Bucs icon Derrick Brooks is perhaps the only guy who should/could say Lavonte David is a more impressive young weakside linebacker than he was.

And that’s exactly what Brooks said late last week on WDAE-AM 620.

“I’m very surprised that he stepped up as early as he did,” Brooks said of David. “And I shared with him in numerous conversations last season about how far ahead at this point in his career that he is than where I was. He was calling signals. He didn’t come off the field. My rookie year I didn’t call the signals. I didn’t say anything, and I didn’t play on third down as much. But he played every snap of defense and that was a lot put on him.”

Brooks went on to say he expects David to continue as the Bucs’ premier playmaker on the Bucs’ front seven.

The Bucs hit a triple in the draft last year, with David, Mark Barron and Doug Martin. Joe would settle for a double this year. A new pair of hardcore rookie talents on the Bucs would make them downright scary.

Former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas and popular sports radio personality Adam Schein debate what the Jets should do with star cornerback Darrelle Revis. Schein claims he learned that every general manager candidate that interviewed for the Jets’ opening, eventually filled by John Idzik, was told by Jets owner Woody Johnson, “You must trade Darrelle Revis.” Video courtesy of the SNY Network.

What quarterback wouldn’t want to come to Tampa for a chance to throw jump-ball bombs to Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, handoff to Doug Martin, and drop back behind a behemoth, veteran offensive line?

It seems soon-to-be-jettisoned Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer wants to do just that. Per BSPN, NFL insider Adam Schefter, Palmer is yearning to be Tampa Bay’s 1A option.

“With all the talk about head trauma going on in the league, those things really don’t weigh for me because I haven’t suffered any. I haven’t had any concussions. I’ve been tested. I haven’t had any concussions. So like I’ve said before [returning in 2013] will be a gut decision type of thing.” — Ronde Barber, recently during an interview with J.P. Peterson.

Barber details (as much as one would expect him to reveal) what will affect his future in the video below. Amazingly, Barber says he’s never had a conncussion. In a different part of the interview (not seen below), Barber attributes some of that to proper tackling technique.

Last year when Bucs cornerback Eric Wright got popped for popping Adderall, many Bucs fans screamed that the Bucs needed to jettison the troubled cornerback immediately.

It looked like that was about to happen when Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik invoked a clause in Wright’s contract, one that void it for being suspended by the NFL; Wright served a four-game sentence.

Sadly, per Dominik and Bucs coach Greg Schiano, they determined that the free agent class for corners was so weak, short of trading for Darrelle Revis and drafted two corners high in the draft, it gets more and more likely Wright will be back with the Bucs, warns Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Bucs fans might shriek, but I think it’s time they start getting used to the idea of cornerback Eric Wright coming back and wearing red and pewter again in 2013.

The decision not to delve into what most NFL scouts agree is a very shallow and muddy pool of free-agent corners is one reason the Bucs appear to be leaning toward retaining Wright, but there’s more to it than that.

The Bucs spent two years chasing Wright and wound up overpaying to get him last year, but they still like his skill set and upside and believe he can still be an asset if he can smarten up.

Later in the story, Cummings quotes Schiano saying Wright is a “reliable player.”

Yes, Joe is like most Bucs fans and thought waving goodbye to Wright was a good thing. But as Raheem Morris once famously said to Stylez White, “I will tolerate you until I can replace you.”

To date, the Bucs have yet to be able to replace Wright.

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 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board! Check out the BayNews9 video on the tour below.

The Bucs’ stunning win in Atlanta to close the 2012 season featured a Bucs defense that stopped being all blitz-happy and reliant on subpar cornerbacks on islands against top receivers.

Look for a lot more of that approach, says Bucs icon Ronde Barber.

Barber says the New Schiano Order has learned from its mistakes from the stop-the-run-first style — and its successes shutting down the full-strength Falcons. Barber goes deep into Xs and Os explaining why the Bucs’ press-heavy defense struggled in this excellent sit-down interview below with J.P. Peterson of TampaBaySportsCentral.com.

On Revis?

“He’d be a great guy to play with,” Barber said. “The things he puts on film, not a lot of guys can do that. Maybe a handful.”

Barber also talks about tackling technique and quotes Raheem Morris as a tackling mentor.

Bucs fans just cannot get enough of Darrelle Revis. Joe is convinced that if every local sports radio host talked about the Bucs and Revis, it would get double the ratings of anything the Rays could generate until June.

Joe will have another SNY video later today that sheds more light on the behind-the-scenes positioning by Jets general manager John Idzik.

