Joe cannot ever remember putting up a live post after midnight.

Today is a first, and part of the reason is Joe’s traffic is simply blowing up this week. Hell, there are daily newspapers in America that don’t get the daily traffic Joe is getting now, and he humbly thanks all of his readers.

Anyway, Davin Joseph broke bread with Bucs brass last night (more on that later this morning) and apparently Bucs rock star general manger Mark Dominik and coach Raheem Morris brought a special guest: new offensive line coach Pat Morris, per Joesph’s Twitter feed just after midnight.

@DavinJoseph75: Positive vibes!! I love the new Bucs oline coach! … I’m going to bed but no deal yet. I’m ready for a long term deal. … My guy @jeremyTRUEblood is ready to stay. That means I’m ready to stay.

This is very good news. Joseph has made no bones about the fact he wanted to remain in Tampa Bay, told Joe himself down at Josh Freeman’s minicamp in Bradenton earlier this month.

If Joseph wants to play for the Bucs, and is hitting if off with Pat Morris, this tells Joe it is merely a matter of hours before Joseph signs a pact with the Bucs.

The Bucs are gathering tomorrow to check in for training camp. The first practice is Friday. Some are already housed up in a prime downtown Tampa hotel.

But not all Bucs are in town. Defensive end Stylez White, who led the team with 4.5 sacks last season, is not in the Tampa Bay area, nor is he in Florida. Rather, White is in Ohio waiting. The free agent defensive end is waiting. Waiting for his phone to ring. Waiting for an offer.

White continues to wait on someone who wants him. The phone doesn’t ring.

@rwking75: Has the Bucs contacted you yet bout new contract?

@stylezwhite: U will know whn i know. Keep u posted playa

Joe thought, at worst, White would be in camp as a backup plan in case second round pick Da’Quan Bowers isn’t exactly 100 percent, but Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik seems to believe he is.

All the while, Stylez waits by the phone.

No need to rely on Adam Schefter. Joe has all the confirmation he needs and it comes straight from the primary source.

Bucs second round pick Da’Quan Bowers has Twittered that he has signed his first professional NFL contract with the Bucs.

@DaQuanBowers93 Feels good to finally be a buc officially…. Dotted line signed ….

Now comes the interesting part: Bowers has to show up in public. To date, he has been more rumor than fact. He wouldn’t go to the rookie symposium in Bradenton and he wouldn’t show up to Josh Freeman’s minicamp. Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski has been the only guy locally to talk to Bowers.

Now, Bowers’ agent can no longer shield him.

Hey, look, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik came to an agreement — can’t sign until Friday — with one of his own linebackers.

But no. It is not Barrett Ruud, it is Quincy Black.

Per Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, and his cohort Anwar Richardson, they Twittered Black came to terms with the Bucs today.

Bucs LB Quincy Black is back in the fold in Tampa. Five-year, $29 million deal with $11.5 million guaranteed.

Now in Joe’s eyes, Black has to step it up. Far too often Black was heard of as being in the starting lineup, but not seen (making plays). With a potential rookie middle linebacker starting, it is Black who has to be a leader and starting racking up some big time plays.

Aside from the hole apparently created at middle linebacker, Joe was next most concerned about who would be the Bucs’ go-to guy as a return man.

No more worries. Per Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune, Twittering on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed, it seems arguably the best return man in Bucs history will be waiting for kickoffs and punts to fall in his hands again this fall.

Run Micheal Run Spurlock will return.

WR Micheal Spurlock told me he will sign his tender on Friday. He looks forward to being in Tampa.

As Dominik has stated, he wanted to take care of his own first. And Spurlock is his own.

Joe hopes to hear many spastic Gene Deckerhoff calls of Spurlock’s returns.

Outside of rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s apparent thumbs-down on Barrett Ruud yesterday before the media, everyone else in the organization seems to be on the Ruud bandwagon.

Including Raheem Morris, Joe can’t recall anyone related to the Bucs not being enthusiastic about Ruud’s return. Plenty of guys have gone public. Ronde Barber is the latest, so he told J.P. Peterson on 1010 AM yesterday.

“I would love to see Barrett back, if I had a vote, which I do not,” Barber said. “He’s the quarterback of our defense. I’d hate to see him go somewhere else and succeed, which he will.”

Barber went on to say that turning over Ruud’s position to a rookie or inexperienced player would be “tremendous pressure.”

The more Joe thinks about the apparent Ruud situation, one thing becomes more and more clear. Dominik is calling all the shots.

