The NFL rolls out the 2013 schedule tonight. Joe wants to see whether the TV suits consider the Bucs at Jets game worthy of prime time spotlight.

Joe’s been accused of reading too deeply into things and seeing things, at times, that aren’t really there. One could say this is the foundation of Joe’s romance with Bucs icon Rachel Watson. However, Joe and Rachel did finally rendezvous this summer, so perhaps that’s a bad example.

That written, Joe’s extra eager to see the 2013 NFL schedule unveiled tonight at 8 p.m.

Specifically, Joe wants to see whether network television executives are tapping their inside intelligence and investing in showing a Jets-Bucs game in prime time, specifically at night. The Bucs are pegged to travel to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets; this is the Bucs’ year to play the AFC East (also @New England, plus home for Buffalo and Miami).

Joe must believe the networks would want to air a Bucs-Jets gave in prime time if Darrelle Revis is wearing red and pewter.

Revis is a popular and polarizing guy, and the networks likely would love to show his return to the angry fans of Gotham. But the TV suits decision wil have had to be made already — to be rolled out tonight.

Joe will speculate that if the Bucs-Jets matchup is not chosen as a night game, then the TV honchos were advised a Revis-to-Bucs deal is no lock.

So let’s say you are a new general manager of a team who is trying to rebuild from a laughing stock, butt-fumbling, foot-fetish stigma.

When asked if your best player will return this fall, you say you are not sure? Really?

This is what Jets general manager John Idzik said yesterday, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, when Idzik met the fourth estate Wednesday.

Idzik declined to say if Revis will be on the team in 2013. Perhaps more importantly, he didn’t say if he wants the star corner on the Jets.

“I can’t tell you,” he said. “I don’t like to look too far ahead, I really don’t.”

You mean to tell Joe that three months is too far in the future?

Well, this sure smells like Idzik is going to unload Revis, and we all know the Bucs are the prime target. Now Cimini claims this may all change and Revis could have a new team in a few days: the Bucs.

Joe has written previously, and continues to believe, that this trade could could go down after the draft as much as it could prior to the draft.

In short, Idzik all but closed the book on Revis as a Jets player.

Man, the Bucs need cornerbacks worse than a bear in the woods needs a roll of toilet paper. One name Joe will be looking out for is Houston corner D.J. Hayden.

Late last season, Hayden was thought to be one of the top corners in the nation before a violent collision on the practice field nearly cost him his life. He was rushed to an emergency room and had to have his chest sawed open to find the source of the bleeding.

Hayden was thought to be near-death. And he was.

Hayden fought back to compete in the combine where he wowed people running a 4.3 40-yard dash. His quick feet allows him to handle man-coverage well and, with his blazing speed, he has great recovery and closing technique.

He hasn’t played football since November. But the way he was able to bounce back from near death says something to Joe about his spirit.

“The first couple days [after surgery] I was really depressed,” Hayden told Joe and other reporters at the NFL Combine. “I thought I’d never play football again. But the doctor told me after three or four months I should be able to play again. I was like, ‘Okay. I have hope.’ But there was always doubt in my mind. I was questioning myself, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ I even questioned God because I was in a whole different state of mind.

“I have a whole new outlook on life. All the stuff I took for granted, I don’t take for granted any more whether it’s family, friends, God – I’m cherishing every moment because you never know when your time is up.

“The way I’m looking at it is if you’re going to do something, do it to your fullest. If I’m going to play a game, I’m going to play my hardest the whole game. If that was my time to end, I don’t feel I finished like I finished my career the way I wanted to. I don’t feel like I played well in my last game. I just want another opportunity to play another game and do what I can do.”

If the Bucs still own the No. 13 overall pick come next Thursday, and if they don’t see a cornerback on the board they like at that investment, then it’s likely the Bucs would nab a defensive lineman.

One guy allegedly climbing up draft boards is DT Sylvester Williams out of North Carolina. Of course, what adds intrigue to Williams is the fact Greg Schiano senior operative/advisor Butch Davis recruited Williams to Tar Heel country out of the junior college ranks.

Williams, at 6-3, 313, is like a bigger version of Brian Price. But he’s a bit of a bizarre prospect, having only played one year of high school ball and turning 25 years old in November.

Here’s what NFL.com has on Williams:

WEAKNESSES

Lacks closing speed to get a lot of sacks or make plays outside the box. Overly reliant on the swim move. Does not bull linemen backwards very often, won’t out-quick NFL guards. Flashes quickness off the snap, but gets stuck on blocks too often when tired, and loses ability to get to the ball even if able to disengage. Can get low and create a pile on the goal line, but gets pushed back when playing high in other short-yardage situations. Doesn’t have the athleticism to stop his momentum. Will run himself too far upfield and miss sacks and tackles when he can’t stop himself and break down. Turns 24 during the 2012 season.

