Joe knows Bucs fans are still throwing things at their TVs in disgust for the Bucs letting defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Roy Miller walk away for the price of two pizzas at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

As Joe wrote a week ago, he had heard the Bucs were spooked by nagging injuries Bennett had (and played through) and thought those injuries would only grow worse.

Joe doesn’t know about Miller, but Joe does know Miller was always dinged up and played through a nasty back injury. IF the Bucs let Bennett, their top sacker, walk for this reason, perhaps the same logic applied to Miller?

Joe thinks it is a gamble to put so much responsibility on the shoulders of Da’Quan Bowers, who has yet to play a full season in the NFL because he himself is often sidelined by some malady.

Don’t fear, Bucs coach Greg Schiano says. He is taking the bull by the horns and says he and his coaching staff will develop Bowers into a feared pass rusher, so he told eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune.

A better pass rush would help and Schiano said Bowers is poised for a breakthrough season.

A second-round pick in 2011, Bowers recovered from an Achilles injury and posted three sacks in limited action last year. He is awaiting the fallout from his arrest a month ago for carrying a gun at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

“He’s a tremendous athlete for a man his size,” Schiano said. “He’s explosive and he’s done it. It’s our job to make him do it consistently. When he hurt his Achilles, it changed his body. Rather than being negative, he got in with our strength staff and changed his body. I think he’s prepared to take the next step.”

Bowers showed flashes of being a dominant pass rusher, though Joe isn’t sure he can defend the run as well as Bennett.

The words from Schiano are reassuring, but in Joe’s eyes, the first goal is for Bowers is to play consistently and remain healthy for a full season.

In a segment aptly titled “Loudmouths” from New York-based SNY-TV, Adam Schein and Chris Carlin talk about a potential Darrelle Revis trade from the Jets’ perspective. Joe’s a big fan of Schein, but he’s really off the mark here calling “Malcolm Glazer” a “meddlesome” owner.

The fellas here seem to think Jets owner Woody Johnson likely will be the first to cave in to get a deal done with the Bucs.

Former Bucs defensive end Steve White floated all kinds of Bucs takes during his appearance on WDAE-AM 620 on Monday with host Tom Krasniqi.

White even wondered aloud whether the Bucs will go into the 2013 season with DaQuan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn as starting defensive ends because rockstar general manager Mark Dominik can’t afford anymore busts or perceived busts among his premium draft picks. (You can catch all the audio via the link above.)

But even with Bowers and Clayborn as the preferred starters, White would like to see another pass rusher so the Bucs can be effective getting after the quarterback with four guys.

“I think Osi [Umenyiora] would fit here,” White said. “If you want pass rush, he can get you that.

“Most of our run defense comes from blitzing anyway. So I thought he would be a good guy, [John] Abraham, any of those [premier] guys.”

As Dwight Freeney, Umenyiora and Abraham remain unemployed and watch their cash value plummet, Joe also is wondering why the Bucs aren’t bringing these guys in for visits and having their medical team scrutinize them. After all, if the Bucs can score Darrelle Revis and squeeze a good year out of a veteran pass rusher to team with Bowers and Clayborn, the Bucs’ defense might be good enough to actually lead the team to the playoffs.

Now this is getting interesting.

The creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, fresh off a trip to work the NFL owners meetings in Arizona, posted a very interesting item about the Darrelle Revis-to-Bucs rumors.

Apparently, per Florio, Team Glazer is the engine behind the trade talks.

One thing is becoming more obvious: The move to get Revis is coming from Tampa Bay ownership. That’s what one source with knowledge of the trade dynamics told PFT on Thursday.

The two teams are believed to have dug in on the question whether the package of picks will be headlined by a first-rounder in 2013 or a first-round selection in 2014. If that’s the only difference, and if the folks who sign the checks have decided they’re ready to write some big ones to Revis (even though the cornerback market has softened significantly in the past nine days), there’s a good chance they’ll direct G.M. Mark Dominik to give up the first-round pick in 2013.

