There’s no denying the Bucs need a veteran linebacker not yet on the roster to pump decency and respect back into the Bucs’ linebacking corps. An ex-linebacker himself, Greg Schiano had to be as nauseous as Joe watching film of the Bucs’ middle three last season.

Reports have cash-hungry Curtis Lofton high on the Bucs’ radar, plus ex-Lions MLB Stephen Tulloch is still sniffing around. But NFL Draft guru and radio personality Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, also is calling attention to three more possibilites for the linebacker-desperate Bucs, via CommishOnline.com. 

London Fletcher, 36, is still playing at a very high level and would remind Bucs fans of Hardy Nickerson.

David Hawthorne, 26, is another run-stuffing middle linebacker that might be much cheaper than either Lofton or Tulloch. The concern with Hawthorne is his durability and keeping him on the field.

Jameel McClain, 26, has been Ray Lewis’s backup in Baltimore the past few years, so it will be intriguing to see if he can take what he has learned from one of the all-time greatest middle linebackers to his next team.

Joe can’t say he watched much Redskins football last season, so Joe can’t really speak for Fletcher’s level of play. However, despite turning 37 in May, Fletcher never misses games, racks up tackles, is a leader, and has that shiny Super Bowl ring when the Rams squeaked out a win against the Titans long ago. The Bucs could do a lot worse, but Joe’s guessing rockstar general manager Mark Dominik wants to stay yungry and away from Chuckyesque veterans.

McClain, Joe suspects is a tougher guy to evaluate. He was undrafted and has started alongside Ray Lewis in the Ravens’ wacky 3-4 defense the past two years. Dominik called Schiano a “4-3 fundamentalist,” so how McLain would translate is unclear.

So many times and so often Joe has read about fans claiming if Team Glazer channeled Danny Snyder and started cutting checks right and left, said fans would return to the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

Color Joe skeptical.

Now will the signing of wide receiver Vincent Jackson, guard Carl Nicks and cornerback Eric Wright bump up ticket sales? Joe’s pretty sure, yes.

Does that mean there will be a season full of sellouts this season, Joe will bet no.

This same subject was tackled by dapper Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger.

Ever since the purge and coaching change, fans have been slow to come back to Raymond James.

The team has had blackouts in 13 of the past 15 regular-season games. That means the stadium hasn’t officially been sold out and the team hasn’t been shown on local TV.

It probably should have been more games as the Glazers brought tickets to prevent blackouts in Raheem Morris’ first year. When the club went 3-13, the Glazers said enough.

There have been many changes since Chucky was last coaching along the Bucs sidelines that, in part, keep fans away from Bucs home games.

There is HDTV at home. It many ways, it’s a better way to watch games than at the game, though there’s no way of duplicating a stadium atmosphere. And of course, you can relax while watching a game at home, not having to stand up the whole game because a couple of louts in front of you are of the mind the Bucs cannot win unless they are “into it.”

But the most important part about what has not changed since Chucky was jettisoned is people’s homes in Florida are underwater or on the verge of foreclosure.

People simply don’t have the expendable income as they did 10 years ago. Denying this simple fact is like burying one’s head in the sand at Treasure Island.

When it comes down to putting grub on the table or making car payments or house payments, Bucs games take a back seat to such priorities.

Until the housing market rebounds, until the local economy rebounds, Joe doesn’t expect a season full of sellouts like the Bucs enjoyed for so many years at the end of the last century, or the first few seasons of this century.

Though we are still in the throes of free agent season (with draft season soon to follow), it also means NFL fans are in the thick of the silly season.

The silly season means that teams are putting out more smoke signals than a Sioux tribe after receiving word that George Custer is nearby.

One such stunt is reported to be taking place by Aaron Wilson, of Scout.com, who claims North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples is visiting the Bucs this week.

University of North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples is scheduled to visit the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.

He has previously visited the Carolina Panthers, who have also hosted LSU defensive lineman Michael Brockers for a visit.

The 6-foot-6, 284-pounder is regarded as a potential top 10 selection, and Carolina owns the ninth overall pick of the first round.

Well, given that teams are only allowed to have a set amount of potential draftees visit team headquarters, Joe’s not sure how much of a smokescreen this is by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

The Bucs already have three solid defensive ends in Adrian Clayborn, Da’Quan Bowers and Michael Bennett. With sssooo many holes in the back seven for the Bucs, it seems odd that Dominik would target another defensive end, especially with the fifth pick in the draft.

