Greg Schiano says he likes competition, and now he has more.

The Bucs signed troubled running back/fullback Peyton Hillis, per Schiano’s comments to Steve Duemig on WDAE-AM 620 this evening.

Schiano said Hillis looked great in his workout today and is chomping at the bit to get back on the field. Since his standout season in Cleveland back in 2010, Hillis has stood out for his bad attitude. And he’s also a fumbler.

Schiano said he’s excited about what Hillis will bring to the running backs corps that also added veteran third-down back Brian Leonard, a former Schiano guy at Rutgers, as well as rookie Mike James out of Miami. But Schiano made it clear that Doug Martin is not being threatened.

No subject gets Bucs fans worked up more than Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. At times, he looks like the second coming of Ben Roethlisberger. Other times, he looks like the second coming of Rob Johnson.

At his best, Freeman is among the elite of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. At his worst, he makes Bucs fans run to the nearest liquor store and demand the return of Trent Dilfer.

Some fans have had enough of the Freeman rollercoaster and simply want to turn the page. Well, for said fans, Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune has bad news for you. Barring a complete and utter collapse by Freeman and the Bucs this season, a Walter Football-type collapse, Freeman will return as your Bucs starting quarterback in 2014, and very likely, beyond, as Cummings told Howard Balzer and Dan Leberfeld, co-hosts of “Press Coverage” on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

“Josh had a pretty darn good season last year if you break it down. He had two or three bad games and they came at the end of the year which scarred the whole thing. He threw for most passing yards – more than 4,000 yards – in Buccaneers history and threw for 27 touchdowns. He was really moving along very well until very late in the season.

“If he has that kind of a season again the Bucs will be in a tough situation. He is certainly capable of putting together 15 or 16 superb games. It is a matter of consistency. I think the fact he is in a system, the same system for a second year in a row for the first time in his career, truly the same system. I think that will benefit him. He now has four years of experience. He is a very confident kid. It is very hard to predict how this is going to go.

“I can say this: If he just does his job he will do just fine. He has all the ability in the world. At the end of the day, after putting in so much effort, time and of course, money, into developing Josh Freeman, I have a hard time believing that no matter what kind of season he has unless he has 14 horrid games and this team goes 4-12 or something, I have a hard time believing this team will let him go. I think at the end of the day he will remain a Buccaneer. His play will determine for how long he will remain a Buccaneer whether it’s a one-year deal, maybe a two-year deal or a $100 million five-year type deal. At the end of the day, I think [the Bucs] probably stick with Josh Freeman and you know what? At the end of the day, I say he will earn that right.”

Well of course, if Freeman earns the right to return as Cummings suggests, Joe is of the belief the Bucs would have been fighting for a playoff berth or in fact will be playing in the postseason this January.

Even if Freeman has an average year, Joe’s pretty sure Freeman will be franchised if his agent tries to play hardball with Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

If Freeman plays more like his 2011 season than his 2010 season, and the Bucs fail to make the playoffs, all bets are off.

It wasn’t a shock to Joe when he learned that the walking suspension, cornerback Eric Wright, failed to pass a physical after being traded by the Bucs to the 49ers on Friday. If teams want to fail a guy on a physical, they can, even if said player is the model of health.

Just reading how the 49ers are trying to spin the Wright affair is amusing, as documented by Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. It almost seems as if 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh threw San Francisco general manager Trent Baalke under the bus. Harbaugh refused to say what element of his physical that Wright flunked and all but told reporters to talk to Baalke about why he traded for Wright and shipped him back to the Bucs in a matter of hours.

Were the 49ers aware of his recent DUI before the trade?

“I mean, really, the better guy to talk to is Trent,” Harbaugh said. “He’s got a clear understanding of the specific transaction. So I’ll defer to him on that.”

Joe finds it simply impossible to believe Harbaugh has no idea why Wright flunked his physical. Nothing like dodging the question and passing the blame off on a suit above you in the front office.

Harbaugh has been outspoken in the recent past, mocking his division-rival Seahawks for all their players getting popped for Adderall (?). Maybe the 49ers forgot about Wright’s suspension last year for testing positive for Adderall (?) and this, in part, is why the 49ers flunked Wright’s physical in order to keep their distance?

It sure smells to Joe that after the 49ers had a weekend to think over the transaction, both Harbaugh and Baalke decided they really aren’t desperate enough to bring in a malcontent like Wright to poison the locker room.

At 5:30 p.m. today, the leader of the New Schiano Order steps into the crosshairs of the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620. Surely, this is a must-listen radio event. The Big Dog will fire off some great questions.