Now this is a bit surprising to Joe. Generally, Team Glazer stays out of player personnel moves other than, obviously, to say they are willing to cut a check, like they have for top-shelf free agents over the past year.

There was a comment this week from Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer that jumped out at Joe, by way of eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune:

“To me, one year without a playoff win is too long,” Glazer said. “Ten years is extremely disappointing, but I have great confidence we have the people in place to reverse that trend. It’s tough to win in this league, but it’s within everyone’s control to change their course. Ultimately, it falls on our shoulders as owners. We’re not going to hide from our responsibility. All we’re going to do is work our tails off that it doesn’t continue.”

Is Team Glazer pushing Dominik to get a deal done? If that were true, Joe suspects a deal would already be done. Joe’s going to take another stab in the dark and suggest Team Glazer has OK’d cash for a potential Revis contract but is leaving the dirty work of hammering out a trade to Dominik.

While most people are watching March Madness — upset alert, Bucknell leads Butler — and swilling beers today, Joe is still working Bucs news.

OK Bucs fans, should we take this news to the bank? Joe isn’t so sure, but the latest Darrelle Revis-to-the-Bucs comes from unequaled NFL insider, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naive, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated.

King was working his many, many sources behind the scenes at the NFL owners meetings earlier this week in Arizona and has come to be belief that Revis — who King termed both “problematic” and “damaged goods” — will eventually be in a Bucs uniform. And King says Jets general manager John Idzik will fleece Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik because the Bucs are so desperate for a cornerback.

The Jets, in discussions with Tampa, have apparently been stuck on acquiring the Bucs’ first-round pick this year, as well as an additional choice, which would likely come in next year’s draft. That would give New York the ninth and 13th picks overall this year.

But is that really the smartest way to go for the Jets? I don’t think it is. I think it’s much smarter for New York to try to get both Tampa picks in the 2014 draft, and to push for the Bucs’ top two picks next season. With the likelihood that this is Rex Ryan’s final season as head coach, and the certainty that New York will try one last time to make Mark Sanchez work at quarterback this year, it doesn’t make much sense to draft a quarterback in the first round. What happens if the Jets pick, say, USC quarterback Matt Barkley, and the new coach next year — if there is one — isn’t a Barkley guy? The Jets would be wiser to go for a 2014 first-rounder, giving the team two ones with the likelihood that the quarterback class would be stronger next year than this one. If they had to move up in the draft to get a passer, they’d have good ammunition.

The Bucs, meanwhile, would be poised to sign Revis long-term. Lots of numbers have been floated in the press in recent days, but I’m told Tampa Bay would be willing to pay Revis somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million per year (with no state taxes in Florida versus a big chunk in New Jersey). Revis has proven in the past he won’t sit idly by if he feels he’s getting less than he deserves. The Jets paid Revis $32 million in bonus and salary over the past two years, and are slated to pay him $6 million in 2013. So if Revis knows there’s a team out there willing to pay him more than double what the Jets would this year, how do you think he’s going to react to being on a sinking ship without his contract being re-done by the Jets? Idzik, the rookie GM, hasn’t been in New York long, but he’ll find out how it feels to be skewered on the back pages of the tabloids if the team is losing and Revis is yapping regularly. Which he’s not afraid to do. And that won’t be pleasant.

Both a first and a second-round pick for a guy coming off an ACL surgery who has been known to hold out — and threaten to hold out — several times? That’s a bit much.

Joe is starting to think Dominik may just play it smart and walk away from Idzik. Look, this draft is deep in many ways for defensive linemen and cornerbacks and Dominik likes to wheel and deal on draft weekend.

Dominik holds onto draft picks the way Joe would like hold on to Rachel Watson in the small hours of the night. Coughing up a first and a second-round pick for Revis doesn’t seem to fit Dominik’s history.