Today, former NFL scout Russ Lande projected the Bucs to draft Williams in the first round.

Joe’s biggest question on any potential defensive tackle pick is whether the guy would be able to play the 3-technique successfully if Gerald McCoy was injured. One would think Williams has the physical tools to play the position.

Joe, though, doubts Greg Schiano would want to invest in a nose tackle after waving goodbye to Roy Miller, a guy he said was “custom-built” for the position.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

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Joe knows a large segment of Bucs fans can’t race to a computer quickly enough in the morning, or turn on their smartphone fast enough, to see if the Bucs have landed Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis.

In a revealing piece typed by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Stroud suggests the asking price for Revis is forcing Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to balk at a Revis trade.

But the Bucs front office and coach Greg Schiano are in agreement that the Jets’ price is currently too high for Revis, especially due to the lack of suitors and the fact he is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL. While Revis was cleared to begin running without restriction following an examination of his knee in New York Monday, it is not a trade that can be made on the clock. The Bucs would want several days to have Revis’ injury evaluated. In addition to the draft picks, the Bucs must be prepared to pay Revis about $15-million per year.

Eight days before the NFL dtaft, the Bucs and Jets are in a virtual stare down when it comes to Revis.

Schiano has said he is not afraid to start a rookie cornerback and they could be in position to draft one in the first round. Last year, safety Mark Barron, linebacker Lavonte David and running back Doug Martin combined to start 48 games as rookies.

Joe’s reaction to this? Well, of course!

Look, if Dominik thought Idzik’s asking price for Revis was fair, the trade would already have been consummated. Second, how many weeks has Joe been typing the very same scenario? That Dominik has all the leverage in the world and he is more than willing to enter the 2013 season with Eric Wright and two rookie corners taking most of the snaps.

The Jets need to trade Revis far more than the Bucs need to trade for him. It’s that simple. Therefore, Dominik gets to set the market value for Revis, not Idzik.

Earlier this week, “SalPal,” Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, worked behind the scenes to, in his words, “crack the code” to find out where the Bucs stand with acquiring Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Aside from confirming what Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has said on the record, and what Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune spoke about on WFLA-TV Sunday evening, SalPal noted days ago that the Jets have hit “the pause button” in trade negotiations, perhaps not even trading him.

What SalPal also has learned is that Revis’ agents are likely working harder than Jets general manager John Idzik and Dominik to induce a trade or a transaction of some sort, SalPal told Bob Papa and Amani Toomer, co-hosts of “The Opening Drive,” heard exclusively this morning on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Revis “has been cleared medically to begin running. The fact Revis is ahead of schedule is important but what is more important is that this information was released almost immediately to various members of the press. It is very clear they wanted to get that significant update to the press. Why? Because they are trying to push this process along on three possible fronts:

One, to get Revis paid by the Jets and a contract extension. Notwithstanding that, that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will increase their offer to the Jets to get this deal done. Or, that the latest news will motivate another team to join negotiations with the Jets and the Bucs and drive the price up or a resolution with a trade with another team. No team emerged 24 hours after the report [was released] so that tells me there is just one team, the Bucs.

Remember last Monday when, after days of silence of Revis news, half the sports world seemed to have news of Revis within a handful of hours? Those are known as plants, and the source of the plants was coming from suits under the employ of Revis.

From everything Joe has learned and heard of late about Revis, there is one camp that wants a trade of Revis from the Jets to the Bucs more than anyone, and that camp is Revis’ hired hands.

Three years ago Team Glazer, specifically Joel Glazer, belted off a telling quote to the St. Pete Times that is often overlooked by Bucs fans.

Explaining how Team Glazer evaluates, in part, its general manager, Glazer said the following: “We’ve had long talks about this. And really, the general message is: You think long-term, we think long-term. It’s plain and simple. You start thinking short-term, we start thinking short term.”

(For those who need a translation: You wanna play in free agency and in the draft to win now, then you better believe we’ll expect you to win now.)

Joe was reminded of this quote listening to longtime former general manager Charley Casserly on WDAE-AM 620 this morning. Casserly wondered aloud about various factors in a potential Darrelle Revis trade. “What’s the pressure to win this year?” he asked.

It is a massive question. Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik knows he must produce a winner in his fifth season, and Greg Schiano is aware he’ll be on thin ice if the Bucs can’t muster a winning record with premium offensive weapons and Pro Bowl talent on defense. Right or wrong, that’s the NFL.

