Former Bucs and Eagles guard Ian Beckles told a story today of Jon Gruden, then a boy wonder Eagles offensive coordinator, sitting in a meeting room going wild on a chalkboard to make sure his Philly offense understood they were not to throw the ball in the direction of Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders.

Beckles’ point was that the arrival of Darrelle Revis means teams truly will have to gameplan for the Bucs’ defense again, and the Bucs, for the first time, have a shutdown cornerback that will make various phases of the defense more effective.

Delivering his takes on WDAE-AM 620 this morning, Beckles also chatted with former Bucs quarterback Shaun King on the Revis deal.

King, one of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, agreed with Revis’ potential impact, but King said he’s confident Revis won’t get the Deion treatment out of the gate in the NFC South.

King said Revis coming off a knee injury combined with the elite level of quarterback play in the division will lead to the Bucs’ rivals testing Revis and making him prove himself.

Joe agrees with King on that point. Joe would actually be surprised if Drew Brees, in the Bucs’ home opener, didn’t go after Revis early. Hopefully, Revis proves he’s worth $1 million a game, or at least half that much.

So the Bucs filled a major hole in their roster, cornerback, with one of the game’s best, Darrelle Revis.

Bucs fans have been crying for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, pleading, begging, for him to do something about one of the worst secondaries mankind ever laid eyes on.

So how did Dominik respond? He acquired arguably the best safety in the NFL in Dashon Goldson and followed that up with Revis. Not a bad one-two punch, eh?

So now, Bucs fans will understandably begin redirected their attention to inconsistent Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. At times, Freeman makes one’s jaw drop with sick, sick throws, threading needles for six points. Other times, Freeman’s play results in facepalms across the Tampa Bay area.

Defensive holes have been filled, with more help to come via the draft. The offense, well, it will be healthy up front and Freeman has plenty of toys to play with, including two Pro Bowl skill position players and a third on the cusp.

The Bucs are on the verge of maybe playing a game or two in January. For the Bucs to take that next step, so too must Freeman.

Darrelle Revis was an outstanding player for us, for myself since I’ve been here as a head coach. He was tremendous. And as John talked about earlier, he gave everything he had to this organization, was a tremendous player. You go back, I don’t take back one word that I’ve ever said about Darrelle Revis. I believe that he is the best corner in football without question. — Jets head coach Rex Ryan after the trade of Darrelle Revis yesterday.

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Darrelle Revis has sucked all the green blood from his veins and has moved all in as a Buccaneer Man spiritually and physically.

That’s the word this morning from olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, homeless-mistaken, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame.

In his Monday Morning Quarterback column, King writes of Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik having secret meetings about the health risk associated with Revis before the duo got in front or Revis’ and demanded his devotion and a response.

So two Bucs doctors, including head team orthopedist John Zvijac and director of sports medicine Todd Toriscelli, pored over recent MRI results on Revis’ left knee, then met with and examined Revis. It went well, a source said, with the doctors satisfied the knee was making good progress. But there are no guarantees for corners coming back from ACL surgeries, and Dominik and Schiano couldn’t know unconditionally that Revis’ knee would recover to the level it was before he was injured last Sept. 23. Dominik, Schiano and the medical staff met for about 30 minutes without Revis, and then the coach and GM went into a private meeting. In that meeting, as Dominik told me Sunday night, “We decided there was not enough risk to not do it. At the end of the day, you trust your doctors to tell you as much as they can, but it’s a decision really that came down to me and Greg. We had to be comfortable with the risk, and I can tell you we are.”

After Dominik and Schiano decided, they met with Revis. The way the contract is structured — $13 million per year, with $1.5 million in annual roster bonuses and $1.5 million in annual offseason workout bonuses — the Bucs wanted Revis to know exactly what was expected in this rehab process. They wanted him to rehab in Tampa, and they wanted him to be a full-time offseason workout guy in Tampa.

“I’m all in,” Revis told them. “I’m a Buccaneer.”

Said Dominik: “You could see how excited he was. The look in his eyes was, ‘Coach, I will not let you down.’ ”

Revis’ reputation is one of being a tireless worker and a supreme leader who commands the respect of teammates. So Revis’ words and actions here don’t surprise Joe.

