher for him to play the tough-guy card.

The simple fact they were so bad last year means they would have to work to be worse, but there are reasons to believe they could get better.

There are plenty of reasons to believe the Bucs will be better. Having an offensive coordinator not allergic to running the ball springs to mind.

Will the Bucs contend for a Super Bowl? Joe hasn’t had that many beers yet. But turning around an awful season is not out of the question.

In the last season of the Chucky regime, the Bucs collapsed down the stretch with an old, worn out defense. Still, the Bucs were in the hunt for a playoff berth to the bitter end.

Then came Raheem Morris and the Bucs mired through a three-win season, only to bounce back and lose a playoff tiebreaker to the eventual Super Bowl-winning Packers in 2010.

In 2011, the Bucs may have put together one of the ugliest seasons in recent NFL campaigns, capped by a grotesque 10-game losing streak and the jettisoning of Morris.

So with a new coach and new players, highlighted by Vincent Jackson and Carl Nicks, could the Bucs win 10 games? It’s not out of the question, writes Joe Fortenbaugh of the NationalFootballPost.com.

The interesting thing to take away from Tampa’s three-year roller coaster ride is that we should have seen it coming. What happened to the Buccaneers wasn’t an anomaly. It’s actually a common trend that has taken place around the league more than you might expect.

Over the last ten years there have been 29 instances in which an NFL team went 7-9 or worse and then came back the following year to win at least ten games.

And in 26 of those instances, teams followed up that impressive 10-win campaign with a record of 9-7 or worse. What does that tell us? Since 2002, there’s an 89.6% chance that a team who bounces back from a losing season to post ten or more wins the following fall is headed for a step in the wrong direction come year three.

Now can the Bucs make a run at the playoffs this season? Well, Joe will not go that far, though the NFC South is notorious for up-and-down seasons.

Joe does believe the Bucs will be better. How could they not? Joe just has a hunch that the Bucs new coaching staff knows the value of running the ball and won’t waste talent by using a Chucky-and-duck, pass-first mentality.

It’s not the first time Warren Sapp was skeptical on NFL Network of the Bucs moving Ronde Barber to safety.

Barber is a “gambler,” Sapp bellows in this latest NFL.com video, and Sapp doubts whether Barber’s DNA suits the safety position.

“There’s something I know about Ronde Barber, one of the best players in Bucs history, he’s a gambler. You can not gamble at safety” Sapp said. “You must protect the middle of the field, and the last line of defense. And that will be the biggest thing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to get back to Buc Ball. Because when you’re giving up 6.3 yards per play [in 2011], it’s not going to be very pretty in this league.”

Those who watch the video (linked above) will notice Sapp seems to forget about Mark Barron when talking about how he believes the Bucs’ biggest question marks are up the gut of the defense.

Perhaps Sapp was just flummoxed by the realization of the Bucs giving up 6.3 yards per play last season.

Regardless, Joe loves Barber as much as the next guy, but Joe’s not so confident in Barber’s transition either. The Raheem-Dominik regime opened with Jermaine Phillips moving to linebacker to replace Derrick Brooks, and that got squashed after a couple of preseason games. Surely Barber’s transition has better odds and will be easier given the position and his experience, but that doesn’t mean it will be successful.

The Bucs have a lot of areas to turn around in order for the team to cleanse itself of the grotesque 10-game losing streak to end the 2011 season.

One could point to the absence of Gerald McCoy that resulted in the tailspin of the Bucs season. The Bucs were 4-2 with GMC in the starting lineup at defensive tackle, winless without him in 2011.

Now healthy again, Woody Cummings, writing for SportingNews.com, points to GMC as this season’s break out player.

McCoy’s attempts to live up to his billing as the third overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft were derailed each of his first two years by biceps tears, one to each arm. McCoy regained his health after going through yet another stringent rehab regimen. He seems more motivated than ever to finish the season.

McCoy has a good group of young, yet capable, pass rushers around him and he says the injuries should help him meet his team’s high expectations.

“They’ll make me play harder,’’ McCoy said. “People get injured when they slow down, but if you are going full speed you don’t usually get hurt. So to prevent injuries you have to go harder, and that’s what I’m going to do. For me, it’s full steam ahead. That’s all I am doing. Whatever is behind me is behind me, all I can see is the future.’’

Now Joe watched closely when GMC was playing and while he may not have racked up sacks, GMC got penetration, which blew up opponents’ plays in the backfield.

If the Bucs defense is to make a turnaround from the sloppy, matador defense of last season, GMC must be a part of that turnaround, and even he will admit he must stay on the field for the full season.

Until today Joe doesn’t recall hearing Greg Schiano comment directly on the Bucs’ lack of effort last season since his extensive winter interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio that called out questionable cornerback play.

Sure, Joe had heard Schiano dance around the subject and talk about where he wants to see improvement in terms of physicality and swarming to the football on defense, but Joe didn’t remember Schiano addressing questionable effort on the field in 2011.