Regarding the Revis trade, Casserly said the Bucs would be misguided if they traded their 2014 first-round pick. “You can’t trade next year’s No. 1 because of the [Josh Freeman] situation,” Casserly said. If the Bucs don’t want Freeman to return, Casserly claims they’ll need that 2014 first-rounder to draft a good QB.

Joe really can’t say what level of win-now pressure is coming from the owners’ box. But Joe can’t imagine Team Glazer passively accepting the Bucs not improving in 2013. (Catch the entire Casserly interview below.)

As Davin Joseph reminded Bucs fans yesterday, any whiff of the “country club” Raheem Morris era is long gone from One Buc Palace.

Frankly, that “country club” line from Joseph was nothing new. Several weeks ago, he told the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, that the Bucs under Raheem “lost that hard-work ethic,” and last year Joseph spoke of the New Schiano Order have much higher strength and conditioning standards than the Raheem regime.

The Bucs resumed team-supervised training on Monday, and Adrian Clayborn took to Twitter to explain his pain yesterday.

@AJayClay – Legs and arms so sore I have to use my elbows to get off the couch lol. #thanksJB

The “thanksJB” hash tag surely refers to former Rutgers and current Bucs strength and conditioning coach Jay Butler.

Joe finds it interesting that Clayborn, hardly a workout slacker, was hurting so soon. Joe suspects after a full season working with players under the New Schiano Order, Butler’s detailed workouts individually crafted for players are a supremely challenging out of the gate.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More than 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board!

So far, the Bucs, with plenty of cap room to spare, have been the only NFL team seemingly capable of pulling off a trade for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. Could there be another team? Scott Pioli, Erik Kuselias and the great Mike Florio discuss in this edition of NBC Sports Network’s Pro Football Talk.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Davin Joseph wants the Bucs to limit Doug Martin’s workload. Joe thinks the exact opposite will happen.

Pro Bowler Ray Rice had has carries cut more than 10 percent last season from his 2011 and 2012 totals — fewer receptions, too — and the Ravens leaned on rookie Bernard Pierce (108 carries) just enough en route to a Super Bowl win.

Rice clone Doug Martin, pounded out 319 carries last season, more than workhorse Rice ever has in an NFL season.

Davin Joseph took notice of Martin’s workload and firmly believes the Bucs need to keep Martin fresh in order to win their own Lombardi trophy.

“We plan on being a playoff team. We gotta be able to conserve Doug to make sure that when we go on that playoff run, he’s our main guy,” Joseph said yesterday. “As long as we use him the right way, he can be a major weapon and not to abuse his powers, I guess you could say.”

Joe agrees with Joseph. However, Joe suspects the New Schiano Order has every intention of riding Martin even more often than last season.

And why wouldn’t they? Greg Schiano knows he needs victories. He likes having a bell cow running back, and his history with Rice at Rutgers suggests he will not hesitate to pound Martin relentlessly. Rice had a whopping 380 carries (yes, 380) during his final season under Schiano at Rutgers.

Joe expects the Bucs will use Martin more on third down, and there will be more running in general, assuming Carl Nicks and Joseph stay healthy. Yes, the Bucs have LeGarrette Blount, new third-down back Brian Leonard, and the captain of the inactive list, Michael Smith. But don’t expect Schiano to put the ball and/or his career in their hands if Martin is available.

Joe always had a fondness for Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy while fans tried to run him out of town when he struggled early in his career and was often hurt. McCoy showed last year just what kind of player he can be when healthy, and oh yeah, had some coaching.

In his first full season healthy, GMC made the Pro Bowl. Many NFLers would be leaning on that experience, but not GMC. Whatever happened in 2012 is history and GMC has turned the page. Quickly, as Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune pointed out.

“I’m not a Pro Bowler — not anymore,’’ McCoy said Tuesday, the second day of Tampa Bay’s offseason program. “That was last year. I haven’t done anything this year. Right now, I’m just a guy. That’s my motivation.’’.

Now Joe knows words can be empty and actions speak louder than any words. But GMC had the look in his eye Tuesday of a man driven to play January football. When he uttered the line above, he looked straight ahead with zero emotion. The same type of reaction you might get from a guy if you asked, “Hey, did you ever go to grade school?”

Joe hopes this attitude permeates One Buc Palace. There is time to work and time to play. You put in the work, you can play in January.

Yeah, it’s only April. But Joe liked what little he got to see — and hear — from GMC Tuesday.

