Joe knows Bucs fans the world over are breathless for any morsel of news concerning the potential trade of Jets corner Darrelle Revis to the Bucs. Remember, it’s not a done deal, yet. But damn close.

How close? Consider the update from Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune just recently Twittered.

@RCummingsTBO: Bucs coach Greg Schiano is picking Darrelle Revis up at the Tampa International Jet Center right now … You’d have to think that if Schiano is picking Revis up this trade has to be all but agreed to

Indeed. Remember the last time the Bucs used Team Glazer’s private jet to lure a free agent to Tampa Bay to wine and dine?

Uh, huh.

Assuming Darrelle Revis passes his Bucs physical and is healthy enough to play on opening day, Joe’s wondering whether Revis dropped into the Bucs defense will mean the Bucs will blitz like they did last season, like sweaty landscapers attacking a Chinese buffet at lunchtime.

Unless the New Schiano Order really has a change of heart and/or DaQuan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn emerge as impact pass rushers, Joe thinks the Bucs will continue to blitz like rabid dogs.

Revis had loads of success with the Jets in a scheme that blitzed and left him on an “island.” With excellent safeties, Eric Wright (yes, Joe cringes while typing his name), and Ronde Barber (hopefully), Joe can’t imagine the Bucs playing more a more patient brand of defense like they did successfully against Atlanta to close the 2012 season.

Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan made it crystal clear to media last season that he was running Greg Schiano’s defense.

It was Schiano that wanted to bring massive amounts of pressure — except for the repeated misguided use of a three-man rush — and Joe’s not sold Schiano had a blitz-first philosophy because of third-rate cornerbacks. Aqib Talib and Wright were torched often, too.

Schiano wants to blitz, and with Revis he’ll have even more confidence to do so.

Joe doesn’t care who the NFL general manager is. If a GM is going to trade a first-round pick for a cornerback recovering from knee surgery, and pay said player an unprecedented pile of cash, that executive has put his career on the line.

It’s just that simple.

News broke this morning that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has done just that, with he and the Jets finally agreeing to some sort of terms of a deal that includes the Bucs’ 2013 first round pick and more, so reported BSPN.

No, Dominik is not married to Josh Freeman or Gerald McCoy. He’s now wedded to Revis, and the wedding cost a bundle, like one of those wine-snob, black-tie deals at the Don Cesar Hotel.

Revis must make a massive impact, more than, say, signing the top two corners on the market this offseason and holding on to draft picks — and still having money to spare.

Good luck, Rockstar. Team Glazer said it will think “short term” when you think “short term,” and this Revis trade is a clear cut short-term move.

The Bucs have piles and piles and piles of cash to pay Darrelle Revis under the 2013 salary cap — in the neighborhood of $33 million.

Word on the street says Revis is demanding a ridiculous $15 million annually. Now Joe finds it complete insanity to pay Revis such a ransom. However, Joe thinks it’s much more reasonable if the Bucs can take a large cap hit in 2013, and then pay Revis more reasonable money going forward.

If the Bucs coughed up, say, $25 million for Revis this year, that still leaves money to sign draft picks, Ronde Barber and another cornerback off the street.

In that scenario, the Bucs could potentially be on the hook for Revis another $10 million in 2014 and, say, $5 million in 2015, assuming Revis commanded $40 million guaranteed in total.

That’s not so scary, and it surely wouldn’t prevent the Bucs from re-signing their own players. Josh Freeman and Gerald McCoy already are slotted to make around $10 million each this season.

It’s going to be a wild couple of days.

Per BSPN, Darrelle Revis is making his way to Tampa for medical testing tonight.

Also, per BSPN, the Bucs and Jets have agreed to compensation that includes the 13th overall pick this year and other picks, However, BSPN is not saying who’s trading what additional picks where. Joe suspects there could be multiple picks swapped on both sides.

Joe will continue to update as the day goes on, of course.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will be addressing media tomorrow afternoon. C’mon Mr. Barber, make Dominik’s news conference a double-dose of secondary help.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe loves when Carlson fires away. Carlson is often seen as a football color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback. Plus, he’s a really cool dude.