Since this draft is deep and teams are begging to trade down — and few want to trade up — rather than coughing up two high draft picks for Revis, trade and move up to get two first-round picks this year, grab Xavier Rhodes and Desmond Trufant, sign Brent Grimes and the Bucs should be set.

And let Idzik pound sand.

A word of appreciation here for the stunning traffic heights JoeBucsFan.com has now reached. Thank you!

Joe could hit 600,000 actual visits to JoeBucsFan.com for the month of March, which would set a new monthly record. And there’s a great shot those 600,000 visits will come from more than 100,000 unique visitors, also a new record.

It’s becoming increasingly clear to Joe that these here pages have become the No. 1 source for serious Bucs fans, and for those that prefer a little edge to their news and commentary. And who doesn’t?

Joe promises to keep the train rolling. Fun and unique draft-related material is on the way, as are a couple of new wrinkles for football season, and a new media partnership.

Thanks again.

Joe sure hopes what’s written below is all just a matter of semantics and not some sort of bizarre revelation of what goes on — or what doesn’t go on — in the New Schiano Order, but Joe was stunned to read Greg Schiano’s comments yesterday on figuring out the causes of Josh Freeman’s bad games.

Speaking to Tampa Tribune scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman at the NFL owners meetings yesterday, Schiano gave Freeman a lot of love and said when Freeman returns his staff will dive head first into what went wrong when Freeman was at his worst.

Umm, should that already have been dissected during last season?

“If you look at Josh’s season, in 13 games he threw seven interceptions and in three games, he threw 10,” said Schiano. “That’s it in a nutshell. Let’s find the reasons why those three games occurred and eliminate the causes. When we get Josh back in the building, we’re going to dig into his feelings on what the causes were.

Again, this could just be a matter of word selection by Schiano, because Joe absolutely can’t imagine the New Schiano Order didn’t do everything in its power last season to figure out Freeman’s freefall. Joe has to be believe Freeman’s “feelings on what the causes were” have been widely known for months.

Or perhaps not? Maybe that’s why Butch Davis was playing job fairy for former quarterbacks coach Ron Turner during the season.

Yesterday, Joe brought you two nuggets (here and here) of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik’s interview on “Movin’ the Chains,” with co-hosts Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Below is the rest of the interview.

Tim Ryan: We welcome to the program, the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mark Dominik, how are you doing?

Pat Kirwan: Hello my friend. You are coming in to the winter meetings with draft picks and a lot of cap space, you land a big-name free agent safety, these are good times.

Mark Dominik: It was a hectic situation, and hectic time to get Dashon Goldson into our building for his first visit but it was even better when we got him locked for five years. We felt like he was the best defensive back in free agency. Obviously that is an area we want to improve on in terms of talent. So therefore he was a guy we targeted and we were hopeful [San Francisco] wouldn’t tag him and when they didn’t, we went after him and we made some other good moves. I like some of the young players we just picked up and we are still talking to clubs and still talking to agents as well.

Ryan: The back end of your defense, the corner population, no question as your young pass rushers get healthy and play more consistent, we all link the coverage to the rush but you have to get some guys behind them. Talk about the secondary.

Dominik: I think it is an important position and that’s why we talked about Goldson. I think he and [Mark] Barron back there will be a good combination. Hopefully, they will make the receivers think twice about coming across, but on the outside perimeters we have to continue to address. We liked the way Leonard Johnson stepped up towards the end of the year but also, Greg and I talk about improving the competition and we are not opposed to starting young players or drafting corners and put them in there and play, but we know we need to continue to upgrade the competition level at that position. There is no doubt about that, it’s no secret to anybody. We are still talking with some free agents and we are looking at the draft and any opportunity we can improve there we will take a shot.

Kirwan: No names required, you won’t name them anyway and I don’t need them but your assessment so far on the draft and the cornerback position. Good draft, bad draft, deep, quality players?