And the intense Bucs talk goes in a different direction tomorrow, when Joe himself joins Duemig for a full hour starting at 5 p.m. Count on gripping debate and plenty of insider knowledge to be shared.

By now, many Bucs fans have heard unconfirmed reports of bad-attitude, 27-year-old running back Peyton Hillis getting a tryout with the Bucs today.

The guy hasn’t done squat since his strong 2010 season in Cleveland, other than alienate teammates and the rest of the NFL, which is why Hillis is unemployed.

Joe really can’t give much of a crap about this. First, the Bucs give all kinds of players tryouts all the time, and sometimes a tryout is merely rockstar general manager Mark Dominik doing an agent a favor — one Dominik can cash in on later.

Second, Hillis doesn’t make sense for the Bucs. Forget the fact that Hillis is a fumbling machine — a capital crime under the New Schiano Order. Rookie Mike James needs all the carries he can handle during the preseason, as does veteran back Brian Leonard, who is a total newcomer to the Bucs offense. And then there’s Michael Smith, who needs to stay, um, active. There’s also Spudd Webb rookie Matt Brown on the roster.

No, Joe’s not reading into a Hillis tryout. Even if they add him to the 90-man training camp roster, there won’t be much to it.

When Joe pounds the streets on hot June days selling the best advertising value in the history of Tampa Bay marketing, Joe chats with a lot of serious Bucs fans. And outside of being gripped by Josh Freeman fears, these fans most want to know if Darrelle Revis’ knee is really healthy.

Joe gets it. Revis’ knee is arguably the most important joint in recent Bucs history, surpassing Cadillac Williams’ and those of Tanard Jackson  and Jeremy Stevens.

Imagining a healthy Revis on opening day helps Joe sleep at night, even better than envisioning the warm embrace of Rachel Watson while Joe cradles a frosty beer.

The latest on Revis isn’t really news, but Joe knows it will soothe many fans seeking any sign that the secondary savior, the $16 million man is more than ready.

The photo above is of the side of the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway and was released by the Bucs on Facebook yesterday. Mr. Revis himself even fired it off on Twitter, all pumped up about leading the “No Fly Zone” to his 368,000+ followers.

Joe can’t imagine Revis and the Bucs would engage in these kinds of fan-arousing tactcs if Revis wasn’t truly ready to ball.

Joe’s proud to give his giant stamp of approval to the great folks at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa. There’s a reason they were just named Cadillac Dealer of the Year. Check out their amazing sales and service deals right now.

It’s easy to see why Bucs fans are geeked about the coming season. When you have newcomers like Batman and Robin added to current stalwarts Lavonte David, Gerald McCoy, Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin and Mike Williams, it’s been a while since the Bucs have had so much star power.

This has even caught the eye of eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune. When he appeared on “The Opening Drive,” co-hosted by Bob Papa and Amani Toomer last week, Kaufman admitted it’s been quite a while since he’s seen a Bucs team with this much talent.

“They have a very exciting team. They have eight guys on this roster who have been to the Pro Bowl – eight! Not many teams can match that. And they are all like 27 years-old. This team is ready to win. Rebuilding is over. They are laying in the weeds and I don’t think Greg Schiano minds being under the radar now.

“I think Revis will fix a lot of their secondary problems – not all of them, but a lot of them. You can do a lot of things when you have a guy like Darrelle Revis on your side. It is up to Bill Sheridan to be creative otherwise his job will be in jeopardy.

“I just think this is a good football team with weapons up and down the line. I haven’t been this excited about a Bucs team in 10 years.”

There are reason for optimism, as well as doubt. Can the Bucs finally break through, put the Dixie Chicks and Saints on the canvas and win the division? That’s a helluva tall order.

Then there is the NFC West, arguably the best division in the NFL.

The road that leads to answers of all Bucs questions opens in roughly 48 hours. That’s when the Bucs hit the practice fields at One Buc Palace as training camp, and indirectly the football season, starts anew.

Joe doesn’t hide his appreciation of Bryan Cox. The Buccaneers” pass-rush coach (last year he was front-7 coach) is a colorful character. 

Cox was that way during his Pro Bowl playing days, and he is as a Bucs assistant coach.

Cox told Joe he has no bigger aspirations in coaching and just likes to get after it and teach the game. Joe believes that attitude lets Cox be his own man while still being a loyal member of the New Schiano Order. Plus, the postgame cigar dangling from Cox’s mouth in the locker room is more like a Cuban missile than one of the country’s trademark smokes. Joe finds that amusing.

Cox’s impact has been felt in a big way, and his style is appreciated. Take the comment on Buccaneers.com from Bucs rookie defensive end Steven Means, who describes Cox as a physical coach, as in hands on guys in the meeting room.