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com

This year’s draft does not offer an Andrew Luck, RGIII or Russell Wilson, quarterbacks with the ability to come in and start on Day 1. The Buccaneers don’t have that Day 1 need, but developing a QB for the future should be a priority even though Freeman is still very young, a third- or fourth-round pick used on a quarterback with promise is prudent. 

Whether Josh Freeman has the best season of his life this year and earns a big multi-year contract or doesn’t, having another up-and-coming player ready to go is in the Bucs’ best interest for multiple reasons.

The Dallas Cowboys just rewarded Tony Romo with an unbelievable contract extension ($108 million, $55M guaranteed, $25M signing bonus). That’s for a guy that has led his team exactly nowhere and was on the verge of losing his second head coach under his leadership of the team.  

I wrote before last season that if the Cowboys had another year of futility, it should be Romo’s last season in Dallas. They struggled again yet gave him one of the richest extensions in history, mainly because Jerry Jones did not do his due diligence to develop another young QB like they had in Romo behind Drew Bledsoe under Bill Parcells,. That left Jones without options and now they have mortgaged their future against a good regular season QB who can’t seem to lead them to anything that matters. 

I don’t want to see the Bucs make that decision with Freeman because they don’t have the foresight to develop the depth of their roster at the most important position. 

Landry is the right fit for the Bucs for a variety of reasons, writes former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

Of this year’s group, I came away most impressed by Oklahoma’s Landry Jones. He has the best mechanics and pro-style potential and very well could be available to the Bucs when they should invest in the quarterback position. 

Better ball protection was his biggest issue, but he owns the best balance in the draft and can learn to throw the ball away a little bit better and work on his pocket movement as well. He has a lot of starting experience and he fits the Bucs’ style better than the rest of this year’s hopeful signal-callers.

Florida State’s EJ Manuel would probably be my next choice based on potential upside. I would probably bore JoeBucsFan readers with analysis of his spotty and inconsistent mechanics and what he should do to improve them, but Manuel is big, mobile and also has an awful lot of experience on his resume.

E.J. Manuel’s mechanics need work

Freeman has 108 million reasons to hope he can take a couple of steps up and lead the Bucs into the playoffs in 2013, –while he keeps Landry Jones on the bench learning the ropes of the NFL game all season long.

Who says the Bucs couldn’t trade down in the first round, adding some extra draft picks, and still get a decent corner like Mississippi State’s Johnthan Banks?

The cool thing about the upcoming draft, a three-day event which begins Thursday night, is there are so many options for the Bucs.

The Bucs, of course, could draft a corner, as many expect. The Bucs could justify drafting a defensive lineman at No. 13. Some think the Bucs will draft an offensive tackle, and the psychotic Bucs fans, apparently having no clue what offense the Bucs run or the makeup of the roster or how the salary cap works, are deranged enough to believe Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik will go all Matt Millen and draft a slot receiver, this Tavon Austin.

And there’s always the possibility, the elephant in the room, that Dominik will send the No. 13 pick to the Jets for corner Darrelle Revis. But what happens if the Bucs trade down in the first round? That thought was thrown out by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

In fact, more than one mock draft has the Bucs taking Austin at No. 13. That seems unlikely considering their needs at cornerback, defensive tackle, tight end and offensive line, but the threat may work in their favor.

If Minnesota or some other team wants Austin that badly the Bucs could benefit by moving down and adding an extra early-round pick that could possibly be included in a package for Revis.

Though they appear willing to surrender the 13th overall pick in a trade for Revis, the Bucs would still rather hold that pick and get Revis for a package of second- and third-round selections or a package of 2014 picks.

If Dominik has a pattern with the draft, it is his wont to move around like a fantasy footballer after three Bud Lights. Dominik has traded up in the draft to land quarterback Josh Freeman, and last year showed he was some sort of a riverboat gambler, trading down in the first round to pick safety Mark Barron, then trading back up in the first round to get running back Doug Martin and trading up into the second round (from the third round) to grab linebacker Lavonte David.

If Dominik feels there is a corner late in the first round he could draft by trading with, say, Minnesota, which has two late first round picks, the Bucs could get Desmond Trufant or D.J. Hayden or Johnthan Banks.

What then, Jets general John Idzik, will you do?

Who needs custom-built Roy Miller when you have “White Lightnin’?”