Dominik: No, I think it’s good. There are quality players all the way through it. There are players I think at cornerback that is consistently – it’s not quite the cornerback draft where as you get closer they start skyrocketing up the board. But certainly I have been involved in drafts where there were eight corners taken in the first round. I am not surprised that some of these guys have continued to move up. They have had good combines, a good senior bowl. Those guys I am not surprised that they continue to move up the board so I see a solid three or four rounds of good players and some back end guys that have some speed to them, some height-weight speed. And maybe small schools guys that may get pushed up, so I think it is a solid draft.

Kirwan: This is my estimation, it wouldn’t be fair for anyone else, I could be totally wrong here but for our listeners, if I was forced to come up with an answer there are probably four or five first-round corners and there are probably four or five second-round corners. There are some guys there I really like. So, in the first two rounds we could see 10 corners [selected] and all 10 of those guys, there would be an expectation to play those guys, almost right away.

Dominik: Yeah, regardless of what team you are, whether you are Tampa and need a lot of corner help and continue to add to what we have or you could be the Pittsburgh Steelers or whoever it is if you take a corner in the first couple of rounds, you expect him to come in and have an impact. The thing is, we are fortunate in Tampa with Coach Schiano, and who we have in the secondary with Tony Oden and Jeff Hafley are secondary coaches, they are not afraid to play a young guy. That’s a great thing.

Ryan: What about your first three picks last year and the impact those cats had, the Dougernaut, as I like to call him, and Mark Barron on the back end and a guy I think has such a huge future, Lavonte David. You hit it hard with all three of those guys. Job well done.

Dominik: That was a great draft class for us, Coach Schiano’s first class. And it was a lot of fun because we moved around a lot. As you guys know we moved back to take Mark Barron, moved up to take Doug Martin, moved up to take Lavonte David so we were kind of fluid and you have to love that. That’s the fun thing of the draft, massage it to get the players that you want. All three of those guys make a really good impact. Barron I thought played well at the end of the season. He kind of lost it in the middle of the season in terms of having a big impact. He made plays and had production but even in the last game of the season he deflects a ball from Tony Gonzales and it helped us beat the Atlanta Falcons with his play. I was excited for how he finished the season. It was a long year for all of those players. They go through all the training and the combine. Doug obviously speaks for himself. To be a rookie and to make the Pro Bowl, that is exciting. Lavonte, you know, was one of the most productive rookies and most productive players in the NFL from a defensive standpoint.

Kirwan: Talk about Josh [Freeman] with me for a moment. There are those games that are bad and there are a lot more games that are good. We are in the world of securing the best players that we have. Talk about Josh, his status with you guys and maybe a sketch of the plan you have for the future with him.

Dominik: Yeah, I think Josh knows we like him a lot. We are really excited for him. For that six-week period you are talking about we were the best in the league in scoring points and getting yards and we were hot. Josh can do that. At the same point, we all want to play better and he had some games where they were not up to his level of standard and we look at it no different – we’d like to look at it the same way as the Baltimore Ravens did. It worked out well for them in every way. I am sure they had no problem in writing a check coming off a Super Bowl championship so, Josh is a guy we think long-term with but right now we are just going to take our time and let him play and if that costs the organization more money, good, that’s great.

Kirwan: That’s how [Ravens owner] Steve Bisciotti described it last summer to us. I was standing on a stage with him as they won the Super Bowl and I said to him, “You know what this means?” and he goes, “And I am glad to pay.”

Dominik: Amen.

Ryan: It is consistency with him. I did a bunch of your games and what I always think about is the fourth quarter how it ended at the Carolina Panthers and what he did on that football field.

Dominik: Those were remarkable drives and great throws, precision throws with arm strength. That’s why we have so much faith in Josh and so much excitement for him. He’s only 24 years-old and he is on his way and he has a lot of experience built up, and we just want to see some consistency from him like everybody else does.

Ryan: Two guys I want to ask you about: I want to ask about the rehabilitation of Adrian Clayborn, who I think is big for your team and then the big one fella Carl Nicks at offensive guard.