In a scene that eerily reminded Joe of last year in the Bucs locker room on an otherwise nondescript weekday, when receiver Mike Williams launched into a passionate defense of Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, guard Davin Joseph offered another passionate defense of the embattled Bucs quarterback today.

Only with Joseph, who is about as even-keeled as an NFL player can be, his voice didn’t rise or his speech quicken like Williams’ did.

“Everybody has to do their job and we have the quarterback to take us to the next level,” the oft-smiling Joseph said today at the podium at One Buc Palace.

When asked why he thought Josh was “The Guy” to have as quarterback, Joseph was adamant.

“I am biased,” Joseph answered with his trademark beaming smile. Freeman is “my friend, my teammate. Of course, I’m biased. The thing that will make Josh ‘The Guy’ is the team. The team will make him ‘The Guy.’ It’s the defense doing what the defense is supposed to do. Special teams making plays. Offensive line blocking, receivers catching, running backs running. Everything will make Josh ‘The Guy.’

“Look at the Super Bowl, it wasn’t the two best quarterbacks in the league, it was the two best teams in the league. So Josh’s success will come with the team, just like every other quarterback. Peyton Manning didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. It is about the best team.

“I defend Josh a lot because I feel like everybody wants to point to him but it’s the team, the organization, it’s the coaches, it is everybody.

“I know Josh is ‘The Guy’ because I know everything we need to win is here. When it comes together, we will be praising Josh with the MVP trophy, but it is a team sport.”

Yes, Joseph is correct. Teams win championships. Freeman will not always be on his A-game each week, just like linebackers and linemen and running backs will struggle at times.

That is why for the Bucs to be playing January football, Freeman also needs to be a bit more consistent and not go for sometimes weeks playing like an inexperienced backup.

Will the distraction of Darrelle Revis push the Jets into pulling the trigger on a trade? Is Revis even a distraction in the dysfunctional tabloid world of the Jets?

All that is explored in the New York Daily News roundtable video discussion below. A theory that “Tampa’s best offer is on the table” is floated as well.

It’s Day 2 of the Bucs’ offseason program, and captain Davin Joseph has pronounced himself 100 percent healthy.

“No limitations,” Joseph said. “No major hurdles, just working on all the little things, getting in football shape. Just like any offseason.

“I feel actually better in some phases of my game really.”

Joseph, who had major knee surgery in August, went on to say the Bucs offense is loaded with weapons and needs to “make [Josh] Freeman the player he needs to be.”

Joseph also said while offensive line coach Bob Bostad deserves all kinds of credit for the success of the Bucs offense last season, Joseph gave more credit to the culture of the New Schiano Order creating a work environment and taking the Bucs out of their “country club” life under Raheem Morris.

Gerald McCoy is clear on his personal challenges for 2013. Near the top of that list, he said this afternoon at One Buc Palace, is taking a giant step forward in his leadership.

McCoy said his veteran status now allows him to take charge fully.

“I can say, ‘This is my defense,'” McCoy said.

That quote really took Joe back, primarily because it underlined in red that Ronde Barber is out of the picture — unless he decides to step back in.

McCoy was known for his leadership last season. Roy Miller pegged McCoy recently as the top leader he’s been around.

McCoy has proven he has what it takes; he just has to do it again.

Interestingly, McCoy was quick to correct a reporter who referred to him as a Pro Bowler today. McCoy said his Pro Bowl status is ancient history because he hasn’t accomplished anything in 2013.

It would seem logical that the Bucs will draft a tight end next week, but the big mystery is where.

Some think it’s with the No. 13 overall pick and Notre Dame stud Tyler Eifert. Draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, however, who has spent years studying the Big East as part of the USF Football radio team, pens in his latest mock draft that the Bucs will make their move on a Big East guy with massive potential in the third round.

73. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Travis Kelce – TE – Cincinnati
Commish’s Comments: I’ve become a big fan of Kelce. Yes, he was suspended for the entire 2010 season for a violation of team rules, but he came back to play 2 seasons at Cincinnati. Kelce is a very good blocker, but do not consider him just a blocking tight end.  He has very good hands to be a security blanket for the quarterback, but also has the speed to stretch the seem of a defense. Kelce is a very aggressive football player who might need consideration for a 2nd round pick.  Character concerns might drop him a little, but if he stays out of trouble, Kelce could end up as the top tight end in this class.

Kelce’s a true unknown. He was recruited out of high school as an elite 6-5 quarterback but transformed into a beastly tight end after being mysteriously suspended by Cincinnati for the entire 2010 season. He’s an elite athlete with a pile of baggage, who didn’t work out at the NFL Scouting Combine because he was coming off hernia surgery, but he was there to be grilled by teams.