Truly one of the premier interviews in football, Warren Sapp cranked off an epic chat on The Jim Rome Show about 10 days ago. Joe’s been waiting to share, and this mellow Sunday seemed like a great spot.

Sapp tells a fantastic story of an exchange between him and Chucky when he ripped his head coach for messing with the football gods. Sapp also gives his take on Bountygate and how such a concept would have been dealt with in the Bucs’ locker room during the glory years. Lastly, Sapp also details the moment he knew he would retire. Great stuff. Enjoy.

Not only is Carl Nicks here to play next to a stout left tackle in Donald Penn — literally and figuratively — he’ll be alongside one of the premier league loudmouths in Penn.

Penn has said publicly he dials the trash talk back a bit when he goes up against John Abraham, but otherwise Penn gets after his opponent verbally and physically. Luckily for the Bucs, new Bucs manbeast guard Carl Nicks says that kind of chatter fires him up.

“I met Penn at the Pro Bowl a couple years back, too. We’re going to be beasts out there, man. Penn is nasty. He gets after it. I’ve seen him play. I’ve seen him talk out there and that pumps me up,” Nicks told Tom Krasniqi of WHBO-AM 1040 last week.

Now Joe’s not about to assert that Penn will make Nicks a better player. It’s possible, but Nicks played alongside first-time Pro Bowler left tackle Jermon Bushrod last season, clearly an elite performer. The Saints passed all day long and that guy only allowed three sacks when he was voted into the Hawaii exhibition. Nicks is used to being around greatness.

However, Joe is hopeful Nicks’s presence will help bring Penn back to his Pro Bowl form. Penn’s play clearly tailed off in the final quarter of the 2011, and the Bucs can’t afford to have their most important offensive lineman playing anything but his best football.

Yesterday was the annual open call for Bucs cheerleaders at One Buc Palace and again Joe was not invited to judge the talents of these young ladies and determine who moves on to the next round. Joe’s appauled that Team Glazer didn’t insist on Joe as a guest scrutinizer. Oh, well. There’s always next year. And perhaps Joe’s friends at HootersCalendar.com will insist on using Joe’s talents to their fullest one day.

It turns out a TampaBay.com journalist was kind enough to show up at One Buc Palace with a video camera to give Joe and fans a glimpse of the process. Enjoy.

After new Bucs coach Greg Schiano spoke on SiriusXM NFL radio about his offense and after Carl Nicks said one main reason he came to the Bucs is because he wanted to be involved in a running offense, it’s pretty clear the Bucs will be a ground-and-pound team in 2012.

Usually, teams that like to beat opponents to a pulp with the run have solid blockers up and down the line. With the Bucs, that line ends with Kellen Winslow.

Despite being a gifted pass catcher, it’s hard to see Winslow fitting in on a team that is trying go all Woody Hayes. As talented as a receiver that Winslow is, he isn’t exactly the greatest blocker.

Winslow’s status with the Bucs came up in a NFC South chat coordinated by Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.

Andrew Hawkins (West Virginia)
Any word on what we plan to do with Winslow? I would have liked to have had another TE to go with Stocker and just cut K2 and free up that money and the problems he seemed to be causing on the field.

Pat Yasinskas
I still wouldn’t be surprised if something happens there. Lot depends on what new staff thinks of him. But he’s got a high cap figure, is a little older and has knee issues. Plus, Sullivan’s calling the plays now. If he follows the system he was in with Giants, Bucs might not be throwing to TE as much.

Well, if Winslow won’t be thrown to much, and if he cannot block that well, and his knees have given him so much trouble that Raheem Morris had to limit his practice time in order to ensure he could answer the bell on Sundays, Joe wonders how much longer Winslow (and his big contract) will be around?

In fact, the Bucs might just be trying to unload Winslow. Earlier this week, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune Twittered just hours after the free-agent frenzy began Tuesday that the Bucs tried to unload Winslow on the Bears, but Chicago wouldn’t take the bait.

@BradBiggs: One rumor making rounds is #Buccaneers tried to trade TE Kellen Winslow to #Bears who did not bite.

To be fair, Schiano has said he wants to take shots downfield. If that is the case, Winslow is still valuable.