Dominik: Good reports on them. Our players who didn’t finish the season with us are coming back strong. The only one who isn’t is Quincy Black, unfortunately, who sustained an injured arm in terms of nerve damage. Adrian Clayborn looks great and his ahead of schedule. Davin Joseph is ahead of schedule Carl Nicks with his toe is in great shape so those are three massive players for us. We are excited about what Da’Quan Bowers is going to do. There are a lot of guys who we didn’t get to fully utilize last year and that’s why we are excited, specifically Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks getting back on the team.

Ryan: Good players, good quarterback and cap space and draft picks. Love it. Mark, we loved having you here.

Kirwan: Awesome.

Though Greg Schiano wouldn’t even say his name, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the topic du jour was Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis during his breakfast with the fourth estate  yesterday in Arizona.

Though Schiano confessed he couldn’t even speak Revis’ name without fear of being busted for tampering, Schiano cautioned Bucs fans who can’t sleep at night pining for Revis that there are many things to consider, not just how great of a football player Revis is, writes Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

“Well, if it does or doesn’t, I can’t comment on guys under contract with another team,” Schiano said. “I think anything we can do to help improve our football team, we’re going to do. That’s not just as simple as, ‘This player is a good player and let’s get him.’ … There’s short-term thinking, there’s long-term thinking, the grand plan of things.”

Revis is expected to get an average annual salary of $12 million-$13 million from the Buccaneers in a long-term deal if a trade can be consummated, according to sources.

“When you’re dealing with a salary cap, you not only have to plan for a year or two, but you have to plan for four or five years down the road,” Schiano said. “We have a lot of quality young players in our programs that eventually we’re going to want to re-sign, so we have to make sure that we plan prudently.”

Schiano raises a valid point. Sure, the Bucs would love to have Revis. But Josh Freeman’s contract is up after the 2013 season. What happens if he blows up? And if he blows up, logically, that means Mike Williams will have a good year, and he and the Bucs are already talking a new contract.

Then, just around the corner, Gerald McCoy’s contract is up.

Those three contracts can easily eat up tens of millions of dollars.

Life would be so simple if Freeman would play like a mid-first round pick, huh?

Also, Mehta writes he has learned that Revis would be OK signing a long-term contract if the Bucs are his suitor, which could cost some $12 million annually.

As Joe pointed out earlier today, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik appeared on “Movin’ the Chains,” co-hosted by Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, to talk all things Bucs yesterday.

Below is another excerpt and Joe will have the full transcript tomorrow, sans the two elements he is writing about today.

Tim Ryan bluntly asked Dominik what the deal was with Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, largely rumored to be traded to the Bucs. Dominik confessed he isn’t sure where a transaction for Revis stands.

Tim Ryan: I know you cannot talk about Darrelle in terms of being under contract, but in your opinion, is he on the trade market or not? We’ve heard a thousand different stories on Revis.

Mark Dominik: I don’t know if he really is, honestly. That is a tough question for me to answer. You have to get [Jets general manager] John Idzik on here Pat and grill him about that.

Pat Kirwan: I will!

Dominik: I will say this, as a general manager, I go around to each club and ask about specific players. That is what is great about these meetings, you can go around and have one-on-one face time. “Do you have an interest ‘X,’ is there anyone you are moving or willing to trade?” So we will continue to go around and talk to every club, all [31] clubs by the time this thing ends and we will have a good [idea of the] trade market and draft movement too.

You know what this tells Joe? That the Jets are jerking around Dominik. It tells Joe that Dominik is interested in talking trade, but the Jets, for reasons unknown, can’t get their act together. Is Jets coach Captain Lou Albano trying to block a trade? Is Woody Johnson getting cold feet? Is Idzik simply too wet behind the ears to pull off such a massive deal?

If Joe were Dominik, he would tell Idzik to pound sand, that if he wants to move Revis, he knows Dominik’s number. Then sign Brent Grimes to demonstrate he’s not playing games with Idzik.

There really is just one team with cap space and draft picks to pull off a deal like this now. It is the Bucs and the Jets have to know this.