Yet another trusted source, one of the best NFL insiders, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King of SI.com, believes Revis wearing the Bucs pewter and red is “inevitable,” so he wrote in his must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” column.

Why I see the stalled Revis-to-Tampa deal as inevitable.

The Jets are in deep think mode over the possible trade of the rehabbing Darrelle Revis. And though it’s certainly tough to consider trading the best player on your team — and it’s a deal I wouldn’t do; I would pay the man — I think at the end of the day the Jets will do it at least two days before the start of the April 25 first round. (Can’t be on draft day, obviously, because the Bucs will need to do a thorough physical exam before agreeing to the deal, which is likely to contain one 2013 draft choice.)

The Jets could do the right thing and satisfy Revis’ long-term contract demands and have the best corner in the league (at least the best one east of Seattle, if Richard Sherman is to be believed) on their team through the rest of his prime. But no one sees owner Woody Johnson agreeing to pay Revis $15 million or so per year. Johnson, I’m hearing, is categorically against extending Revis. So let’s extrapolate.

The Bucs, assuming Revis passes the physical, are willing to surrender a first-round pick and either a second- or a third- to acquire Revis. Those picks would either come both in 2013 or 2014, or one in each draft.

This is why Joe isn’t freaking out about Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik not landing a free agent cornerback. As Joe has written, time and again, Dominik clearly doesn’t value the corners on the sidewalk with resumes in hand. If he did, he would have signed one by now.

If he believes, like King, that Revis is coming to Tampa Bay, why overpay for a corner you don’t like when you could — in Dominik’s mind — draft a couple of rookie corners who you believe to be just as good, or just hang on to Eric Wright?

“Keep calm.”

It’s not John Abraham or Dwight Freeney, but the Bucs will have a new defensive end familiar to Tampa Bay area football fans.

George Selvie is your newest Buccaneer, per Tampa Bay Times USF beat writer Greg Auman.

Selvie has bounced around from the Rams to the Panthers and Jaguars in his first three seasons after being a seventh-round pick of St. Louis in 2010.

Selvie was a monster during his sophomore and junior seasons at USF, earning first-team, All-American honors, but he had a major letdown his senior year and plummeted on draft boards.

Joe suspects Greg Schiano, who got plenty of looks at Selvie in college, was a driving force behind the signing. Yeah, there’s a good chance Selvie is a just a quality training camp body, but given how thin the Bucs are at defensive end, the New Schiano Order might have higher hopes.

What kind of poker player is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik?

Former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas, now a Jets analyst for SNY-TV out of New York, believes Dominik won’t push his chips all-in anytime soon on a trade for Darrelle Revis. It will be the Jets who will “panic,” Lucas explains in this SNY video below. Lucas predicts the Bucs-Jets deal will come after the start of training camp, when the Bucs can see whether Revis is healthy and moving his hips and exploding like a stud cornerback.

Nothing would shock Joe at this point. Keep in mind, the Bucs can hang on to Eric Wright as a bad insurance policy and cut him without big cash consequences before the start of the regular season.

While most people were trying to find a warm spot somewhere in the Western Hemisphere to go on spring break, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and his staff were busy inviting college prospects to One Buc Palace for private workouts and interviews.

One of those players appears to be the Honey Badger himself, Tyrann Mathieu, the former LSU stud defensive back/return man who had troubles with the hippie lettuce.

WalterFootball.com has a list of those who they have learned entered One Buc Palace for visits. Thislist is incomplete as each NFL team is allowed up to 30 visits.

The roster of players coming through Tampa so far has been:

Kiko Alonso, LB, Oregon
Le’Veon Bell, RB, Michigan State
Mike Catapano, DL, Princeton
Gavin Escobar, TE, San Diego State
Marquise Goodwin, WR, Texas
Margus Hunt, DL, SMU
Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma
Corey Lemonier, DL, Auburn
Tyrann Mathieu, DB, LSU
Vance McDonald, TE, Rice
Brendan Melanophy, DB, Fordham
Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M
David Quessenberry, OL, San Jose State
J.C. Tretter, OL, Cornell
Desmond Trufant, DB, Washington
Brian Winters, OL, Kent State

Now this doesn’t mean the Bucs will only draft players from this list. As usual, there are smokescreens involved. But given the fact each team is limited to a specific number of visits, it demonstrates that the Bucs are interested in the Honey Badger.

A couple of other names jumping out at Joe are cornerback Desmond Trufant, offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who may be one of the most underrated linemen in the draft, tight end Gavin Escobar and bruising running back Le’Veon Bell.