Perhaps the greatest upside is the no guaranteed money in Revis’ $96 million contract extension signed yesterday. If that doesn’t make money-loving Revis the ultimate Buccaneer Man, then nothing will.

In the wake of the trade for Darrelle Revis Sunday, and barring the Bucs trading up to the late first round to grab a corner (or perhaps drafting one in the second round), the Bucs starting cornerback opposite Revis will be one Eric Wright.

His life is about to change drastically, and it’s not because he took a massive pay cut.

With Revis patrolling one side of the field, quarterbacks are unlikely to test him often, unless they enjoy watching pick-sixes go the other way. So when opposing offenses are going to throw long on the Bucs, it’s a virtual certainty that teams will be targeting Wright, early and often, game after game, basically challenging Wright to make a play.

Wright is now in the crossroads of his career. By being a perpetual target by other quarterbacks, if he is up to the challenge he is looking at a big payday since he’s now on a one-year contract.

If Wright is roasted like a bratwurst on a tailgate grill week after week, he will be begging for work next year.

In the Canadian Football League.

Just from reaction yesterday afternoon and into the night, Bucs fans haven’t been this giddy since the Bucs traded for Chucky. Most love the news that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik nabbed Darrelle Revis for two draft picks and a non-guaranteed salary.

Joe talked to a few people yesterday with knowledge of how the trade went down and Joe will try to give a Cliff’s Notes version .

Revis has been on the Bucs’ radar for some time; the Bucs were keenly aware of when his contract would expire. Clearly, the horrific play of the Bucs corners last year, a near-NFL worst mark in league history for passing yards allowed, motivated the Bucs’ pursuit.

(As Joe suspected and wrote about many times, the Bucs were simply not enamored with the free agent crop of corners and thought they could do just as well if not better with corners drafted in the early rounds.)

The Bucs did their research on Revis, both watching every snap he took the past two years, and studying the person. Their research revealed that Revis, despite a potentially misleading money-grubbing image, was as good of a teammate and a person as he is a player.

When John Idzik became the Jets general manager this year, trade talks began percolating, but Idzik was trying to shake down the Bucs for two first round draft picks. Idzik would not budge and, for a while, the Bucs were wondering if they were being played. This information reinforces what Dominik said publicly on SiriusXM NFL Radio about a month ago when he stated he wasn’t sure if the Jets wanted to trade Revis.

(Joe also heard of rumors, uncorroborated, that the 49ers were desperately trying to get in the mix to acquire Revis, but simply could not afford him under their salary cap.)

Still, Idzik held firm. He still wanted two first-round picks and this ransom was too rich for the Bucs. At one point, the Bucs seriously thought about turning the page and making a play for Revis on the free agent market next winter. What spooked the suits at One Buc Palace with that scenario was the Bucs were fearful that some owner, for example, Daniel Snyder, could gut his roster and make a play for Revis for some obscene price.

Eventually, Idzik, sensing he could not get Dominik to budge, relented on his demands of two first round picks and asked for three draft picks, with one being a first round pick. Dominik balked.

Finally last week, Joe learned that roughly four days ago, the Bucs, in so many words, told Idzik the deal was off the table if it couldn’t be completed by Tuesday (tomorrow), and they would then focus all energies on this week’s draft and the coming season.

This poker move apparently worked as Idzik began loosening his demands until the two sides finally consummated the deal Sunday.

Raise your hand if you remember the Bucs’ opening day nickel cornerback last season.

That would be Brandon McDonald, who was cut by the Bucs after the 2012 preseason, re-signed, and later cut again in November in favor of LeQuan Lewis, who was a member of Greg Schiano’s not-so-fearsome foursome, “E.J., Leonard, Danny and LeQuan.” And oh by the way, Lewis was released a couple of months ago.

The point is the Bucs went into opening day last season, opening day, thin at cornerback. That really can’t happen again. They must learn from last year’s painful rollout of the worst secondary in Buccaneers history.

The New Schiano Order and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik have made it clear they want Ronde Barber on the roster. And Barber has made it clear his decision is up in the air.