Bucs stud right guard Davin Joseph wants to stay in Tampa Bay. That much is evident. But in recent hours, Joe is beginning to wonder whether the free agent will be wearing pewter and red this fall.

First, there was the flirtation with Dallass tackle Doug Free, who Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik got into a bidding war — if reports are to be believed — for yesterday before Jerry Jones won out and Free stayed in Dallass.

(Clarification: Joe has many new readers, as he can tell by recent traffic. Joe was in Dallas, the city, last February for Super Bowl media day and aside from freezing his arse off and scraping ice, Joe thought Dallas was a nice town. Now Dallass, as in the Cowboys, that’s another matter.)

Now there was this eyebrow-raising Twitter from Joseph himself just a short time ago.

@DavinJoseph75 I am still waiting on a contract offer from Tampa. The earliest I can sign a contract is on Friday. … My agent, Ben Dogra, is having talks with other teams but I don’t know about any offers yet. I’m just waiting like everyone else.

Joe is beginning to wonder if Dominik even wants Joseph back? Is Dominik thinking of saving some cash and putting Jeremy Zuttah at right guard? The few times Zuttah has played right guard, when Joseph has been injured, Zuttah has played admirably.

As Joseph wrote, the earliest he can sign a contract is Friday. Perhaps Dominik, in this hectic week, is just concentrating on other priorities knowing he doesn’t have to offer Joseph a deal for another two days?

The man who nearly single-handedly brought the Bucs’ run defense from heinous to below average last year, Cody Grimm, says he still has soreness related to his broken leg and his physical with team doctors today will determine his level of preseason activity.

Speaking on The Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 Tuesday, Grimm said his busted leg was in a cast for more than three months. And all that time he couldn’t move his leg.

“I definitely feel close. It’s getting there. It gets sore faster, but I can run and I can jump and do all that. It feels good. So hopefully I get good news from the doctors,” Grimm said. “Once they put a plate in there they say it should be stronger than the other leg.”

Joe sure was hoping to hear Grimm paint a rosier picture of his health. Grimm spoke of his diligent offseason regimen in Arizona and he’s clearly on track with his rehabilitation.

But Joe can’t help but wonder whether Grimm might be feeling that broken leg all season.

Before Joe goes deep into this post, one point must be made up front.

Mark Dominik has spoken repeatedly about the importance he places on good character throughout the Buccaneers organization. He’s said it dozens of times. And it should be clearly understood that Dominik also includes himself in that mix.

So Joe has to ask the question: What kind of ass would Dominik have to be if he cut or punished Aqib Talib right now when all the evidence in the assault case against Talib has yet to be presented publicly, nobody got hurt during the incident, and the information now available via public records from the Texas courts crafts a flimsy case against Talib? (Read all the cops stuff here yourself, unedited.)

The answer is Dominik would have to be a man of low character to come crashing down against Talib without a comprehensive understanding of what happened in Texas that led to Talib’s March arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, especially considering it was a family dispute and Talib was in a peacemaker role, albeit a non-traditional one.

Joe brings this to light after hearing Bucs beat writer Stephen Holder say Dominik and the Bucs would hypocrites if Talib remains a Buccaneer much longer. Holder spoke passionately on the topic during an interview on The Fabulous Sports Babe Show on 1040 AM this week after the lockout was lifted.

Here are Holder’s words verbatim:

“I’ll tell you something. I just feel like, ok. Let’s go back and look at the situation here. We sat down before the draft with Mark Dominik. He looked us all, the beat writers, looked us all in the eyes and told us character was important. You know, everyone remembers all the string of arrests they had around here, you know, certainly for far less serious offenses than maybe shooting at someone, or alleged offenses. But the fact is they’ve been tarnished a little bit. Mark Dominik is extremely sensitive to that. And I get that. I get it. It reflects on him.

“So he looks us all in the eyes and tells us, ‘Look, I take this very, very seriously. Character is No. 1.’ Well, is it really? If you sit here and defend Aqib Talib, a guy who has a history of not following rules and getting out of line? And if you give him another chance, you know you’re certainly not setting a tone.

“Look. I’m not here to be judge and jury. That’s not my job, and I’m not here to also say whether it’s right and wrong to keep the guy on the roster. I’m just saying if you accuse them of being hypocritical, I wouldn’t say you are wrong, if they keep him on the roster. I’m just saying. It’s just a fact.

“I didn’t put words in anyone’s mouth. This is what they said. They said character was important. Well is it? We’ll see. The fact of the matter is, if he wasn’t Aqib Talib, if he was a lesser player, he’d be gone. I think we all know that. So, let’s just not hide from it. It is what it is. And I don’t mean to offend anyone in the building, but that’s just what it is. If he was a lesser player, if he was not Aqib Talib, he’d be gone. He’d be Jerramy Stevens, who doesn’t have a job right now.

