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With the free agency dinner bell moving closer and closer, there are so many sensible directions the Bucs could go. That’s what happens when a team is 4-12. There are more holes to fill than some fans would like to or want to admit.
The same goes with the draft. The Bucs could go offensive tackle, wide receiver, defensive end, and of course, quarterback. [read more]
Jonathan Casillas
The Bucs have confirmed they’re bringing back special teams ace/starting strongside linebacker Jonathan Casillas.
A Greg Schiano man from his high school days in New Jersey, Casillas won the starting gig from Dekoda Watson midway through last season before injuring his knee. It was never quite clear what was wrong with Casillas’ knee, and how it was treated, but it seems he’s healthy enough to earn the confidence of Lovie Smith.
Terms of the deal aren’t available yet, but Joe suspects sixth-year-man Casillas got backup money, which means subtract $1 million from the Bucs’ $19 million in available cap space. Hopefully, he will now stop yearning for all things New Orleans.
USA Today ranks Davin Joseph as top OL who needs to turn play around.
Yes, these are not just anxious times for fans, when they wait for the free agent dinner bell to ring, but also for NFL veterans. Especially well-paid veterans. Especially veterans over the age of 30. Especially veterans who played for crummy teams the previous season. Especially veterans who were not chosen by the man who sits in the general manager’s seat and the new head coach.
Sadly for Bucs offensive guard Davin Joseph, he fits every one of those categories.
Returning from knee surgery, Joseph did not have a great year. Even he would admit that. Given how all signs are pointing the wrong direction for the former first-round pick, if Joseph survives the aforementioned obstacles, he will have to improve his play or he may be looking for a new team in 2015.
The Bucs are buying a defensive end this month because they’re not buying Da’Quan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn are above-average starters.
That undeniable.
The sad thing here is the Bucs are desperate and must move fast. [read more]
Regular JoeBucsFan.com readers know Joe rarely goes to the “source” card on these pages. Joe’s not big on using unnamed sources, and while Joe shares reports of other media types doing just that, Joe only goes there with his own sources on rare occasion.
Today is one of those days. [read more]
A few months ago, the Bucs headed out to play the Kellen Clemens-led Rams in St. Louis and caught a break to start the game. Rams beastly left tackle Jake Long blew his knee out on the opening snap.
In stepped versatile Rams guard/right tackle/left tackle Rodger Saffold, and the Bucs didn’t take advantage one bit. [read more]
With the free agent dinner bell ready to ring in four days, Joe cannot help himself but to peek at what presents Bucs general manager Jason Licht may lay at the foot of the live oak tree Wednesday morning.
Offensive linemen, wide receivers, defensive ends, tight ends and, yes, even quarterbacks, Joe can easily see the Bucs pouncing on any of these positions in the early hours of free agency. [read more]
Lions backup QB Shaun Hill is reportedly on the Bucs’ free agent wish list.
Now, don’t get mad at Joe because the Bucs’ braintrust, led by coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht, talked openly about acquiring quarterbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine. If Joe mentioned this without attribution, the Mike Glennon Mob would go nuts and try to tell Joe the Bucs would be just as worse off with Matt Ryan.
Today, again, this news is coming from the Twitter feed of NFL insider Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and NFL Network fame. [read more]
Last year, Greg Schiano and former rockstar general manager Mark Dominik gambled that four Buccaneers coming off major surgery would perform at a high level at critical positions.
How the hell did that turn out? [read more]
Former Bucs quarterback Shaun King, one of three QBs to the lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, tells his NBC Sports Network brethren why Johnny Football will not be a first-round draft pick in May.
There is no truth to the rumor that King was taken to a mental institution for testing following shooting this video.
Joe knows that quarterback is a divisive position on the Bucs. Whether it was leaky Rip Van Freeman or Mike Glennon, nothing short of uniforms gets Bucs fans worked up more than talking about quarterbacks.
Of course, there is the Mike Glennon Mob who believes the youngster is the second-coming of Brad Johnson, though Joe cannot remember when Johnson led the 32nd-ranked offense. [read more]
Yes, the Bucs uniform chatter hasn’t died down much since they were unveiled Monday. And one would have to search long and hard on the interwebs to find a positive critique (short of perhaps a NIKE employee).
It’s no surprise that ornery Alan Dell of the Bradenton Herald is no fan of the uniforms. And while some focus on the CFL-like different colored shoulders or the alarm-clock-number font, Dell’s criticism comes with a unique angle.
Dell believes the new Bucs uniforms look too much like Rutgers’ and believes former Bucs commander Greg Schiano — who Dell despised and had an ax to grind with from his first day as head coach — had a hand somehow in the design.
Great audio below of Buccaneers free-agent-to-be defensive end Jared Allen on SiriusXM NFL Radio this morning.
Allen says his family’s happiness in his next city is “heavy on my mind.” He loved his previous communities of Kansas City and Minneapolis during his first two NFL stops. It sure sounds to Joe like Allen and his wife would be down on a big-city, less-family-friendly town. Having spent time in Kansas City and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Joe can say that Tampa is similar in many ways.
Allen didn’t hide his uneasiness about joining the Raiders, citing their woes in general, and specifically at quarterback and running back. Enjoy via the orange button below.
With free agency looming in just five days — five days! — it’s the time of year Joe actually cares about accounting and salary cap numbers.
Per the reputable salary tracker OverTheCap.com, the Bucs have the seventh-highest amount of 2014 funds devoted to defense in the NFL. That’s stunning, especially considering it’s no secret Lovie Smith is gearing up to invest heavily and quickly at defensive end. [read more]
Laid back Lovie Smith is very much on top of what’s happening in his locker room. Funny business is not permitted. No hazing. Lovie demands to know what’s being said.
Former Bears great Brian Urlacher reminisced with the Waddle and Silvy show on WMVP-AM in Chicago this week. [read more]
For almost a year, some Bucs fans, in a perverse way, were looking past the 2013 season to the free agency season of 2014, hoping, drooling that Vikings defensive end Jared Allen would become a free agent and the Bucs could land him.
Money is the mystery
It seems famed kick return specialist Devin Hester and Florida native Devin Hester would welcome a reunion with his former Bears coach, current Bucs head coach Lovie Smith. But do the Bucs want to revisit the relationship?
Yesterday, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport crushed and quashed the dreams of many Bucs fans hoping free agent return wizard Hester would want to come to Tampa Bay. Rapoport hinted there isn’t much interest from the Bucs. [read more]
Click below to hear Joe’s full hour this evening with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620. It’s the Wednesday JoeBucsFan hour!
Among many topics, Joe dove into Bucs leadership, free agency priorities and Mike Glennon lunacy. [read more]