Signing Grimes would not prevent Joe from still trying to land Revis; Grimes would be a safety net. And Joe would still go out and select at least one corner high in next month’s draft.

Sans the addition of Osi Umenyiora or John Abraham, the Bucs are counting heavily on DaQuan Bowers at left defensive end.

They’re banking on Bowers so much that the leader of the New Schiano Order, Greg Schiano, didn’t hesitate to set the bar high for Bowers when speaking to Tampa Tribune scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman this morning at the NFL owners meetings in Arizona.

One might say Bowers is on a Race to 10.

“He’s a tremendous athlete for a man his size,” Schiano said. “He’s explosive and he’s done it. It’s our job to make him do it consistently. When he hurt his Achilles, it changed his body. Rather than being negative, he got in with our strength staff and changed his body. I think he’s prepared to take the next step.”

Does that include becoming a double-digit sacker in 2013?

“He needs to be,” Schiano said. “He should be. That’s why we drafted him.”

The “drafted him” line intrigues Joe. The reality is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik snagged Bowers and Adrian Clayborn in the 2011 draft so they would be Bucs bookend beasts for years. In the world of NFL team politics, it was almost inevitable that Bowers would get his shot

Joe still would have liked to see Michael Bennett and Bowers compete with each other. Schiano always talks about the importance of competition. So Joe’s wondering from where that will come.

Nobody will confuse Roy Miller with a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, but he was strongly lauded by the New Schiano Order and, per reports, offered a contract to return to the Bucs. Yet Miller is now a Jaguar.

And E. J. Biggers, now a Redskins cornerback, is in similar territory. Biggers was praised by rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano late last season.

In January, Dominik lauded Biggers, Danny Gorrer and Leonard Johnson for their work against Roddy White and Julio Jones in the Bucs’ shocking win against the Falcons to close the season. Biggers started that game and had four tackles.

“Again, they got valuable experience,” Dominik said, saying ”tons of experience” was attained, albeit under less than ideal circumstances. … … “Just experience and time back in here with the system with an offseason again is going to be really important for this football team,” Dominik said. “That’s what you’ll see. You’ll see a lot of [positive] changes going forward.”

Of course, like Miller, Biggers will never be considered a great football player. But he was a serviceable corner on a team aching for cornerback depth.

Like Miller, the loss of Biggers can’t be judged until the Bucs hammer out their final roster, but it is somewhat surprising.

The razor-thin depth of the Bucs’ secondary got even thinner today when nickelback E.J. Biggers signed with the Washington Redskins, so reports Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

Badly in need of help in their secondary following the release of veteran DeAngelo Hall, and with last year’s third corner, Cedric Griffin, a free agent, the Redskins turned to Biggers, a four-year veteran, who played under current secondary coach Raheem Morris when Morris was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Biggers played at Western Michigan before he was drafted in the seventh round by Tampa Bay in 2009. Biggers has appeared in 45 games, starting 24. He has recorded 168 tackles and three interceptions.

Last season Biggers started a career-high 12 games, recording 51 tackles, an interception and seven pass deflections.

Joe will suggest the Bucs need secondary help worse than the Redskins. The way things are going, still looking at Eric Wright and Danny Gorrer as starting cornerbacks if the season was to start today, Joe has a hunch cornerbacks coach Tony Oden either needs to find a trusty bartender or a therapist.

Mark Dominik explained Ronde Barber’s status

The mystery surrounding Ronde Barber’s potential return for his 17th season in pewter and red could be settled next week.

Speaking on Sirius XM NFL Radio yesterday, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik said he will soon approach Barber “to see where he’s at.” Dominik and Greg Schiano had a sit-down with Barber early this month before the free agency bell rang, and Barber didn’t accept — or decline, the Bucs’ contract offer to return.