Whoa!

For Joe, Holder’s take is out of line at this point. There’s an awful lot of gray area when you’re defining bad character, and how it blends with an organization’s commitment to help players on and off the field.

Heck, one could easy to make the argument that the Dominik and Raheem Morris are dishing out plenty of character-building for the entire team by sticking by a guy like Talib, with legitimate anger problems, and trying to guide and mentor him.

Joe’s not defending Talib’s actions, but it’s not like the guy has been convicted of heinous atrocities.  

Joe recalls an interview this year with Father Dungy, the annointed king of the character issue in the NFL. Father Dungy explained he was the first guy to red-flag a player on his draft board for questionable character, or while considering a free agent. However, Dungy said that once a guy entered a team family he would get counseling and patience after misdeeds.

Talib’s presence on the Bucs roster this season can be interpreted many ways. But, if nothing changes, for Joe it won’t mean Dominik’s a hypocrite.

Yesterday, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik sure didn’t try to quell the questions — or prevent people from dancing on Barrett Ruud’s grave — about whether the four-year starting middle linebacker who has led the Bucs in tackles would not be re-signed by the club.

While Dominik did not deny — nor confirm — Ruud is history with the Bucs, Ruud himself wasn’t ready to turn the page on his personal NFL chapter in Tampa Bay, so he told Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Ruud, 28, started at middle linebacker for the Bucs for the past four seasons and, despite Dominik’s comments, wasn’t ready to say his tenure in Tampa Bay was coming to an end.

“I really hate to say that the door is shut until it’s all said and done,” Ruud said by telephone. “I really don’t know how this thing is going to go. It’s a lot like the draft all over again. I’m just waiting to see what happens.”

Ruud did not describe any of the conversations he and his agent have had with the Bucs, but after what he’s been through the past three years, said he was not surprised by the team’s stance.

Joe almost wonders if Dominik is playing a firm game of chicken with Ruud: If you want to stay in Tampa Bay, you will sign under my demands.

Joe has written before that turning the defense over to a rookie linebacker — who was an outside linebacker in college no less — and who will have a grand total five weeks of preparation before opening week, is dangerous bordering on reckless.

But Joe has learned to trust Dominik, no matter how unorthodox or seemingly irresponsible some of his moves may be on face value, Dominik has proven to be a step ahead of everyone else in the past 18 months or so.

If Foster is indeed the starter at middle linebacker and calls the defense and the Bucs prove to have a top-15 defense, Joe will right now say that Raheem Morris should be bestowed with the 2011 NFL coach of the year honors.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik said yesterday his goal was to have every drafted rookie signed and in camp on Friday. He might just get it done.

Per Adam Schefter, of BSPN, defensive end Adrian Clayborn signed a contract in the wee hours this morning, making him the first among his first-round peers to cash in.

@AdamSchefter DE Adrian Clayborn became first 1st-round pk under new labor deal to reach agreement on new deal. Blake Baratz and Bucs just finished deal.

No surprise that rockstar general manager didn’t stray far from his we-take-care-of-our-own mantra during his afternoon press conference today.

Dominik didn’t engage in much that would make anyone listening believe the Bucs would be players for big-name free agents. (Sorry, Nnamdi-lovers.) Of course, that could change quickly. But still, that was Dominik’s tone.

The GM even went so far to say that he is eager to wine and woo the Bucs’ homegrown free agents because they deserve it. Though Barrett Ruud sure didn’t seem to be in the club.

“We’ll be taking our own players out to dinner,” Dominik said.

Bucs icon Ronde Barber wasn’t the least bit surprised, so he told J.P. Peterson this afternoon on 1010 AM. Per Barber, the Bucs don’t roll any other way.

“I’ve been here 15 years and we’ve never been overactive players in free agency,” Barber said.

Given the apparent likelihood of Ruud being gone, Joe’s wondering whether Davin Joseph was really serious when he said a factor in his decision in free agency would be whether guys like Ruud, Jeremy Trueblood and others returned to the Bucs.

Joe highly doubts that.

One stunner from Mark Dominik’s news conference today, especially for Joe who talked to Brian Price in Bradenton last month, was Dominik saying that Price “looked good” today at the facility.

Dominik clearly was speaking in the context of Price’s health, not regarding his threads or tattoos.