Hey, Joe was like most Bucs fans when the free agent dinner bell rang not quite three weeks ago: Go get Brent Grimes!

Joe beat the drum as much as Bucs fans. The woeful collection of Bucs corners desperately needed an upgrade; even Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik noted this on SiriusXM NFL Radio. He wasn’t blind.

Hours sent by. Days turned to weeks. The clock continued to thump along. Yet the Bucs made no move towards Grimes, coming off an ugly Achilles heel injury.

Then Joe started to hear rumors. One that stuck in Joe’s head was that Grimes, who is but 5-9, was known for defending much taller receivers with his leaping ability. That skill apparently, Joe heard, was lost with his Achilles injury.

Joe wasn’t the only one hearing stories. eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune had traveled to the Valley of the Sun for the NFL owners meetings and while mingling with agents, coaches and fellow writers, gathered intelligence about Grimes as well, as he Twittered early last week.

@IKaufmanTBO: Some of the things I’m hearing about Brent Grimes suggest he wouldn’t make the grade as a Buccaneer Man for Greg Schiano. Scratch him

So when Joe learned yesterday that Grimes signed with the Dolphins, Kaufman’s words — and Joe’s source — proved to be prophetic.

As Joe has written countless times before, it is clear Dominik did/does not value what is out there on the market for free agent corners, certainly not what they were asking.

If the Darrelle Revis swap falls through, surely Dominik has a Plan-C. He’s not a foolish man. Joe’s pretty sure Dominik believes Eric Wright and two top-tier drafted cornerbacks are as valuable as the current free agents walking the sidewalks with resumes in hand.

“Keep calm.”

Who said Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is taking the Easter weekend off?

Per ProFootballTalk.com scribe and current reporter for RavensInsider.com, Aaron Wilson, Dominik signed Eagles defensive tackle Derek Landri.

@RavensInsider: Derek Landri has agreed to a two-year, $3.25 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per a league source.

Now whether Landri is the starter for the Bucs this fall remains to be seen. If you go by the numbers, he’s a Roy Miller clone. Landri hasn’t had a sack since 2011 and had but 13 tackles in 16 games last year.

Sounds more like a signing for depth to Joe than anything else.

“Keep calm.”

Yes, in case you didn’t know it, free agent cornerback Brent Grimes and his bad Achilles signed a deal with the Dolphins this morning.

And, as can be expected, Bucs fans took to Twitter to lodge grievances at Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for sitting on his hands and not doing anything, in their eyes, to upgrade one of the worst cornerback groups ever to stain an NFL field.

The past few weeks should have braced Bucs fans for Grimes heading elsewhere. Notice Dominik hasn’t made any strong push for any cornerbacks walking the sidewalks, not even one of his own, E.J. Biggers?

This told Joe that not only did Dominik think little of the free agent cornerbacks crop, he felt he would be better off keeping troubled Eric Wright and drafting a couple of corners than signing overaged, damaged corners for high prices.

Dominik said last week on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and has stated this several times the past year or two, that if there is a player he thinks can come in and improve the Bucs, he would be aggressive in bagging said player, like Dashon Goldson, like Vincent Jackson, like Carl Nicks.

Dominik has not been remotely aggressive in landing a free agent corner this offseason. Do the math.

As the Bucs’ Facebook page famously told Bucs fans just a few days ago, “Keep calm.”

Perhaps, Darrelle Revis is on his way?

The Bucs pursued and were shunned by new Vikings backup quarterback Matt Cassel a couple of weeks ago, and there were rumblings the Bucs made phone calls to Matt Hasselback’s agent before Hasselback joined the Colts.

So national chatter about soon-to-be-ex-Raider Carson Palmer joining the Bucs is hardly surprising. It’s not a stretch to assume the Bucs want a veteran backup with significant experience around Josh Freeman.

FOXSports.com senior NFL writer and Sirius NFL radio host Alex Marvez, a guy who broke a lot of Bucs news last offseason, was Twittering last night about a fit between Bucs and Palmer.

@AlexMarvez: Most intriguing Carson Palmer landing spot to me: #Bucs. Need a backup. Have cap space. J Freeman isn’t cemented as long-term starter either …… Palmer would put heat on Freeman to step up his play. If Freeman does, he gets paid in 2014. If not, Palmer is viable option potentially

What Greg Schiano’s desire for “competition” for Freeman really means is anyone’s guess. Palmer put up very solid numbers last year in Oakland, and Joe gets how the New Schiano Order wants to load up on talent and insurance at the most important position.