Given the Bucs’ change of offense, Winslow’s subpar blocking, his aching knees and his bloated salary, Joe wouldn’t be surprised if Winslow is playing elsewhere next season.

Rockstar Bucs general manager Mark Dominik took a brief moment to salivate over his revamped offensive line this week during an interview with “The Blitz” on SiriusXM NFL Radio with hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon.

And Bucs fans should join in the drooling. Jeremy Zuttah is a better, more durable center than Jeff Faine, and Josh Freeman makes all the line calls anyway. Plus now Zuttah is flanked by the best guard in the game in Carl Nicks, 6-5, 343 pounds, and Pro Bowler Davin Joseph, 6-3, 315 pounds.

The presence of that trifecta up the gut will let Josh Freeman be “more unpredictable,” Dominik told Gannon and Schein.

Joe can only imagine how much easier it will be for the Bucs to sell play-action with that kind of interior line and, hopefully, an honest commitment to running the football, not the crock of power football BS sold to fans by the previous regime.

Also, in what felt like a backhanded knock on Greg Olson, Dominik said Mike Sullivan is “a big step” in Freeman’s development based on his history with Eli Manning and as a former receivers coach with the Giants.

In Joe’s mind, there’s a lot of pressure on first-time offensive coordinator Sullivan from the opening whistle. Sullivan inherits a young 1,000-yard rusher with unique skills, a quarterback with all the tools and a stunning season (2010) under his belt, arguably the best offensive line in football, plus a legitimate No. 1 deep threat and a proven talent in Mike Williams.

Get the man a dangerous third-down back and Sullivan really has no excuses from Day 1. The man even will have OTAs and minicamps, what some wrongly viewed as the panacea to the Bucs’ 2011 troubles.

Joe’s pretty sure he knows what Carl Nicks was talking about when he said Coach Schiano has got that “Italian swag/Jersey shore” going on.

It’s just a presence that exudes ‘I’m the coach. I won’t BS you. And don’t try to BS me or you’ll get slapped upside da head immediately.’

Joe speaks from experience, as Joe (this Joe) grew up in Schiano’s hometown county, where that kind of attitude is rampant in all walks of life. Bill Parcells wasn’t Italian, but he was from the same neighborhood and had that same stereotypical swag. How Schiano will translate to the NFL is a mystery, but the well-known, NFL-readiness of his many ex-college players in the league likely is a testament to his no-nonsense, demanding approach. 

Nicks was asked for his initial impression of Schiano by Tom Krasniqi of WHBO-AM 1040 this week, and below was his response:

“Coach G, man. He’s got that Italian swag, you know that Jersey, you know that Jersey shore going on. Big family guy, which I love and respect. Hard-working guy. He’s not going to take no crap,” Nicks said. “We’ve got a lot in common. He’s passionate about the game. I can tell he wants the players to do good not just in football, but after football as far as your charities. He just wants you to be better people. You gotta surround yourselves with guys like that.

New cornerback Eric Wright’s early take on Schiano was, “he’s real stern and very focused on what he wants to get accomplished.”

There’s no question this new regime will be a culture shock for the Bucs that return in 2012. Joe suspects there will be a few “situations” as the team adjusts Schiano’s interpretation of the Buccaneer Way.

Joe hates to keep banging the drum on this, but to deny it would be irresponsible.

The Bucs linebacker unit was simply downright dreadful last year, perhaps worst in the NFL. Once opposing running backs turned the corner, it was as if the pups at Derby Lane were rounding the turn for the stretch run after that elusive electronic rabbit.

Now part of the reason was rookie Mason Foster. Joe’s not going to nitpick Foster because the guy was a rookie and, despite what some will tell you, was playing out of position as he was an outside linebacker in college at Washington.

Throw in the fact he was being force-fed play calling duties — with no offseason to speak of — it was a recipe for disaster. And it was.

Folks, playing outside linebacker in the (then) PAC-10 and playing middle linebacker in the NFL is leap of many football levels of talent.

In the offseason, it was believed the Bucs would move Foster back to the outside where he may be more comfortable and be able to utilize his skills a bit better. But hold up, says Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, by way of Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. Foster may just end up in the middle when the Bucs kick off the 2012 season.