Joe’s hopeful, but hardly about to count on Price and his return from a freakish, serious injury. In case you missed it, here’s a late-June interview with Price from JoeBucsFan TV:

Sounds like Raheem won't get his quarterback

As one might expect, Bucs rockstar general manager was peppered with questions today about Barrett Ruud at his 4 o’clock news conference. The GM was given every opportunity to give Ruud an endorsement, but it never happened.

Instead, Dominik deflected some questions about Ruud toward discussion of “Mike linebacker” Mason Foster.

Maybe Dominik’s focus on Foster was more contract negotiating ploy than anything else, but that remains to be seen. However, the GM previously had repeatedly said through the offseason that a priority was re-signing his own free agents.

Dominik announced that Foster has signed a four-year contract, and Dominik said he’s very confident that his coaching staff has proven itself with young players last year.

“Young players will be able to blend in quickly,” Dominik said. “In four weeks, [Ted Larsen] was our starting guard.”

Dominik went on to cite Larsen, LeGarrette Blount and Dezmon Briscoe has proof guys can develop and be ready to play at a high level quickly.

After hearing the news conference, Joe would put the odds of Ruud returning at about 10 percent.

Bucs wide receiver Arrelious Benn talks about his battle back from a knee injury and how he passed the Bucs physical today in this St. Petersburg Times video.

Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will entertain all kinds of questions from the media today at 4 p.m.

Surely, someone will ask him why Aqib Talib hasn’t been cut yet, as the St. Pete Times reported would happen when the lockout was lifted.

Dominik hasn’t spoken publicly in a while, and Joe suspects lots of good nuggets will come out of this. Of course, Joe will keep you updated here.

You can listen live to Dominik via Joe’s partners at WDAE-AM 620, and on the station website, 620wdae.com. Josh Freeman also will be a guest on 620 right after Dominik on The Steve Duemig Show.

Former Bucs defensive tackle Chris Hovan, the renowned face painter who blew out his back in a few short moments while on the St. Louis Rams last year, is looking for a new job — in the NFL.

Hovan joined The Fabulous Sports Babe Show today on 1040 AM to talk all things football, free agency and more.

Asked whether he wears face paint around the house, Hovan said, ‘No.’ But he did say he sometimes paints up during a good old fashioned animal hunt. In fact, Hovan said he was donning face paint recently when he shot a wildebeest. And Hovan went on to say he slightly likens hunting to the kill-or-be-killed mindset needed on the football field.

This took Joe back a bit. To the best of Joe’s knowledge, the wildebeest only patrols the African terrain. Joe’s just trying to get a visual of Hovan bringing face paint through customs, or shopping for it among the locals in, say, Tanzania.

Now that Joe’s got that off his chest, Hovan went on to say the Bucs’ young defensive line is just a bunch of “puppies.” He said Roy Miller, his former Bucs teammate, is a very hard worker, but Hovan doesn’t see anyone on the line being able to step up this year and solve the Bucs’ woes against the run.

Real football chatter and free agency rumors were the talk of the morning on “The Blitz,” co-hosted by Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio today.

Various free agents on the market were discussed and when it came to Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, the duo were quite clear: If the Bucs are to make the next step and get to the playoffs, signing Ruud is a simply must, even if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has to overspend to ensure Ruud does not bolt the Tampa Bay area.

Adam Schein: Barrett Ruud is one of the best free agents out there. I believe this Rich. Tampa has to spend some money. Why not spend it on Barrett Ruud?

Rich Gannon: I like Barrett Ruud a lot. He’s not a sexy linebacker. He’s not an explosive tackler. But you get leadership with Barrett Ruud and you get intelligence to make the right calls. There’s a comfort level between him and Raheem Morris and that defense. The Bucs are too good to let him go. They are on the verge of a playoff run. They have to sign Barrett Ruud.

But here’s the glaring element both Schein and Gannon missed: Let’s say Ruud walks, upset the way he is crucified locally, largely unjustly. Imagine the Bucs defense being called by a rookie linebacker playing out of position, who has never had a rookie minicamp or even an OTA under his belt, with so many inexperienced defensive linemen playing in front of him? That has disaster written all over it.

Or, say, for the sake of argument, Ruud bolts the Tampa Bay area and the Bucs are able to lure Paul Posluszny from Buffalo. Free agents are not allowed to work out with their new team until Aug. 4. Poz hasn’t played in a 43 defense of any sort since he was a junior at Penn State when he was the national defensive player of the year. So Poz is going to be able to learn the Bucs defense in five weeks? Of course he won’t.