But do the Bucs really want another QB challenging Freeman?

Freeman needs every first-team practice rep he can get. He took 100 percent of them last season, and a second season in the Mike Sullivan system and the natural pressure that will come in his contract year seems like plenty of motivation and “heat” on Freeman.

Freeman seems far too mentally fragile to successfully handle having a strong backup breathing down his neck. Joe would rather see the Bucs draft a QB.

Even though it is quiet, don’t believe that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and Jets general manager John Idzik haven’t discussed a swap for Darrelle Revis in the past two weeks.

Obviously, Dominik can not begin hammering out a new contract for Revis until Idzik grants permission for Dominik to talk to Revis, and that likely won’t happen until a trade is agreed upon in principle.

But the lobbying with Revis has already begun through back-channels.

Bucs offensive tackle Donald Penn is new to Twitter but the guy is Twittering like a madman; like a kid with a new toy. And Penn is wasting no time using this tool to soften up Revis.

@DPENN70: @Revis24 lol u r a lil close what’s up my dude we waiting on u #BucsNation

Now the “lil close” reference was a response to a non-football question Revis had on Twitter.

Joe thinks it is pretty cool that Bucs players are already greasing the wheels and buttering up Revis to agree to a contract extension to play for the Bucs.

The truly great folks at Ed Morse Brandon Auto Mall Fiat have all kinds of deals on new and pre-owned vehicles of all makes and models. You definitely want to head there today for a test drive or click above or below now to shop online.

The TV watchers have gathered at ProFootballFocus.com headquarters in jolly old England to determine which quarterback in the NFL is the worst when pressured.

Even Bucs fans walking around with a white cane could tell that all too often, especially in important games, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman wilted way too often under pressure. And, yes, the numbers-crunchers have confirmed what Bucs fans already knew. But if there is any consolation, Freeman is in the same boat as a future Hall of Famer with three rings.

Yes, that would be Tom Brady.

Freeman has a completion percentage under pressure of 41.9 percent, which is just a hair over Brady’s 40.4 percent under pressure.

The difference is turnovers. Brady has but two interceptions while under pressure. Freeman leads this list by tossing a ghastly nine interceptions while feeling the heat.

To his credit, Freeman is tied with Andrew Luck on the list for touchdowns thrown under pressure, seven.

Joe has a hunch if Freeman can tune down the picks while defenders are in his face, it could translate into three additional wins.

That’s a lot.

The Buccaneers support the community in all kinds of cool ways, some of which Joe has written about, but this latest one is way up there on the wow meter.

Davin Joseph recently returned from an eight-day NFL-USO tour in the Middle East with all kinds of cool stories and experiences. Buccaneers.com pumped out a two-part Q&A with Joseph, who relayed a take on danger he encountered, as well as finding plenty of pewter lovers.

Buccaneers.com: You said one of the first servicemen you met was a Buccaneers fan. How many others did you meet overseas?

Joseph: “I didn’t even get in half of the pictures of all of the Bucs fans that I met there.  A lot of people were either at one time based here in Tampa, were from Tampa or were just Buccaneers fans.  You saw so many people that were happy to see a Buccaneer and it was an awesome feeling to know that we have so many fans there and so much support there.  It was like no other feeling and I really didn’t expect it, but it was a pleasant surprise to meet new Bucs fans.”

Kudos to Joseph for giving his time and representing all things Bucs so well. You can read the full Q&A via the above link.

Many Bucs fans, Joe included, thought perhaps the Bucs would dabble in free agency, or maybe in the middle rounds of next month’s draft, to grab a right tackle to either replace or push incumbent Demar Dotson.

The former basketball player became the Bucs starter early last season when then starter Jeremy Trueblood was benched. Dotson played OK but nothing that would make people forget Jonathan Ogden.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik signed Dotson to an extension, which could lock him up as a starter, but Steve White isn’t a believer. The former Bucs defensive end looked behind the numbers and is not convinced Dotson will start for the Bucs.

@sgw94: Finally saw the terms of Dotson’s extension. Uhmmm unless he definitely goes back to being a back up he got robbed! … I honestly don’t know why he would sign that deal unless they threatened to release him. … Great backup money but cheap starter $.

Well now, that explains a lot. Look, Joe doesn’t believe just because Dominik has a lot of cash under the cap to spend he should go drunken sailor just for the hell of it. He still has to answer to Team Glazer how he spends their cash.

So if Dotson truly is being paid backup money, perhaps Dominik is still sniffing for another right tackle, as Joe referenced this morning?

