Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times reports free agent wide receiver Antonio Bryant will remain with the Bucs.

Bucs free agent wide receiver Antonio Bryant wants to stay with the Bucs. Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times writes that Bryant will be granted his wish.

Stroud reports that, provided the Bucs don’t sign Bryant, they will tag him.

The Bucs will make receiver Antonio Bryant their franchise player if they’re unable to reach a deal by Thursday’s deadline to apply the designation.

That means if Bryant subsequently signs the offer, the Bucs would be obligated to pay him $9.884-million for 2009. That’s the average of the league’s top five highest-paid receivers.

This would be the first smart move by Dominik. The next smart move would be to rid the team of the odor of Son of Bob. This would make Joe a happy man.

Chucky's new job will force him to don a suit and provide analysis of the NFL combine for the NFL Network.

Seems as though Chucky was gettting scared that the stench of arena ball was starting to rub off on him at his new office (or was it the Bolts’ miserable offense?) so he got out and found a job.

Chucky will be the NFL Network’s new analyst, at least part-time. He’ll be working the glorified high school track meet in Indianapolis otherwise known as the NFL combine, so reports Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times.

Gruden will join the network’s Total Access show each night at 7 p.m. from Thursday through Monday, and also offer analysis specifically about quarterbacks and wide receivers throughout the weekend.

“We just think he’s going to have an interesting perspective because he is so passionate about the combine, the draft and building a football team,” NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger said. “He doesn’t seem like a guy who is going to hold back and he will be able to fully evaluate the process.”

Joe absolutely loves the NFL Network and rarely a day goes by that he doesn’t watch the network. But the combine is one of those made-for-TV events that Joe is totally bored with. If the NFL Network has a decent interview (likely) during the combine, OK. Otherwise, isn’t TNT still running a 24/7 loop of Law and Order? There’s always the Food Network too.

(BTW, isn’t over-the-air network programming rotten to the core? DirecTV could remove those channels and Joe would barely notice until March Madness begins. Besides, Joe can watch commercial-free episodes of 24 online).

Per Jones, the NFL Network is hoping to pair Chucky with current NFL Network analyst and former Bucs great Warren Sapp. Joe would pay to hear Chucky’s answer when Sapp asks him why it’s taken lo’ these many years to return a phone call.

Joe hopes the NFL Network honchos don’t ask Chucky to weigh in on quarterback prospects.

Dan Parr of ProFootballWeekly.com claims, after doing some research on all big name free agents, that Bucs wideout Antonio Bryant is a "moderate" risk.

It’s been some time since Joe browsed regularly through ProFootballWeekly.com’s website. Ever since Joel Buchsbaum died, Joe rarely had reason to return.

In recent days trying to scrape up whatever Bucs news he can find, Joe is warming back to ProFootballWeekly.com. Part of it is the reason below.

ProFootballWeekly.com has a scouting report on the top free agents this winter. Among them of course is a detailed look at Bucs wide receiver Antionio Bryant.

Among the many elements in the analysis, Dan Parr suggests Bryant is a “moderate” risk to resign.

Risk factor: Moderate. Bryant re-molded his image last season as an elite receiver and he has grown up quite a bit in a short amount of time. Some teams, though, will be leery of his past problems.

Joe is on record several times that the Bucs absolutely must retain Bryant’s services. Bryant already has said he wants to stay. If the Bucs let him walk, that tells Joe the Glazer Boys are only trying to save cash.

Clifton Smith's "shake" has impressed the new offensive coordinator

New Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski met the local MSM today. (Joe was home crying over Carmella.)

Jagodzinski basically said a whole lot of nothing new and exciting, although he was extremely non-committal about the quarterback position and had very lukewarm (Joe couldn’t skip that one) comments about Luke McCown.

Joe was very pleased by Jagodzinski’s interest in Clifton Smith’s possibilities in the new Bucs offense. The quote below comes from an edited Q&A published by Pewter Report.