That’s what Gerald McCoy calls Gary Gibson, the former Rutgers defensive tackle who’s one of the last NFL men standing that played in NFL Europe.

Gibson was a rotational guy on a small scale for the Bucs last season, but he had a big impact on Gerald McCoy. Last year, McCoy told Joe how Gibson helped teach him the nuances of the game.

“Gary, he’s a vet. He’s very smart. He teaches me little things, little things I need to focus on, little things I need to see, little things he sees that I can do that he knows I can do and need to go execute. And it helped me out a lot,” McCoy said.

Speaking at One Buc Palace this week, McCoy talked more about how Gibson set the tone early with the Bucs last year with his leadership and understanding of the Bucs’ defensive line stunts.

“Gibby was our best movement guy,” McCoy said, referring to Gibson’s technique on the line. “He’s a strong guy. He’s quicker than people think. He’s smart. He knows the game. I excited to see what he can do this year, you know, with more playing time.”

Now as much as Joe wants to be pumped up for all things 2013, Joe can’t get excited, like McCoy, to see more of Gibson. The guy’s a 31-year-old backup, and he fought a lot of nagging injuries that arose in training camp last season.

If Gibson can lead and teach and get a little spot duty, that’s more than fine with Joe. The Bucs need more depth and talent throughout the defensive line.

Don’t worry folks, only a few more days before the NFL draft hits and we won’t have to worry about who rock star general manager Mark Dominik might select.

Joe knows Gil Brandt, the famed retired player personnel director, thought the Bucs would select Alabama offensive tackle D.J. Fluker at No. 13. It seems others do as well, which prompted a question to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN in a recent NFC South chat.

Tyler (Toronto)

Hey Pat, do you think the Bucs could go with Fluker in the 1st round instead of Austin or the best available corner? The addition of Fluker would really solidify the OL.

Pat Yasinskas

Think that’s at least a possibility. Fluker would be upgrade at RT. But let’s wait and see what happens on the Revis front.

Yes, the Bucs could use a right tackle. But drafting a guy at No. 13 to fill a hole that isn’t a need position is equally as silly as this notion some try to peddle that the Bucs should draft a slot receiver at No. 13, Tavon Austin. The Bucs have many, many bucks tied up already on the offensive line. A general manager has only so much cash to play with. Using too much of a budget on one area all but forces a team to have another unit filled by lesser players, or in slang terms, slugs.

The Bucs desperately need a corner, and just behind that is depth on the defensive line. Drafting a right tackle at No. 13 is just as reckless as drafting Austin at No. 13.

A more sensible draft at right tackle, as Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune suggested, and as Joe wrote about from the NFL Scouting Combine, would be Wisconsin right tackle Ricky Wagner in, say, the fifth round.

Anthony Becht

Can’t get enough draft talk? Can’t get enough Bucs talk? No worries. WDAE-AM 620 has you covered this morning.

Former Bucs tight end and current NBC Sports Network analyst Anthony Becht joins Pat Donovan to pick apart this weekend’s NFL draft and how the Bucs fared from 9 a.m.-noon today on “The Sports Animal.”

Like Johnthan Banks? Concerned with William Gholston? Have no clue who Steven Means is? Give Becht and Donovan a call and they will educate you.

The Bucs offense has a gaping hole in it. Or another way to look at it is opposing defenses show a weakness the Bucs can’t exploit.

In this latest edition of the JoeBucsFanTV draft series, draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski explores this phenomenon and who might be able to fix it. Watch the video below. It’s much more exciting than anything else on the tube tonight.

Would Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei be enough to make Bucs general manager Mark Dominik to briefly forget the gaping holes at corner?

Joe knows Bucs fans are hoarse from screaming for Bucs rock star general mananger Mark Dominik to draft a corner with the No. 13 pick. Their hands are bruised and raw from slamming their fists on bars so much and so hard.

And Joe understands their cries.

But with the Bucs thin as the toilet paper at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway on the defensive line, Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times believes Dominik must think twice about not drafting a defensive lineman at No. 13. There should be talented linemen available, so Holder typed in a Bucs chat today on his newspaper’s site today.

Comment From Guest: Any thoughts on d-linemen they’re looking at in the draft?