“We are talking to the (coaches) about Mason Foster being the ‘Mike’ linebacker of this team,” said Dominik, using the common reference for middle linebacker. “I think the coaching staff that has been in here evaluating that tape feels like he has a great opportunity to … stay at the middle linebacker spot.”

Well, to this Joe suggests Dominik better pull a rabbit out of his hat and get a wicked, beastly outside linebacker to replace Geno Hayes or Quincy Black like South Carolina DR/OLB Melvin Ingram.

Of course, this can all be a moot point if the Bucs are able to get Curtis Lofton or Stephen Tulloch to come to their senses.

The teams of stats gremlins at ESPN have access to what seems like every number in sports. When it comes to numbers (largely boring to Joe), Joe trusts ESPN over other outlets that are prone to present guesswork as fact.

Per ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, the Bucs have $15.82 million to spend in 2012 before they would reach the salary cap.

Yasinskas revealed the data with Tom Krasniqi on WHBO-AM 1040 yesterday and made it clear it included Jeff Faine’s departure and the Dan Orlovsky signing.

Now assuming Ronde Barber re-signs, as Joe reported yesterday, he’d probably earn at least $4 million (he made $5 million last season). So that would leave the Bucs with just under $12 million in cap space. The Bucs would still have to sign their draft picks.

In that scenario, the Bucs still have free agency money to play with, but not an endless supply.

If demanding Curtis Lofton signs, that would come close to tapping out the Bucs for 2012, without cuts, trades or incarcerations.

In this NBCSports.com video, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik talks to the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, about the direction of the Bucs, free agency, the draft and college hoops.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Moments after Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik made a splash that is still being felt through NFL circles by signing receiver Vincent Jackson, cornerback Eric Wright and guard Carl Nicks, Joe predicted there would be cries from Raheem Morris apologists that he was unfairly jettisoned.

While Super Bowl-winning coach Brian Billick wasn’t the first to make such a claim, he has a much bigger microphone to broadcast his displeasure.

Though Billick hinted at the following when Joe interviewed Billick at Super Bowl Media Day, Billick this time took to Twitter and expressed his bewilderment at the firing of Morris.

@CoachBillick: I wonder what Raheem Morris is thinking right now? Had #Bucs spent this kind of money last offseason, he’d still have a head coaching job!

Um, Joe guesses it’s always fair to play Monday Morning Quarterback, but let’s think about this a moment:

Though Joe is confident Wright will help the Bucs, would he alone have been able to turn around a franchise-historic trainwreck of a defense? Would Wright have prevented Gerald McCoy from getting hurt; Cody Grimm from getting hurt; Aqib Talib from getting hurt? Would Wright have saved what turned out to be one of the worst linebacker units in all of football? Would Wright have made Brian Price’s pelvic injury vanish?

Consequently, would Jackson and or Nicks prevented clueless offensive coordinator Greg Olson from not using his best weapon, LeGarrette Blount? Would the new offensive duo have prevented Olson from calling the now infamous Benn’d Around play repeatedly?

Could any player have stopped the Bucs’ slow starts, aka getting outcoached from the opening whistle?

While Joe appreciates the esprit de corps Billick displays when discussing his coaching fraternity, let’s not go all revisionist history like some Bucs fans are wont to do when they whine about the Bucs not drafting Adrian Peterson.

Please.

The Bucs might have overpaid for cornerback Eric Wright, but it seems the team has drawn a line in the sand for ex-Falcons middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, a run-stuffer young free agent that would seem to be a stout fit at middle linebacker. 

NFL Network and NFL.com insider Jason La Canfora is Twittering that the Bucs have offered Lofton a satchel of cash but he’s still shopping around.

@JasonLaCanfora Curtis Lofton will visit Saints this weekend. Tampa submitted an offer. NO also brought in David Hawthorne for visit

Joe can’t believe the nerve of Lofton. Can’t he see the Bucs are big spenders in the NFL? Isn’t it apparent that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik came to the free-agent party with gobs of Benjamins? Does Lofton really believe the Bucs, of all teams, are throwing him a lowball offer almost right out of the gate of free agency?

This is 2012, baby, as Dick Vitale might say.

Perhaps this Lofton isn’t smart enough to pick up Greg Schiano’s new defense if he’s not sharp enough to realize the Bucs probably gave him a sweet deal in the new free-agency-is-glorious era.