The little guy walking underneath the table here, [Clifton Smith], from what I saw of him I think you can use him in one-on-one routes and get him in open space and get him in some mismatches. I’ve seen him do some things, and he’s got a lot of shake. I think we can use him in some spots. 

Smith has major potential. The kid fumbled in his first four or five games, sure, but he seemed to kick the habit. Yes, he dropped a pass or two, as well, which had Chucky boiling on the sidelines. However, Joe wants him to get another shot at contributing.

Smith reminds Joe a little bit of Dave Meggett. Regardless, you’ve got to try to put the ball in the hands of your most talented players.

Let’s see what he can do in the preseason with short passes in open space.

ProFootballWeekly.com suggests Son of Bob will be looking for a new job shortly. Washing dishes at Don Shula's perhaps?

The following words are virtual music to Joe’s ears: Son of Bob’s days in Tampa Bay may be numbered.

A glorified interception machine who has been living off of his old man’s name for far too long, Son of Bob may not be with the Bucs this fall suggests ProFootballWeekly.com’s Dan Parr.

In a recent segment titled “The Way We Hear It,” Parr, in detailing how the Bucs are looking to add another QB via free agency, noted that new Bucs general manager Mark Dominik is no fan of Son of Bob.

Dominik can look past Son of Bob’s famous last name to see a quarterback who has been stealing money from NFL owners and padding defensive backs’ salaries for years. Dominik also sees a QB who couldn’t beat out future Hall of Fame signal-callers like Jay Fieldler, Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton, yet Son of Bob pulled in $4 million last season.

As Joe pointed out recently, Dominik too sees Son of Bob’s salary to be grossly over the market value for such a stiff, which on the street, Son of Bob might be worth a couple of nickels.

Sources in Tampa say the team will bring in another quarterback, either through the draft or more likely in free agency, to challenge McCown in training camp. Signing McCown signaled the end of Garcia’s run with the Bucs, leaving Brian Griese and Josh Johnson, who is viewed as a long-term project, as Tampa Bay’s other quarterbacks under contract for ’09. Griese, though, was a favorite of former head coach Jon Gruden and is not held in the same high esteem with the new regime. GM Mark Dominik is expected to have his eye on another free-agent veteran — Byron Leftwich has been mentioned as a possibility — and Griese would be slotted as the third quarterback, if he isn’t released, when another signalcaller is locked up.

Joe screamed bloody murder when Chucky signed Son of Bob — both times. And Joe still can’t figure out what photos his agent had on Bruce Almighty to land a $4 million a year contract.

In Joe’s eyes, Son of Bob cannot be run out of the CITS quick enough.

Joe understands there are openings in the UFL.

Pat Kirwan of NFL.com would not franchise Bucs free agent wide receiver Antonio Bryant.

The deadline to get deals done or franchise players is quicly approaching. Bucs fans are waiting anxiously to see if Mark Dominik signs wide receiver Antonio Bryant to a contract, or slaps the franchise tag on him.

Not everyone is convinced Bryant should get a franchise tag. Pat Kirwan of NFL.com is one of those critics. In fact, Kirwan thinks another Bucs player should be hit with the franchise tag.

Everyone says the team should tag wide receiver Antonio Bryant. Not so fast. The Bucs need to sign tackle Donald Penn first and then talk about Bryant. If Penn gets locked up, I would talk about a transition tag for Bryant. He had a great year in 2008, but he has a history that suggests some risk, and I’m not sure the market for him is so great. Thanks to former general manager Bruce Allen, the Bucs have lots of cap space and could match any offer that Bryant would receive on the open market. I suspect the other 31 teams will paint a different picture of Bryant’s true value.

Interesting that Kirwan would put Bryant under a transition tag and not a franchise tag. Joe’s OK with that. Whatever it takes to get Bryant to sign on the dotted line.