That’s just beautiful.

Not seen in the video linked above is Joe asking Means about how coaching techniques are different in Tampa than what he experienced in college. Means said other than a little more detail and focus on hands and hips work there’s little change in the pros– except for how Bucs coaches “make you” get it right.

That sounds like Cox at work.

Well, well, well. The walking suspension known as cornerback Eric Wright failed his physical with the 49ers, thus the trade that sent him from the Bucs to the 49ers last week has been voided.

Unable to dump him on someone else, Bucs rock star general manger Mark Dominik simply cut Wright today.

Now does this mean Wright is physically unable to play? Well, that’s news to the Bucs.

Joe’s going to take a wild stab here and guess after the trade was consummated, the 49ers took the weekend to reassess bringing in a guy with as much baggage as Wright, and decided, “Nnnaaahhh!”

Now Eric Wright is unemployed and has all the time in the world to veg in a California spa.

Gerald McCoy: Leader.

It’s hard for anyone to discuss the Bucs in 2013 without somehow invoking the name of Bucs enigmatic quarterback Josh Freeman. Will he (finally) join the quarterback elites of the NFL this season, leading the Bucs to the playoffs? Will he revert to 2011, when he played some putrid football? Or will he be what he was last year: lots of stats but not so many wins?

So much of the team’s success (or failure) this season is predicated on Freeman. But former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland thinks there is another question out there to be answered, as he wrote for his station’s website, WHFS-FM 98.7.

 Who will lead the Bucs?

All last year we heard about details, details, details. We heard about toes on the line. I’ll even take it a step further. I heard he told guys what to eat, when to eat and what temperature to sleep at in their room. Now by all accounts he has softened up. He has given guys more freedom. He has cut back on the controlling iron fist which he ruled with last year, but will that get the team to better than 7-9?

See I’m all for being a players coach with a team that can handle it. I’m not saying Schiano has turned into a players coach however he is considerably softer than last year. Can this team handle it, a team without Ronde Barber? Who is the leader of this team? Last year I would’ve said that the leader of the team was Greg Schiano, this year I’m not sure, and as a matter of fact, neither are the Buccaneers.

So as we get ready to embark on a new season of promise with 5, 10 or however many questions you have unanswered, let’s remember the question no one is talking about: With a softer Schiano, who is going to take the leadership role? It needs to be a player and not a coach. To me that is the biggest question that no one is asking.

On defense, Joe has seen with his own eyes who the leaders are just this spring. Joe would suggest three men are leaders: Dashon Goldson, Darrelle Revis and Gerald McCoy. Those guys were always working with young players trying to help them learn their craft –almost like an extension of the coaching staff.

On offense, as usual, it always goes to the quarterback, the most pressure-cooker position on a team. Yes, as always, this goes back once again to Freeman.

The glorious madness of Bucs training camp kicks off Wednesday when players report back to One Buc Palace and the Buccaneers will make loads of coaches and select players available to the media. Then on Thursday, practice begins and the floodgates of 2013 fun open up.

Joe’s just taking second here to remind readers that Joe will be there for all of the madness.

Joe remains committed to delivering you everything and anything Joe finds interesting about the Bucs — from Joe’s many interviews of players, to Greg Schiano’s comments, to local and national views of the Bucs, and everything in between.

You see, Joe literally lives and breathes Bucs football 24/7. Joe does this so you don’t have to.

Joe continues to be grateful to his readers — old and new — for driving JoeBucsFan.com to new heights. Traffic on these here pages is up about 30 percent over last summer — stunning, folks — and Joe is invigorated by the endless feedback from fans claiming Joe is their only go-to source for Bucs news and analysis.

Thanks. Joe assures you he is well rested and ready for the season.

Warning: this video might be painful to longtime Bucs fans.

The link above takes you to a Warren Sapp and Willie McGinest NFL Network breakdown of training camp storylines. So what’s the big deal? Well, it includes video of Bucs icon Monte Kiffin coaching in his new Cowboys gear and seemingly unable to get his 72-year-old bones to stand up straight. For Joe, there’s something very wrong about seeing Kiffin in those colors with Rod Marinelli as his sidekick.

Also possibly troubling for Bucs fans is Sapp being very high on the Cowboys for 2013 — yet another NFC team one could consider a roadblock in the Bucs’ quest for the playoffs.

Sapp also makes it very clear that the New Schiano Order is very pleased to trot out Josh Freeman as its starting quarterback. “Everbody’s comfortable with him down in Tampa,” Sapp said.