Well, in Joe’s mind the game has now changed. The Bucs have Darrelle Revis recovering from major knee surgery and no first-round draft pick, so in Joe’s mind it’s got to be an absolute priority to get Barber committed before this week’s NFL draft.

If the Bucs really want Barber (And they should; the guy still makes plays), they must pursue him all out immediately. Pay Barber more money, if necessary. Take Revis to his house for a meet and greet tomorrow. Get on your knees and beg. Promise Barber a spot in the Ring of Honor this year. Let him pick the room temperature in defensive backs meetings. Joe doesn’t care what it takes.

Joe’s learned the lesson of Brandon McDonald. Barber’s a lot better than McDonald, and the Bucs should be moving desperately to secure his services.

The staff of 37 at the JoeBucsFanTV network studios were very busy this evening.

In this latest segment, draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski takes a break from his usual draft genius and dives into the Darrelle Revis trade and what it means on the field for Tampa Bay.

For reasons Joe cannot quite comprehend, there are a number of Bucs fans who are head-over-heels in love with slot receiver Tavon Austin worse than Joe lusts over Rachel Watson.

These fans banged the drum and came up with just about every illogical reason to draft Austin, mainly because there was no logical reason for the Bucs to draft Austin.

Well, this pipedream is now all but dead.

With the Bucs’ depth on the defensive line thinner than toilet paper, with the Bucs likely looking for another cornerback, with the Bucs likely adding a linebacker to a unit with little to no depth and, more importantly, with no first round pick (for the time being), it is almost as unlikely for Austin to wind up with the Bucs as Joe is to find Rachel at his front door this evening.

The best condolences Joe offers to the Austin faction is, of course, to have a few drinks.

The remote chances the Bucs would draft a slot receiver at No. 13 went poof the moment Darrelle Revis signed his new contract with the Bucs.

Bucs special teams coach Dave Wannstedt, who was Darrelle Revis’ college coach at Pittsburgh, played a key role in the Bucs’ decision to land the star Jets cornerback.

As Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik likes to say, he and his staff did their due diligence in acquiring Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis. “Due diligence” meaning research.

It just happened that someone who knows Revis better than most people just happens to have an office at One Buc Palace. That’s special teams coach Dave Wannstedt.

You see, Wannstedt was Revis’ coach at Pittsburgh. Wannstedt had known Revis for years, knew him as a high school kid, knew his family, spent time in Revis’ boyhood home, and helped transform Revis from a young man into an adult.

Wannstedt, Joe learned today, just raved about Revis the person, not just Revis the player. Partially armed with this information from Wannstedt, it convinced the Bucs to put on a full-court press to obtain Revis.

Interesting, in-depth video out of New York here on the Darrelle Revis trade.

There’s no real way to pick a winner in the Revis deal, though former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas explains here why the Bucs fleeced the Jets and scored the best defensive player in the NFL.

Fine points of the Darrelle Revis deal will unveiled by the Bucs tomorrow, but Joe’s word from One Buc Palace is that Team Glazer and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik are shelling out $16 million annually for Revis but without any new guaranteed money over the six-year deal.

It’s a fascinating tactic by the Bucs. Revis gets the ultimate incentive-laden deal; perform or you won’t get paid.

However, the Bucs will massively overpay — by market value standards — for a cornerback, as well as give up a first round pick in 2013 and a conditional draft pick next year.  But the Bucs have a bailout plan if the win-now Revis move doesn’t pan out. They won’t be saddled by guaranteed money for a player not performing.

The Bucs played some solid poker to get this done. Now Revis just has to be a Pro Bowler to make it work.

“So Darrelle, I hope you’re ok with 2.5-inch ziti.”

Image via Joe’s friend @AndrewLuria

It’s all abuzz over Twitter and where Joe sits at One Buc Palace: Darrelle Revis is the newest Buccaneer.

Stay with Joe for updates through the night.

Revis signing his Tampa Bay deal

Per NFL protocol, if Darrelle Revis wants No. 24 (if he is traded to the Bucs), he would have to buy the number from Bucs safety Mark Barron. That is, if Barron has the number for sale.