So didn’t Vincent Jackson’s age, 29, and his few brushes with the law, including two impaired driving issues, scare the Bucs when they considered breaking the bank for the wide receiver’s fat new contract?

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik was hit with that question today during his appearance on ProFootballTalk Live with Mike Florio.

Dominik said Jackson keeps himself in incredbile shape, obvious when Bucs studied his film over the past five seasons.

The Chargers waiting until the last minute on deciding whether to keep Jackson, Dominik said,  let him know they still had desire for him and that was a strong positive in the decision-making process.

As for the troubles in Jackson’s past, Dominik agreed with Florio’s premise that they’re “in the rearview mirror.”

The way the NFL Draft is shaping up the Bucs will have strong options with their No. 5 overall pick.

And one option could be trading down, so says rockstar general manager Mark Dominik.

“We’re not married to that No. 5 spot,” Dominik said on ProFootballTalk Live to host Mike Florio today. “We’re open for business.”

Of course, this likely is all GMspeak as there’s no reason why Dominik wouldn’t consider offers, especially if some fool team wants to offer a king’s bounty for the right to draft Ryan Tannehill. It’s not like the Bucs couldn’t use more premium picks.

Just because Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik said the Bucs are about “at the tail end” of free agency, he didn’t say the Bucs would not sign more players.

Given the injuries and general subpar play of the Bucs’ defensive tackles, many Bucs fans believe this is a weakness. (Given how poor the Bucs back seven may be, Joe’s of the mind the Bucs defensive tackles are a strength.)

It seems Dominik may be inclined to agree with these same Bucs fans.

Adam Caplan, who writes for the Eagles’ official website and works for SiriusXM NFL Radio, Twittered this morning at the Bucs are one of a handful of teams trying to land Bears defensive tackle Amobi Okoye. Yes, the same supergenius who was drafted as a 19-year-old college senior back in 2007.

@caplannfl: Out of the 4-5 teams that have already expressed interest in DT Amobi Okoye, the Buccaneers are an interesting fit. … The adjustment in the Bucs defensive scheme this season will take advantage of a DT’s speed.

Now Joe’s not sure how this differs from the Raheem Morris defense, in that he also used quick defensive tackles like his mentor Monte Kiffin.

Oh, well. There’s only so much one can put into 140 characters.

Yesterday when Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik said that the free agent grab the Bucs were in was “just about at the tail end,” there was a little wiggle room short of an absolute closing of the door from Dominik’s statement.

As Joe hinted at earlier this week, the Bucs have gotten journeyman quarterback Dan Orlovsky to sign on the dotted line, per Buccaneers.com.

Orlovsky, whose seven previous NFL seasons have been spent in Detroit (2005-08), Houston (2009-10) and Indianapolis (2011), is coming off a strong finish to the 2011 campaign in which he started the Colts’ last five games and led the team to its only two wins of the season. He appeared in eight games overall in Indianapolis, completing 63.2% of his passes (122 of 193) for 1,201 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions, leading to a strong passer rating of 82.4.

This pretty much signals the end of Josh Johnson as a Bucs quarterback. A cool dude and a smart guy, Johnson is still looking for his first win despite five starts. In none of his starts did Joe have any confidence he could pull out a win.

Unless Johnson, also a free agent, agrees to be more of a “Slash” kind of a player playing all sorts of different offensive positions, it’s a good bet Bucs fans have seen the last of him in a Bucs uniform.

Joe heard it. And Joe even heard it a few times.

Speaking yesterday on his afternoon drive show on WQYK-AM 1010, host J.P. Peterson said Ronde Barber will return to the Buccaneers for his 16th season.

“I have it on very good information that Ronde Barber will be back, as well, someone very close to the source,” Peterson said to new Bucs cornerback Eric Wright on the air Wednesday.

So should fans believe Peterson? Joe does.

Frankly, Joe’s been keeping an ear on Peterson thinking he would be the one to break any news regarding Barber’s future. Years ago on WFLA-TV, Ch. 8, when Peterson was a sportscaster there, he produced an in-depth feature on Barber and Joe knows the two strengthened their relationship at that time. In recent years, Barber has often given Peterson candid, long radio interviews.

So Joe suspects the person “close to the source” is Barber himself.

Imagine if Barber returns, the Bucs draft Morris Claiborne, and Aqib Talib comes back. That’s some serious depth with the versatile Wright in the mix.