No. 99 also went on to say he’s skeptical of the Bucs defense because he’s “never seen a defense led by the back end, by the secondary.”‘

Joe gets Sapp’s point. However, the Bucs hardly had a legendary pass rush last season, and Joe’s quite confident the Bucs would have one at least two more games last season if Dashon Goldson and Darrelle Revis, aka Batman and Robin, were patrolling the back end.

The Bucs have been desperate for a consistent, threatening kick return game ever since “Run Micheal run” Spurlock returned kickoffs for touchdowns for the pewter and red. Almost like during decades before Spurlock finally broke the barrier and returned a kick for a TD, the Bucs seem to be in dire straights at that position again.

In the past couple of years the Bucs have had a revolving door at kick return, enough to make a doorman dizzy, and to no avail.

Josh Katzowitz of CBSSports.com believes the Bucs may have found their answer in track star Jeff Demps.

Assuming he will run, that means Demps couldn’t return to the Buccaneers until they’re well into their training camp and preseason schedule. But Demps and his agent, Daniel Rose, reportedly believe the team has the understanding he will finish the professional track season before he returns to football.

“Jeff is the kind of guy who sees things through to the end,” Rose told the paper. “And right now, he’s running track. But we’ll see what happens. He’s in great shape. He works out five hours a day. He’s being brought in for his speed, and we know he can run.”

The Buccaneers, in fact, have wanted Demps since his Florida days. They were outbid by the Patriots in 2012, and they traded Blount to get him this offseason. The team probably would prefer to see Demps in camp when it opens, but reportedly, they’re OK with this arrangement for now.

Demps is scheduled to run in the world track & field championships next month in Moscow, and then he may arrive to the New Schiano Order in late August.

Color Joe skeptical about Demps. First, track stars and NFL stars are two totally different elements. Just because one can run on a track doesn’t mean he can be a good football player. Demps sure as hell won’t be in football shape if he reports in mid-August.

Second, does anyone really believe Bucs coach Greg Schiano is a part-time football guy? Demps’ focus clearly is track and the Olympics and that’s great. Joe just doesn’t see Schiano as the kind of guy that just welcomes a dude off the street halfway through the preseason and gives him a roster spot.

Look, if Demps was so talented as a return man, would Bill Belicheat throw in Demps in a trade just because the Bucs asked for his rights? Belicheat isn’t a coach who allows people to be part-time players, except when they are suspended, or being tried for murder.

If Belicheat thought he could persuade Demps to be a football-first gjuy, he would have kept Demps’ rights. Personally, Joe wishes the Bucs would focus more on getting the captain of the inactive list, Michael Smith, more reps at kick return than pinning their hopes on a guy whose focus is clearly not on the NFL.

No, it’s not too early to obsess about the Bucs-Jets, season-opener on Sept. 8 in only 49 days. But who’s counting 😉

Great news from Jets camp emerged yesterday, when Jets beat writer Manish Mehta revealed New York’s No. 1 wide receiver, Santonio Holmes, can’t run.

@MMehtaNYDN – 6 days b4 Jets 1st training camp practice, Santonio Holmes still can’t do full weight-bearing running. He’ll be placed on PUP list next week … Jets WR Santonio Holmes (foot) won’t even definitively say that he’ll be ready for the season opener against the Buccaneers on Sept. 8

Stats are not for losers, says former Bucs QB Shaun King.

In an analytical and passionate take on Josh Freeman, King details why he’s disgusted that the Bucs haven’t inked Freeman to a contract extension already. King, one of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC title game, dives into Freeman’s numbers and last season’s realities in the WDAE-AM 620 audio below.

“Take your emotion out of your evaluation,” King advises fans.

King’s logic is sound, but Joe can’t quibble with those who aren’t ready to celebrate an inconsistent QB with six career wins against teams with a winning record. (Catch King’s full take with J.P. Peterson below.)

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Da’Quan Bowers has a lot of pressure on his shoulders in trying to develop a consistent pass rush for the Bucs.

Most Bucs fans, when they think of the Bucs’ pass defense last year, often race for a bathroom to throw up.

Probably few were sicker than Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik. His nausea led him to revamp the secondary, bringing in Batman and Robin. But is that enough?

ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas listed critical issues for each NFC South team and he pointed to the pass rush as a key area that must improve for the Bucs.

Defense: Pass rush
The Bucs let last year’s leading sacker, Michael Bennett, walk in free agency. It was a calculated gamble because the Bucs have a lot invested in Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers and believe they can be a strong duo at defensive end. They’d better be right. If they’re not, the revamped secondary might not be as good as it looks on paper.