Joe’s been intrigued by Rays owner Stu Sternberg and team president Matt Silverman bouncing around in various interviews lately preaching a “One More Game” theme.

Essentially, the Rays honchos are out there telling media and fans that if each individual person who came a Rays game last year simply attended one more game in 2013, then the team would be in great financial shape and be far from the cellar of Major League baseball attendance. Silverman even said yesterday on 98.7 FM that the Rays would be happy with revenue at Tropicana Field if that were the case, almost implying there would be no urgency for a new stadium if current fans stepped up just one step higher.

This got Joe thinking about the state of the Buccaneers and the heinous blacked out games that are a stain on the entire Tampa Bay community. The sad reality is that fans in other cities, annoying local fans of other NFL teams, and many Bucs fans, find blackouts to be thoroughly humiliating and embarrassing.

What if every Bucs fan not holding a season ticket, and who attended a game last season, attended one more game this year versus? Joe suspects the Rays’ “One More Game” goal applied to the Bucs would end blackouts in a hurry.

Earlier this month, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan opened up for a comprehensive interview with Forbes. It was extremely revealing and Joe recommends the entire piece.

The excerpt below dives into ticket sales and how the Jaguars climbed the ranks of NFL in ticket sales last season despite their awful team. Interestingly, they allowed toddlers in free and let fans bring in water and food — and that led to more food and drink sales.

Moving over to the business side, you obviously think it had a much better year than the football side.

There were three games that we took tarps off. A year ago we were 29th in ticket sales. We finished 20th in ticket sales. The London experience is turning out to be everything and more than I thought. The game is sold out, we got marketing rights in London, which is the first time that’s happened. Just as we speak, we’re hiring a dedicated sales and marketing representative for the Jaguars in London. The ticket revenue for a London team is about 44% higher, so playing that game is better. Wembley is a better stadium and so on. Sponsorship-wise we’ve done well. We have a number of fans who are excited to attend games there.

We’re also off to a record start on season ticket sales in Jacksonville even though we have raised prices and had a 2-14 season. We expect to have record season ticket sales. It’s about engaging the season ticket holders and doing a lot with the gameday experience. We redid the locker rooms last year. We’re spending more money on the weight room. We’re moving forward now with getting the state to upgrade the stadium with a big scoreboard, the biggest in the business. We’re getting state and local support on that, which is very encouraging. So I think business side, it’s almost a mirror image, regrettably of what happened on the football side.

… …

Blackout is not even on the horizon. But typically what teams do is buy tickets, which is allowed under NFL rules [to avoid blackouts]. The #20 position in sales is actual money that we recorded. Another thing which is interesting, we allowed people to bring kids under 34 inches tall in for free. We also allowed water and food in free. You’d be amazed that our per capita sales of food and drink went up.

How is that possible?

Well, it’s very simple. People brought in food, and you attract a certain budget crowd. “I can go to the games, and don’t have to take a babysitter, I can take my son with me.” And then you’re attracting a crowd that says “I’m not going to buy the $5 hotdog, I’m going to buy the $9 beer.” A lot of the business moves sound counter-intuitive but they turned out really well.

Of course, Team Glazer also has slashed prices of many tickets over the past few years, offered discount concessions for select games, among other measures to lure fans. Stadium improvements are on the way, as are new food vendors and more.

Yes, fans across the NFL are increasingly opting to stay home to enjoy football Sundays. But somehow, it seems, the lousy Jaguars, in a tiny Florida market, are making significant strides.

Joe wonders what it would take for Bucs fans to attend “One More Game.”

Yes, the Bucs inked Demar Dotson through 2016 yesterday. (No, Joe doesn’t know how many years are guaranteed.) But Joe is confident this move is about depth more than an anointing of Dotson at right tackle.

The Bucs are well aware of Dotson’s shortcomings and considering the New Schiano Order and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik are always talking about the importance of competition, surely another promising right tackle will find his way to the Bucs. Considering Dominik has only drafted one offensive lineman in four years and has said he prefers O-linemen who have shown they can adjust to the pro game, even if only in preseason, Joe’s sure Dotson’s competition/replacement will come via free agency or the waiver wire.

Bucs fans may have forgotten Dotson was the backup left tackle last season and in years past. Raheem Morris even tried to sell the media on Dotson’s ability as a starting left tackle during Donald Penn’s holdout of 2010.

Joe doesn’t doubt Dotson’s versatility, as well as his ability to continue to develop under Bob Bostad. But Joe would hardly be surprised if Dotson starts the season as the first man off the bench in case Penn or a new right tackle gets hurt.