Joe suspects Greg Schiano might have good intelligence on Kelce from his time in the Big East. Whether that draws the Bucs to Kelce, or makes them run, is anyone’s guess.

Formerly sackless Kyle Moore picked up his first three career sacks in Buffalo last season, so Joe supposes anything is possible.

Another former Bucs draft pick who also was senselessly gifted a starting job in Tampa, Sabby “The Goat” Piscitelli, is also looking to shock the NFL world. Piscitelli, per ProFootballTalk.com, is making a comeback effort in Jaguars camp. He sat out last season, after giving fans in Tampa, Cleveland and Kansas City night terrors.

Those new to JoeBucsFan.com might not know Joe was driven to near insanity watching Sabby The Goat take terrible tackling angles to a new low. Just the mere mention of Sabby The Goat returning to the NFL has Joe breaking out in hives.

Joe might need an early beer today. Right now the thought of watching serial loafer Sean Jones play safety is soothing.

Joe definitely is entertained by the spin, smokescreens and mysterious jockeying dished out during the offseason by coaches and general managers.

Yesterday delivered a great example. Recently cut and re-signed Dan Orlovsky got an interesting endorsement from Greg Schiano. The head coach was pressed on whether he’s still seeking competition for Josh Freeman, and this was part of Schiano’s response.

“Dan [Orlovsky] is an excellent backup. I believe that,” Schiano said. “At this stage in his career, is he going to go? I don’t know. You know, who knows? I wouldn’t say that’s the plan. So if we get someone in here we do. And if we don’t, we don’t. I’m good with that.

This made Joe chuckle considering the Bucs cut Orlovsky and re-signed him for roughly $350,000 less than his previous 2013 contract, which was voided when he was released. So essentially, the Bucs allowed Orlovsky to be dangled before every GM in the NFL, risking losing “an excellent backup” who knows the offense, to save a piddly amount of money.

Joe supposes legitimate kudos are in order for rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Schiano for being prudent caretakers of Team Glazer’s cash. But the whole thing is a great illustration of some of the baloney flying around the NFL in April.

A chipper and refreshed Bucs coach Greg Schiano met the fourth estate, the local branch of the pen and mic club, for the first time yesterday since the end of the 2012 season and the first time standing before ink-stained and coiffed masses since the NFL Combine.

Not surprisingly, one of the first questions to Schiano was about Ronde Barber’s status.

“No. 20 did not show up,” Schiano said. “He’s not under contract so he is not here. [There are] no developments which is fine. We will still keep in communication. There is no silence or anything. Just in the process of figuring it out.”

Since the end of last season, Barber, Schiano and Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik have broken bread and discussed a potential return at least twice. Yet Barber is still out there, a free agent without a home.

When Joe asked Schiano if there was a deadline for Barber to make up his mind, Schiano stated there is no deadline in the foreseeable future.

“No, at some point I guess down the road but we are not anywhere near that now,” Schiano said. “For planning purposes, down the road” there is a deadline.

Schiano did not elaborate when that deadline may be, but Joe’s going to guess — just a guess — July 1. If Barber doesn’t commit by that time, it gives the Bucs a chance to bring in someone off the street or via a trade to join the team by the opening of training camp.

But what is taking Barber so long to make a decision? Joe has no inside information on this but it sure seems like Barber is torn, understandably so.

Could it be he wants to see who Dominik brings in to bolster the cornerback unit? After that ugly loss to Philadelphia last season, Joe had never seen Barber so steamed. He was one PO’ed individual. So mad and frustrated, Barber likely questioned why he even came back.

Or is Barber getting tugged to hang it up by his wife? Look, Barber has played relatively injury-free, sans a broken arm after the 2011 season. His knees are intact, he claims he’s never had a concussion. In short, for playing so long in the NFL, he is in remarkable condition. Perhaps his wife is telling him to get out while he’s ahead of the game? He’s dodged the bullet so many times, maybe he shouldn’t press his luck.

Joe thinks it is cool that given what Barber has meant to this organization, Dominik and Schiano are allowing Barber so much time to make what Joe is sure will be a difficult and potentially emotional call.

“SalPal,” Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, one of the few credible journalists Joe respects from the four-letter outfit, has an update on the results of Darelle Revis’ MRI this morning.

Earlier, SalPal noted the Jets have hit the “pause button” on trade talks with the Bucs, which sort of reinforces what Bucs general manager Mark Dominik told Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan of SiriusXM NFL Radio last month, and what Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune reported last night on WFLA-TV — that the Bucs really don’t know if Revis is on the trading block.