“[Barber] knew we were in the safety market. We told him that we might be going after a safety depending on what all comes free,” Dominik said. “But we wanted him to understand everything beforehand so he wasn’t surprised by anything, that he had all the information. And so Ronde just asked me to give him some time. And just say, ‘Hey look, let me see how everything unfolds. Let me continue to talk to my wife. Let me make a decision on what I want to do. So I told him, ‘Hey, no rush. You’re fine.’ And I’ll probably check back in with him next week to see where he’s at. He can kind of see a little better, you know, example of where everything is.”

Joe wonders what Barber will think of the Darrelle Revis shopping and Barber’s move back to cornerback. Perhaps Barber will be inspired to play within a beastly secondary with studs like Revis and Dashon Goldson, and an up-and-comer like Mark Barron.

It’s been a lot of years, too many years, since Barber was around that kind of talent.

Now this is a really good video and why Joe loves NFL Network. Analysts go inside the Bucs’ war room to examine every wrinkle of the roster and where the team can go in both the draft and free agency.

How in-depth does it get? The report looks at the top seven corners in the draft and discusses why the Bucs may need to trade up. This is good stuff.

Yes, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan have been adamant that the Bucs are not running the Giants offense Sullivan mastered in New York for years.

But there are undoubtedly similarities. So Joe’s wondering whether a devalued tight end position is one of them.

After former Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey got hurt late in the 2007 season and was jettisoned after it, the Giants didn’t do much at tight end. They trotted out immortals Kevin Boss and Jake Ballard over the next four seasons en route to another Super Bowl victory.

For the 2013 offseason, the top free agent tight ends are off the board and the Bucs signed 18-career-catch TE Tom Crabtree from the Packers to join Luke Stocker. Dallas Clark, who caught 47 balls from Josh Freeman last season, remains in limbo. Joe hasn’t heard even a hint of a rumor about Clark’s future.

Might the Bucs be eyeing a massive upgrade at tight end in the NFL Draft?

Joe would bet against it, only because Joe’s really not sure the Bucs value a pass-catching tight end so much in this offense.

Perhaps a mid-round tight end could be an option. Former Bucs TE Anthony Becht told Joe that Vance McDonald (6-4, 267) out of Rice was one tight end he was preparing for the combine and gave the kid a hearty endorsement. Rice is widely projected as a third-round pick.

Frankly, Joe would be pleased to see Clark return. The Bucs’ tight end rotation was not a weakness last season, and Freeman’s confidence in Clark appeared to grow significantly late in 2012.

The second favorite subject among Bucs fans is lauding/crucifying Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman.

Some fans believe Freeman is the Bucs version of Dan Fouts. Others believe Freeman is the Bucs version of Matt Cassel. Freeman is a polarizing figure.

All Bucs fans want him to succeed, but the divide is among fans who believe/disbelieve he can carry the Bucs to January football.

When Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer had his annual meeting with the pen and mic club yesterday from the NFL owners meetings in Arizona, Glazer came to his quarterback’s defense and explained that those blaming Freeman for the Bucs’ collapse down the stretch are being unfair, so writes eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

Speaking at the NFL owners meetings Tuesday, Glazer said ownership remains fully committed to quarterback Josh Freeman, pointing out several late defensive lapses that cost the Bucs during a 7-9 season marked by a December slide.

“We still have great confidence in Josh,” Glazer said. “Quarterback is a critical position, but quarterbacks can’t do it alone. There are a few games you can look at last year when we were in a comfortable position and defensively, we may have let down.

“Josh had some great moments last year – and some moments he’d like to have back. We want to take the pressure off of him defensively, and that’s what we’re working on. Nobody works harder than Josh Freeman, and he obviously has the talent. He threw for 4,000 yards and had a lot of big games. Let’s play some better defense and take some pressure off of him.”

While Joe cannot quibble with anything Glazer said, his premise is an example of the great divide among fans. There are legions of Freeman supporters who point to the very facts Glazer cites to explain why the Bucs (again) didn’t make the playoffs last season.

Then there is the faction that believes a good NFL quarterback puts his team on his back and overcomes obstacles to lead them to a playoff berth.