Like it or not, popular decision or an outrage to fans, the absolute best thing for the Bucs in this zany, unprecedented offseason is to re-sign Ruud, even if it requires overpaying the man.

Either way, Dominik pays through the nose financially, or Raheem Morris and the Bucs pay with a porous defensive front that may remind Bucs fans of the horrific sieve that was the Jim Bates Experience.

As Joe first reported last week, it is now official. Bucs preseason broadcasts have moved to WTSP-TV Channel 10.

What Joe did not know last week, however, was who would be the duo in the booth for the Bucs.

Recently, the broadcast duo was Chris Myers and John Lynch. TBO.com confirmed the duo would return to the booth for Bucs preseason TV broadcasts.

The broadcast team will remain the same as it has been the past two years, Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer said in a news release, with Chris Myers handling the play-by-play and former Bucs standout John Lynch providing color analysis.

Joe is happy Lynch is back. The man is damned good behind the mic. Joe wonders if roller derby girl Nicole Darin or Tammie Fields may prance the sidelines as the on-field reporter?

Showing up to Lambeau Field this morning, soon-to-be free agent linebacker Nick Barnett learned from Packers general manager Ted Thompson that his days in Green Bay are done, short of him re-signing for the league minimum.

If the Packers cannot find a suitor in a trade for Barnett, he will be released, the ninth-year veteran said.

The Packers starting inside linebacker appeared on “The Blitz” with Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and said there are four teams he wants to play for:

San Diego.

Tampa Bay.

Philadelphia.

New York Giants.

Barnett said he wanted to play for one of those four teams, if released, because “those teams are one step away from a Super Bowl and I want to play in a Super Bowl.’

Gannon asked Barnett whether with a new defense and unable to practice with his new team until Aug. 4, if that was enough time to learn a new defense. Barnett didn’t think that was much of a factor.

“If I was in my second year, yeah, but this is my ninth year,” Barnett said. “Picking up terminology, having gone through four different coordinators and playing a 4-3 and a 2-3, I can get the terminology down.”

Asked if he was healthy by Gannon, Barnett emphatically barked, “110 percent healthy!”

Though few knew whether Barnett would be cut or not, Barnett to the Bucs is not really a novel concept. If Barrett Ruud truly is fed up with the haters in the area and wants a new home, and Paul Posluszny is locked up by the Bills, Barnett wouldn’t be a bad addition by the Bucs.

Barnett to the Bucs is hardly a novel concept. The way Joe looks at it, sans Ruud, the Bucs could do much worse than Barnett.

Perhaps the famous Gene Deckerhoff scream, “Run, Micheal, Run,” will take on a new meaning this week for Bucs wide receiver/return man Micheal Spurlock.

As in Run, Micheal, Run — out of town.

Per Pat Yasinskas, NFC South blogger for ESPN.com, the Bucs only slapped a right-of-first-refusal tender on Spurlock, as opposed to other restricted free agents that got much higher tenders, meaning the Bucs were far more interested in protecting — and paying — other guys.

Tampa Bay has six restricted free agents. Kicker Connor Barth and tackle James Lee would bring second-round draft picks if they leave. Defensive tackle Frank Okam would bring a fifth-round pick and safety Corey Lynch would bring a sixth-round pick. Cornerback Elbert Mack and receiver Micheal Spurlock come only with the right of first refusal.

Joe’s a bit squeamish about Spurlock not getting the love. The guy made a pile of big catches (17 total for 250 yards), knows all the receiver positions, and is an above average kick and punt returner.

Sure, the Bucs have another quality return option in Sammie Stroughter, and Preston Parker might get there with more work (assuming he makes the roster).

Spurlock could still come back, but Joe is preparing to say goodbye to an historic Bucs figure, the man who finally took a kick return to the house. Joe suspects Rich Bisaccia is working the phones.

There seems to be confirmation of the Bucs’ first big raise of the offseason. That salary floor is getting within range of binoculars!

The cash goes to solid kicker Connor Barth, who the Bucs made a wealthy young man with a restricted free agent tender, so reports Stephen Holder of the St. Pete Times.

Barth, who said he is anxious to rejoin the team and excited to stay in Tampa, said his understanding is his tender comes with a salary of roughly $1.9 million, a considerable salary for a young kicker in the NFL.

The last kicker the Bucs paid that kind of dough was Mike Nugent, and that didn’t turn out well back in 2009. But the silver lining was Barth arriving off the scrap heap, and he belted three 50-yarders in one game that year, which certainly sold Joe.

Kickers are typically a wacky, inconsistent breed, but hopefully the Bucs have struck gold with this kid.