His last stops were in New England and San Diego

It’s not easy for an NFL receiver to last seven years in the league with only 71 career catches, but that’s the situation for the newest Buccaneer. [read more]

Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater is working out for the Bucs today.

Well, it seems like Garrett Gilbert will have company on the practice fields at One Buc Palace. That’s because Gilbert isn’t the only quarterback working out for the Bucs today.

The man many regard as the best pro-style quarterback in the draft, Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, will be tossing passes to Bucs receivers not named Mike Williams this afternoon, so says Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. [read more]

Former NFL player Bucky Brooks, one of NFL Network’s three full-time draft gurus, has penned a piece for NFL.com naming five potential draft picks that could alter the course of next month’s NFL draft.

Why? Brooks believes these five players — non-quarterbacks — represent the final shot at a blue-chip player at their respective positions. That means some teams will go into desperation mode just before a player from this group is likely to be drafted. [read more]

Adam Schein believes Bills coach Doug Marrone got one over on the Bucs.

Until or unless the Bucs address the wide receiver position in the draft — and you just know they will — the trade of Mike Williams just because he was a nuisance will continue to gnaw at Joe.

It also confused Joe. Bucs coach Lovie Smith, when he was with the Bears, embraced Brandon Marshall, who makes Williams look like an altar boy by comparison. So all of a sudden having a mattress in the front yard and hanging out with rappers gets you run from a football team? [read more]

“Stay true to your greatness, my son.”

Mike Glennon started more games last season than Josh McCown has in the last six NFL campaigns.

Glennon was treated by his former head coach as a franchise quarterback on the rise, and Glennon earned the respect of his teammates. And many of those Buccaneers remain in the mix at One Buc Palace, from Vincent Jackson to Tim Wright, Demar Dotson, Doug Martin, Mike James and others. [read more]

SMU QB Garrett Gilbert is working out for the Bucs in Tampa.

Now Joe is sure the Bucs will draft a quarterback come the weekend of May 8 when the three-day NFL Draft party begins. Now whether that is Johnny Football in the first round, Derek Carr in the second round, Jimmy Garappolo in the third round or Aaron Murray in the fifth round, Joe isn’t so sure.

But apparently the Bucs also have targeted a quarterback who is way off the grid: Garrett Gilbert of SMU, from the world famous quarterback factory that is the American Athletic Conference. [read more]

If Mike Williams was traded for nickel and dime nonsense, should Akeem Spence be worried after putting lives in danger?

Joe is still trying to piece together the puzzle the Bucs created for themselves by trading No. 2 receiver Mike Williams to Buffalo for a sixth-round pick.

Yes, Joe knows Bucs coach Lovie Smith had put his foot ,saying he was “not going to put up” with all repeated distractions– let’s be honest here, trivial distractions — caused by Williams and family. [read more]

The new regime wants more

Your beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers report back to One Buc Palace tomorrow to embark on yet another new era.

Players will hit the scales, meet the new training staff, and get the long-awaited rules of Buccaneer life from new head coach Lovie Smith. [read more]

It’s been an age old question: Can a great player be a great coach, one who can get his students to play like he did?

Bucs icon Hardy Nickerson, now Tampa Bay’s linebackers coach, didn’t hesitate to say he can do just that. [read more]

Dan Graziano and Antonietta Collins — who Joe just now discovered and needs to see more of (ahem) — discuss the Mike Williams trade to Buffalo in this BSPN video.

When new Bucs wide receiver Louis Murphy, who Joe will guess is now the Bucs’ No. 2 receiver, met Lovie Smith, he had no idea what to expect. He had heard good things about the head coach but entered his meeting with Lovie with an open, clear mind.

Murphy left with a signed contract. His decision was simple, he told Joe. Lovie offered him opportunity, but also Murphy was won over by Lovie’s personal approach. [read more]

This insanity was predicted on NFL Network

NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah, a former NFL scout, teamed up with Charles Davis to dissect and predict their top 10 picks in the 2014 NFL Draft yesterday. 

Jeremiah, like Joe, believes the Rams are eager to hear their phone ring with offers for the No. 2 overall pick. [read more]

Jamon Meredith in a starting battle at right guard?

Joe is on record saying the offensive line is, well, thin. Joe personally loves Demar Dotson but Joe has no clue where this narrative has come from or began that Dotson is on the cusp of a Pro Bowl at right tackle.

Nowhere can Joe find a bad review of left tackle Anthony Collins. But Joe is not all that comfortable banking on a guy who has yet to start 12 games in a season much less a full season. [read more]

The intrigue surrounding the 2014 NFL Draft is great theater. Nobody knows what’s going to happen. The pressure is immense and growing in Houston for the Texans to draft Johnny Football with the No. 1 overall pick.

But the Texans won’t be pushed around. They’ve been down this road before. [read more]

Mason Foster is looking forward to playing fast and furious in Lovie Smith’s defense.

It was apparent former Bucs commander Greg Schiano was so insistent on keeping his defenders working in a rigid format that the players were frustrated.

In 2012, after begging and pleading with coaches, Gerald McCoy was turned loose somewhat midway through the season and since that time is widely regarded as the most feared defensive tackle in the game. [read more]

Now, per Joe’s unofficial count, that’s 15 new free agents the Bucs have signed since the ringing of the free agency dinner bell in March.

The latest, though, won’t have Joe dreaming of Super Bowls tonight. [read more]

 

Seven weeks ago the Bucs and veteran free agent wide receiver Nate Burleson were linked via a Detroit Free-Press story.

Things were quiet for Burleson when free agency heated up in March, but that’s changed now. Often, movement will come late on a quality veteran who won’t play for peanuts, and after the market settles, and as teams want all their key acquisitions to arrive before the team players report for duty in April. [read more]

Lavelle Hawkins a Bucs WR?

It seems Bucs general manager Jason Licht is not taking a lazy spring Friday afternoon lounging in his backyard with a cocktail, enjoying a warm and sunny day. The guy is busy.

First he traded starting wide receiver Mike Williams to frosty Buffalo. Now it seems he is ready to ink his replacement. And that would be a former member of the Titans. And, no, it’s not running back Chris Johnson. [read more]