That’s why the Freeman tug-of-war between Bucs fans won’t soon die down until at least the 2013 season kicks off.

For those praying for Darrelle Revis’ arrival in Tampa, the latest this evening on the Revis happenings, courtesy of TampaBay.com Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud, might throw you into a depression.

Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 from the NFL owners meetings after a face-to-face session with Team Glazer, Stroud said there’s “not a whole lot of momentum for that deal right now.”

But Stroud did offer that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano will have the blessing of their boss. “[The Glazers] will support whatever the GM and the coach say needs to be done.”

Stroud went on to say Brent Grimes’ agent confirmed the Bucs’ interest in his cornerback client since the start of free agency.

Joe remains quite confident the Bucs will acquire Revis. Though with the historically unpredictable Jets involved, one can never be sure.

Joel Glazer

Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer made his annual visit with local scribes at the NFL owners meeting in Phoenix today and like Bucs fans, he is irritated that the Bucs are still looking for their first postseason win since the Super Bowl.

In short, Glazer stated the blame for lackluster seasons since, ultimately, stops at the conference room door of the Bucs’ ownership group, so Twitters Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

@NFLSTROUD: Glazer: “I don’t know how to describe how it feels. It rips you apart on the inside. Every fan feels that way. There’s no question we have to take responsibility.”

Well, what Glazer said is both noble and true. He is the man who hires people who are supposed to build the football program.

At the end of the day, and Joe is certain Glazer would admit this, he is not steeped in the intricacies of player personnel moves nor is he a football coach on the level of those collecting NFL paychecks.

That’s why he hires people to build his team. He delegates authority, as most owners do.

Glazer is not George Halas or Al Davis, men who wore all the hats in the football organization. The Bucs have both won and lost without Glazer holding critical positions in the Bucs’ front office.

For Bucs fans who can’t get enough rumors of Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, Joe can’t stress enough — and has written as much — that the hangup with finishing such a deal is clearly in the lap of Jets general manager John Idzik.

There is simply no way Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik trades a high draft pick for a guy that will likely bolt nine months later. Dominik will need to rework Revis’ contract before a trade is consummated and to date, the Jets have yet to give Dominik permission to do so.

Negotiating with a player from another team is known in NFL circles as “tampering,” and the fines are quite ugly.

Even the New York Post believes the Jets are choking like a dog in these talks with Dominik.

The Buccaneers are losing patience with the Jets, according to league sources, over the teams’ inability to strike a deal for the All-Pro cornerback. The Buccaneers have told people around the league they may have to look at other options at cornerback soon if they can’t make a deal for Revis.

“It’s amazing,” a league source said. “The Jets are going to screw this up.”

There are a lot of corners still on out there for the taking; it’s a great buyer’s market.

Now the New York Post also published what the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, reported, that the Bucs have turned their sights on free agent Brent Grimes.

Given how cheap the Bucs can get Grimes in this market, Joe isn’t so sure signing Grimes would prevent the Bucs from still pursuing Revis. And signing Grimes would be a bold statement to Idzik that Dominik isn’t playing around.

Remember, Eric Wright’s contract is still on the books for the Bucs — he would certainly be cut if the Bucs sign Grimes — and is far more than what the Bucs would pay Grimes.

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Joe’s got the audio downloads below of a very interesting interview of Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM yesterday. Joe already brought you Cummings’ take on the Bucs starting multiple rookie cornerbacks next season, but this is the entire back and forth.

Among the takes, Cummings says the Bucs weren’t happy to see Michael Bennett leave their nest.

“That one got away from the Bucs,” Cummings said. “I know they wanted Michael Bennett back. They wanted him back at a certain price, and I gotta think around $5 million may even be below what they were thinking over one year. Certainly for one year I think they would have done that had Michael gone back to them. Obviously, Michael decided. He felt like the pressure was on to make a decision. He could see the market was not quite what he hoped it would be.”

Check it out below. It’s excellent lunchtime listening.