Joe is getting this question a lot and Joe has answered it a lot on Twitter. Consider this Joe’s final answer to said question.

Darrelle Revis, Jets stud corner, wears No. 24. So too does Bucs safety Mark Barron. The Bucs bent over backwards for Barron to have No. 24 because Barron wanted No. 4, his number with Alabama. But per NFL rules, a safety can’t wear a single digit number. So Barron took No. 24, somewhat reluctantly.

As for what number Revis would wear if he came to the Bucs, NFL protocol is that if Revis wants to wear No. 24 with Tampa Bay, then since the number is already worn by a current member of the Bucs, Revis would have to purchase that jersey number from Barron.

Provided Barron puts the number up for sale.

A common take on the potential Darrelle Revis acquisition goes like this, “The Bucs aren’t one player away and Revis won’t push them over the top, so his price is too high.”

But that’s sort of ancient history now, given that Bucs doctors are inspecting Revis tonight and a trade is imminent.

So Joe must ask, “How many players away from a Super Bowl run are the Bucs with a healthy Revis on the roster?”

If the Bucs pull-off the win-now Revis acquisition, then the Bucs really must complement it with upgrades to the pass rush and another cornerback, and convince Ronde Barber to return. Veteran defensive help is still available.

Joe believes the Bucs have a win-now offense, built with a Rolls Royce offensive line containing four longtime veteran starters, three of Pro Bowl caliber. Plus, the Bucs sport superior No. 1 and No. 2 receivers, a Pro Bowl running back, and a QB that has mad talent, loads of experience, and is entering his second year in the current offense. If the Bucs’ offense isn’t playoff-caliber in 2013, then a horrendous coaching or QB failure has occurred.

The Bucs will be pretty close with Revis in tow — close enough to put massive pressure on the New Schiano Order.

Joe knows Bucs fans the world over are breathless for any morsel of news concerning the potential trade of Jets corner Darrelle Revis to the Bucs. Remember, it’s not a done deal, yet. But damn close.

How close? Consider the update from Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune just recently Twittered.

@RCummingsTBO: Bucs coach Greg Schiano is picking Darrelle Revis up at the Tampa International Jet Center right now … You’d have to think that if Schiano is picking Revis up this trade has to be all but agreed to

Indeed. Remember the last time the Bucs used Team Glazer’s private jet to lure a free agent to Tampa Bay to wine and dine?

Uh, huh.

Assuming Darrelle Revis passes his Bucs physical and is healthy enough to play on opening day, Joe’s wondering whether Revis dropped into the Bucs defense will mean the Bucs will blitz like they did last season, like sweaty landscapers attacking a Chinese buffet at lunchtime.

Unless the New Schiano Order really has a change of heart and/or DaQuan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn emerge as impact pass rushers, Joe thinks the Bucs will continue to blitz like rabid dogs.

Revis had loads of success with the Jets in a scheme that blitzed and left him on an “island.” With excellent safeties, Eric Wright (yes, Joe cringes while typing his name), and Ronde Barber (hopefully), Joe can’t imagine the Bucs playing more a more patient brand of defense like they did successfully against Atlanta to close the 2012 season.

Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan made it crystal clear to media last season that he was running Greg Schiano’s defense.

It was Schiano that wanted to bring massive amounts of pressure — except for the repeated misguided use of a three-man rush — and Joe’s not sold Schiano had a blitz-first philosophy because of third-rate cornerbacks. Aqib Talib and Wright were torched often, too.

Schiano wants to blitz, and with Revis he’ll have even more confidence to do so.

Joe doesn’t care who the NFL general manager is. If a GM is going to trade a first-round pick for a cornerback recovering from knee surgery, and pay said player an unprecedented pile of cash, that executive has put his career on the line.

It’s just that simple.

News broke this morning that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has done just that, with he and the Jets finally agreeing to some sort of terms of a deal that includes the Bucs’ 2013 first round pick and more, so reported BSPN.

No, Dominik is not married to Josh Freeman or Gerald McCoy. He’s now wedded to Revis, and the wedding cost a bundle, like one of those wine-snob, black-tie deals at the Don Cesar Hotel.