Stephen F. Holder: Yes… I think a really good one could fall to the Bucs, and then they’d have a tough decision to make (e.g. Star Loutelelei). That’s a deep position at the top of the draft.

IF the Bucs think there’s not much dropoff to the corners available in the second round, I think you could see them put the corners on hold and grab a stud DL with No. 13. That helps the secondary to an extent anyway, so the logic makes sense.

Sure the Bucs need a corner. Desperately in fact. But Holder’s argument surely holds water. And if the Bucs get a guy who can rush the passer consistently at No. 13, shouldn’t that help out the beleaguered secondary?

Joe sure senses a tough decision for Dominik Thursday night.

Joe doesn’t believe for a second that Ronde Barber starts his days with a bowl of Wheaties or an egg white omelet wondering whether he wants to play NFL football anymore.

That’s just silliness to think Barber doesn’t know, in mid-April, what he desires.

It’s clear to Joe that Barber wants to get a sense of his role and challenge with the 2013 Bucs before making a decision. If the Bucs land Darrelle Revis and draft a cornerback in the second round, for example, that could drive Barber’s competitive fire to return — or tell him the Bucs really have moved on.

Former Bucs tight end and current Buccaneers Radio Network color analyst Dave Moore talked on WDAE-AM 620 this week and wondered aloud not only whether Barber would want to potentially play a backup role but whether he could physically stay loose enough to be successful at it.

Moore also praised Eric Wright’s play as “a physical corner” when he wasn’t injured or suspended. And while Moore assessed Barber highly at safety, Moore seemed to convey that Barber would have trouble beating out a healthy Eric Wright for a starting corner gig. (You can catch the entire interview below.)

Joe wouldn’t bet against Barber beating out Wright for a starting job, especially if Revis is aboard and the Bucs can shade safety help Barber’s way. Also, Wright was signed, in part, for his versatility, which would serve him well as the No. 3 or No. 4 corner.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

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Joe’s been hit with a the same question repeatedly since the Bucs released their 2013 schedule last night, “Hey, Joe, you think there will be any game blacked out from local TV this season?”

Joe’s answer is simple, “Of course.”

With or without Darrelle Revis, nobody should expect some sort of Bucs box office stampede before the season, or during the season, barring a shock-the-world winning streak.

Given that the Saints game in Tampa was televised last year, Joe surely expects the Saints-Bucs home opener on Sept. 15 to be on TV. Also expect to have the night games against Carolina (Thursday, 10/24) and Miami (Monday, 11/11) bust the blackout threshold and be televised.

As for the other games, Joe is hopeful annoying Eagles fans, Michael Vick fans and bearable weather will push that Sunday, Oct. 13 game onto the local airwaves. But that’s about it. Joe’s expecting blackouts for the Cardinals, Falcons, Bills and Niners. A Warren Sapp Ring of Honor Day, of course, could change that.

So that’s half a home season on TV, under that scenario. It still sucks, but it’s an improvement. Hopefully, the Bucs can get another game on TV — a home playoff game.

One of the most unpredictable drafts in history keeps throwing more curveballs as more teams leak their interest in trading up in the first round.

The Vikings are now in the trade-up mix, via ProFootballTalk.com and NFL Network yesterday, along with the hated Dixie Chicks (aka Falcons) and others. After sending Percy Harvin to Seattle, the Vikings allegedly are interested in the West Virginia wide receiver the Bucs don’t need: Tavon Austin.

So what’s the Bucs’ 13th overall pick worth?

Last year offered a great benchmark. The Eagles traded up three spots to the No. 12 pick in order to select Mississippi State DT Fletcher Cox. Philly sent its first-round pick (15th), a fourth (114th) and a sixth (172) to Seattle to get Cox.

Minnesota, with this year’s Nos. 23 and 25 overall picks, surely would have to give up a bigger ransom to the Bucs than just a first, fourth and sixth round picks. Perhaps a first, third and a fourth would be enough for rockstar general manager Mark Dominik to pull the trigger?

That would give the Bucs a big stable of picks (they already have two fourth-rounders now) to potentially trade back into the first round, up in the second round, or dangle in front of the Jets.

Joe watched the entire Jets pre-draft news conference this week, and Team Idzik went on and on and on about the depth of this draft. Perhaps, if the Bucs pulled off a trade-down move like this with the Vikings, Dominik could squeeze out Revis for a second round pick in 2013, two-third-rounders and a fourth rounder.