But today Joe listened to an interview Schiano did with NFL 32 on BSPN in late May. And the leader of the New Schiano Order had strong words about effort in 2011 and 2012.

“I still haven’t found that replacement for hard work,” Schiano said. “At times, we did not play with great, consistent effort. And when you watch that on tape, that can’t be. The effort can’t be something that we’re spending a lot of time coaching, otherwise it’s going to be a long season.”

Joe wonders whether all the Bucs lacking “great consistent effort” have been purged from the roster. Serial loafer Sean Jones is gone, and clearly he was a major offender. But Joe’s not privvy to all that fancy coaches film from 2011 to see every offense when it comes to effort.

Joe doubts whether guys with effort issues in the past can just flick a switch and right themselves. So hopefully they’ve all left the building.

Yesterday, when the Bucs learned that felony DUI charges were dropped on cornerback Eric Wright, the collective sigh of relief heard originating from within the walls of One Buc Palace could be heard in southern Illinois.

Because of Wright’s exoneration by Los Angeles authorities, the Bucs may have avoided a dire problem at cornerback, at ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas sort of hinted at in a recent NFC South chat.

Weaz (Bay City)

Is Talib looking at a suspension this season? If so, how many games would be your guess?

Pat Yasinskas

Haven’t heard much either way. Sounds like Talib and Bucs are planning on business as usual. But we’ll see if NFL does anything.

Had Wright been found guilty of a felony DUI, he too would have also had to face the long arm of the law known as NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell.

There is still no word on whether Goodell will pursue a suspension on Talib, which would be a multiple-game suspension since he would be a repeat offender.

Now Joe doesn’t believe Talib should be suspended because charges were dropped; just like in Wright’s case. But Goodell doesn’t think like Joe.

Had Wright’s charges not been dropped, the Bucs could have been facing the very real possibility of starting the regular season with E.J. Biggers and Myron Lewis as a starting cornerback tandem.

Couch-potato Bucs fans can rejoice

Joe realizes cynical Bucs fans might say Team Glazer should have bought up every unsold ticket the past two seasons, like they did in 2009, so the Tampa Bay community could watch the Bucs home games on Sundays.

That didn’t happen, and if it had, it surely wouldn’t have been the wisest business move.

However, Team Glazer has been working to end blackouts the old fashioned way, slashing ticket prices, offering 10-month, no-interest payment plans and offering concessions and parking deals. But now the Bucs have moved all-in to seize the chance to get every home game on TV.

Today, the Bucs announced they will take full advantage of the NFL’s new rule to allow as few as 85 percent of non-premium tickets in Raymond James Stadium to be sold in order to get a home game televised. ProFootballTalk.com had previously reported that NFL teams had a deadline of this weekend to pick their new blackout threshold, as low as 85 percent. Teams like the Colts and Chargers and others hinted or outright said they wouldn’t budge to help curb blackouts, but the Bucs aren’t in that camp.

The penalty for selling more than the 85 percent or a team’s chosen threshold, per ProFootballTalk.com, is anything sold above that mark would require the home team to pay an additional 16 percent surcharge, per ticket face value, to the visiting team.

Joe’s glad that Team Glazer has adopted this fan-first opportunity. About 15,000 seats at home games are “premium” tickets, meaning club seats or luxury boxes. So given the new 85-percent mark for non-premium tickets and last year’s sales figures, Joe would be somewhat surprised if anything other than Bucs preseason games are blacked out.

Joe’s not sure what to say if you haven’t yet been to Tilted Kilt at the corner of Drew Street and U.S. 19 in Clearwater. You are simply missing out on the famous Tilted Kilt girls and fabulous food.

But now you can’t pass on a visit to Tilted Kilt. This awesome coupon below gets you Tilted Kilt’s delicious, giant burger for only $2. That will save you six bucks off the regular price! Just bring in the coupon below in July. Print this page, or click below or here for a printer-friendly version.

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Yes, last year the Bucs were dismal, awful, putrid, embarrassing. The grotesque 10-game losing streak said it all.

But amid the morass, there was a glimmer of hope. That, for Joe, was the play of rookie Adrian Clayborn. The beast from Iowa didn’t take long to make opponents feel his presence, just ask Matty Ice.

Once upon a time, the NFC South was loaded with defensive stars, many wearing the Bucs’ pewter and red. So ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas decided to put fingers to a keyboard and type out what he believes could be the next defensive stars of the division, and Clayborn made his list.

Adrian Clayborn, defensive end, Buccaneers. In a rookie year in which everything around him went wrong, Clayborn put together a nice season in 2011. He had 7.5 sacks and forced three fumbles. If he was able to do that amid chaos, he should be able to do much more in Schiano’s new world. Of course, it would help if Gerald McCoy and Brian Price could stay healthy and provide some help at defensive tackle.

Joe totally is in the same mindset as Yasinskas regarding Clayborn, who should be a terror for Bucs foes for years to come.

Now Yasinskas also cited Bucs safety Mark Barron as a future star. But before Joe anoints Barron a stud, he must do two things: play a snap in the NFL and, more importantly, sign a frigging contract.