Time will only tell if the pass rush is improved, but Yasinskas makes a point that without any pressure on a quarterback, it doesn’t matter how much the secondary was upgraded.

Hopefully, Greg Schiano realized last year that you simply cannot allow guys like Matty Ice and Drew Brees to have so much time in the pocket that they can order a pizza and have it delivered before getting flushed or hit.

People claim there’s a lot of pressure on Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. And there is. Joe is of the belief there is as much pressure on defensive end Da’Quan Bowers as there is on Freeman.

Workhouse, “bell cow” running back Doug Martin is sure to get even more work this season.

Joe can’t think of why, in the win-now NFL, the New Schiano Order would be concerned with Martin being healthy and fresh in, say, 2015. There’s no reason to keep a valuable weapon like that on the sidelines, especially when the Bucs have a beastly, if healthy, offensive line.

Martin had the fourth-most carries in the NFL last year with 319, plus he caught 49 balls. Joe could easily see those numbers jump 15 percent this season.

The huge workload should be no problem for Martin, says former Bucs running back/fullback Earnest Graham. He explained Martin’s running style will preserve him, during a recent WDAE-AM 620 interview. 

“I consider him one of the most in-shape backs in football,” Graham said of Martin. “The way I see him finish runs, the way I see him finish at the end of the game. I think for any running back [the punishment] takes its toll after a while, you know. But I think he’s one of those guys who has a heck of a work ethic and is in fantastic shape. Being his size, he doesn’t take too many, you know, square hits. 

“He’s always under everybody else’s pads. So I think he’s one of those guys. I don’t think he’s going to be one of those guys you’re going to have much of problem with injuries.”

Surely, Graham is a credible analyst of Martin’s running style. But as Graham knows too well, injuries can happen in all kinds of ways. Hopefully, Bucs fans won’t find out. The ability of the running backs behind Martin is unknown, and LeGarrette Blount is a Patriot.

Adam Schein

Popular sports radio personality Adam Schein seems to like the Bucs. He’s fond of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and admires Greg Schiano.

Quarterback Josh Freeman? Schein loves his tangibles but can’t buy in based on the last two years of Freeman’s play.

Joe vividly remembers mid-season last year, Schein stated that while Freeman may be a better quarterback, he trusted Christian Ponder more. Sure enough, shortly after Schein stated this, Freeman melted down and vanished when his team needed him the most, while Ponder, with his Vikings squad on the cusp on the playoffs, rose up with probably his best two games of the year and got his team into the postseason with solid performances against playoff teams, on the road at Texas and hosting Green Bay.

In an NFL.com column rating the most important player on each team, Schein went with Darrelle Revis over Freeman, in part, because Schein believes Freeman’s days in Tampa Bay are numbered.

Over the past two seasons, Freeman just hasn’t resembled the clutch Ben Roethlisberger clone we saw in 2010. And I think this year — a contract year — will be his last as the Bucs’ starting quarterback. I know they like rookie Mike Glennon, and rightfully so.

Despite Freeman’s yo-yo play, Tampa can win games if Revis is healthy. The Bucs’ pass defense was horrible last year; now, with Revis and Dashon Goldson on board, it can be a strength. Can Revis get back to the level he was playing at pre-injury, when he was the best corner in the NFL?

Joe can’t totally agree with Schein. Is Revis important? He sure is. But if Freeman has a repeat of last year where he tossed nine picks in his last three games (four of which came against the putrid Saints’ defense), it’s awfully hard for any team to overcome that.

Joe has stated this time and again: If Freeman has a fine season and the Bucs make the playoffs, then he will return next year. No doubt about it.

The ditching of “cancer” Eric Wright swing opens a door for veteran cornerback Michael Adams, who the Bucs signed a month ago. (“Cancer” is what former Bucs tight end and Buccaneers Radio Network analyst Anthony Becht called Wright yesterday.)

Becht was a 2009 teammate of Adams on the Arizona Cardinals and offered a solid endorsement of him on WDAE-AM 620 following the Wright trade Friday.

“I’m not saying he’s the savior by any means. But he’s physical, he’s a small guy who’ll come up and tackle you. He’ll get in your face. He’s rowdy,” Becht said of Adams.

“He’s not a stellar press cover corner, but he’s a tough guy who can come in and, you know, be moved around in different positions.”

Adams is listed at 5-8, 181 pounds, and Joe’s seen reports that he’s smaller than that. Adams is known as a durable special teams ace. He made seven starts at corner in six years with the Cardinals.

Becht went on to say the Bucs’ depth at cornerback and across the team is troublesome, and he said the Bucs “failed on that move,” regarding retaining Eric Wright in the spring and counting on him for 2013.