Joe has banged the drum repeatedly to proclaim Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik should hold Jets general manager John Idzik hostage to make it less likely Dominik will get raked over the coals for a ransom in return for Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Dominik, in Joe’s eyes, has all the leverage in the world, which only strengthens by the day. So Joe is glad to see others jumping on the bandwagon.

Take Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune. He Twittered out yesterday Dominik should play very hard to get for the next week or so.

@RCummingsTBO: If I’m Bucs GM Mark Dominik I’m keeping my 2013 13th pick, spending it on what I want or need most and forcing the Jets to play by my rules

Exactly! The Jets need to trade Revis more than the Bucs need Revis. There is only one team out there willing to tackle Revis’ salary and that is the Bucs.

Since the Bucs are the lone suitor, Dominik gets to set the market for Revis, not Idzik.

Yes, Joe will write this again: Every day Dominik waits, the vice on Idzik’s private parts gets tighter.

Yesterday, Joe brought word, via Rich Cimini of ESPN, that NFL draft guru Mike Mayock would go all out to acquire Darrelle Revis if he were Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

However, Mayock also noted the Bucs have many holes that Revis can’t just repair alone. He detailed what the Bucs should and shouldn’t do if they trade for Revis, or if they do not.

“Because if I’m Tampa Bay and I’m looking at my depth chart at corner, I’m going, ‘Okay, I just resigned Eric Wright at a reduced number. How long is he going to be here? E.J. Biggers is gone. Then I have a bunch of young guys that for whatever reason probably aren’t going to be starters.’

“So from my perspective in Tampa, and I’m all over trying to get Darrelle Revis. If I get him, obviously my first round pick is gone. So now we’re looking at an entirely diffearent equation there. But I think they need a vertical tight end at some point. Whether or not that’s Tyler Eifert in the first round at 13 or whether it’s down the road a little bit because you traded and got Revis. They need a vertical tight end. They need a SAM linebacker, and I think they need some tackle depth.

“So the whole thing hinges on what happens with Revis. To me, they could use more than one corner. Even if they get Revis, they need to draft another corner at some point.”

This is why Joe wouldn’t bet the farm on landing Revis. Sure, it would be great to have Revis on the roster, but at what price? As Mayock pointed out, there are several holes on the Bucs roster, not counting defensive line.

The Bucs simply are not a Revis away from a Super Bowl. Hell, the Jets made the playoffs a couple of times with Revis and they weren’t lifting any hardware. It’s not like Revis is a magic wand and all of a sudden, another Vince Lombardi Trophy appears in the lobby of One Buc Palace.

The entire transcript of Mayock’s teleconference can be found here.

The first look at a complete Bucs season schedule is almost better than unwrapping a glorious new Christmas present. There’s nothing quite like the excitement.

Here it is!

Sunday, 9/8, 1 p.m, @Jets
Sunday, 9/15, 4:05 p.m., SAINTS
Sunday, 9/22, 1 p.m., @Patriots
Sunday, 9/29, 1 p.m., CARDINALS
BYE WEEK
Sunday, 10/13 1 p.m., EAGLES
Sunday, 10/20 1 p.m., @Falcons
Thurs., 10/24 8:25 p.m., PANTHERS
Sunday, 11/3, 4:05 p.m. @Seahawks
Monday, 11/11, 8:40 p.m. MIAMI
Sunday, 11/17, 1 p.m., ATLANTA
Sunday, 11/24, 1 p.m., @Lions
Sunday, 12/1, 1 p.m., @Panthers
Sunday, 12/8, 1 p.m., BILLS
Sunday, 12/15, 1 p.m., SAN FRANCISCO
Sunday, 12/22, 1 p.m., @Rams
Sunday, 12/29, 1 p.m., @Saints

Joe likes the schedule a lot. Aside from the two glorious night home games (blackouts be gone), on paper, the Bucs should be able to get out to a solid start.

Closing the season with two on the road has the potential to really test the mettle of the New Schiano Order. Hopefully, those games will mean something, which means Myron Lewis won’t be on the field, and LeQuan Lewis won’t be called off the couch to replace him.