Revis must make a massive impact, more than, say, signing the top two corners on the market this offseason and holding on to draft picks — and still having money to spare.

Good luck, Rockstar. Team Glazer said it will think “short term” when you think “short term,” and this Revis trade is a clear cut short-term move.

The Bucs have piles and piles and piles of cash to pay Darrelle Revis under the 2013 salary cap — in the neighborhood of $33 million.

Word on the street says Revis is demanding a ridiculous $15 million annually. Now Joe finds it complete insanity to pay Revis such a ransom. However, Joe thinks it’s much more reasonable if the Bucs can take a large cap hit in 2013, and then pay Revis more reasonable money going forward.

If the Bucs coughed up, say, $25 million for Revis this year, that still leaves money to sign draft picks, Ronde Barber and another cornerback off the street.

In that scenario, the Bucs could potentially be on the hook for Revis another $10 million in 2014 and, say, $5 million in 2015, assuming Revis commanded $40 million guaranteed in total.

That’s not so scary, and it surely wouldn’t prevent the Bucs from re-signing their own players. Josh Freeman and Gerald McCoy already are slotted to make around $10 million each this season.

It’s going to be a wild couple of days.

Per BSPN, Darrelle Revis is making his way to Tampa for medical testing tonight.

Also, per BSPN, the Bucs and Jets have agreed to compensation that includes the 13th overall pick this year and other picks, However, BSPN is not saying who’s trading what additional picks where. Joe suspects there could be multiple picks swapped on both sides.

Joe will continue to update as the day goes on, of course.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will be addressing media tomorrow afternoon. C’mon Mr. Barber, make Dominik’s news conference a double-dose of secondary help.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe loves when Carlson fires away. Carlson is often seen as a football color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback. Plus, he’s a really cool dude.

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com

This year’s draft does not offer an Andrew Luck, RGIII or Russell Wilson, quarterbacks with the ability to come in and start on Day 1. The Buccaneers don’t have that Day 1 need, but developing a QB for the future should be a priority even though Freeman is still very young, a third- or fourth-round pick used on a quarterback with promise is prudent. 

Whether Josh Freeman has the best season of his life this year and earns a big multi-year contract or doesn’t, having another up-and-coming player ready to go is in the Bucs’ best interest for multiple reasons.

The Dallas Cowboys just rewarded Tony Romo with an unbelievable contract extension ($108 million, $55M guaranteed, $25M signing bonus). That’s for a guy that has led his team exactly nowhere and was on the verge of losing his second head coach under his leadership of the team.  

I wrote before last season that if the Cowboys had another year of futility, it should be Romo’s last season in Dallas. They struggled again yet gave him one of the richest extensions in history, mainly because Jerry Jones did not do his due diligence to develop another young QB like they had in Romo behind Drew Bledsoe under Bill Parcells,. That left Jones without options and now they have mortgaged their future against a good regular season QB who can’t seem to lead them to anything that matters. 

I don’t want to see the Bucs make that decision with Freeman because they don’t have the foresight to develop the depth of their roster at the most important position. 

Landry is the right fit for the Bucs for a variety of reasons, writes former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Of this year’s group, I came away most impressed by Oklahoma’s Landry Jones. He has the best mechanics and pro-style potential and very well could be available to the Bucs when they should invest in the quarterback position. 

Better ball protection was his biggest issue, but he owns the best balance in the draft and can learn to throw the ball away a little bit better and work on his pocket movement as well. He has a lot of starting experience and he fits the Bucs’ style better than the rest of this year’s hopeful signal-callers.

Florida State’s EJ Manuel would probably be my next choice based on potential upside. I would probably bore JoeBucsFan readers with analysis of his spotty and inconsistent mechanics and what he should do to improve them, but Manuel is big, mobile and also has an awful lot of experience on his resume.

E.J. Manuel’s mechanics need work

Freeman has 108 million reasons to hope he can take a couple of steps up and lead the Bucs into the playoffs in 2013, –while he keeps Landry Jones on the bench learning the ropes of the NFL game all season long.