ProFootballWeekly.com suggests because Ronde Barbers play slipped last season, the Bucs are determined to resign Phillip Buchanon.

In it’s “Whispers” segment, ProFootballWeekly.com has some interesting Bucs tidbits.

In short, the site states the Bucs are determined to resign free agent cornerback Phillip Buchanon and that Aqib Talib will likely get more playing time while Ronde Barber may see his playing time decrease.

We hear the Bucs are very interested in re-signing soon-to-be free-agent CB Phillip Buchanon. He was arguably the team’s best corner last season, and with 2008 first-round pick CB Aqib Talib still developing, locking up Buchanon has become a high priority for new GM Mark Dominik. Tampa watched as the performance of the team’s other starting corner, Ronde Barber, declined last season, and sources say Barber, a 12-year veteran, is likely headed for a lesser role this year.

Aside from the offensive line, the Bucs’ secondary was its strongest unit, despite Barber’s sketchy play last season. Hey, Father Time waits for no one and sooner or later he was going to tap Barber on the shoulder.

Look, Joe loves Barber. He’s hoping Barber bounces back next year to regain his normal stellar form. But if he doesn’t, Joe hopes the Bucs can resign Buchanon to give the Bucs some depth in the secondary.

Wes Bunting on the NationalFootballPost.com has the Bucs selecting Auburn defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks in the second round. Not only is Marks a stud football player, it appears he plays a mean game of hoops too.

“… Sen’Derrick Marks.”

So says Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com.

Yesterday Joe linked to Bunting’s weeikly updated first round mock draft, but not sure how many caught Bunting’s pick for the Bucs in the second round. Marks is a defensive tackle from Auburn.

The 6-2, 296-pound junior was a pretty good high school basketball player, according to former Tampa Tribune scribe and current SI.com columnist Andy Staples. In fact, fomer Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville offered Marks a scholarship after watching him practice on the basketball floor, and before seeing him play a down of football.

In December 2004, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville traveled to the Mobile area to check in on some prospects. An assistant suggested Tuberville head to Vigor High (Prichard, Ala.), where Coach Kerry Stevenson wanted to show him a player. Tuberville wasn’t interested in anyone at Vigor, but a little “P.R. work” never hurt. A coach never knows where the next hot prospect will emerge, so a few hours’ detour wouldn’t hurt if it kept Tuberville on a high school coach’s good side.

When Tuberville arrived, Stevenson brought him to the gym, where the boys’ basketball team was practicing. As the men made small talk, the basketball players lined up for a three-man weave drill.

“Coach,” Stevenson said. “Let’s see if you can pick him out.”

Seconds later, Vigor’s 260-pound power forward tore down the floor and unleashed a vicious dunk. Tuberville turned to Stevenson. “Who was that?” he asked. “That,” Stevenson said, “is Sen’Derrick Marks.” Tuberville offered Marks a scholarship on the spot, Stevenson said.

This story tells Joe that Marks is a helluva athlete with good footwork. If the Bucs can land him in the second round, Joe would be content.

Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com points to the Bucs taking Knowshon Moreno in the first round in his updated mock draft

Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com has updated his first round mock draft. This week he has the Bucs choosing Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno.

The Bucs’ running back position has seen a fair share of injuries the past two seasons, so it’s imperative they bring in a franchise type of back. Moreno is a naturally gifted runner with ideal instincts and suddenness at the line of scrimmage. He should go a long way toward giving the Bucs a new identity on offense under new coach Raheem Morris.

Though Joe has documented on several occasions he hopes the Bucs draft a defensive lineman, specifically a tackle, in the first round. Joe wouldn’t lose an ounce of sleep if the Bucs drafted Moreno.

Joe would prefer the Bucs stay away from a running back in the first round every year. Running backs are just too expensive and have too short of a shelf life. Solid RBs can be found off the scrap heap. Look at Earnest Graham: he was a free agent. Look at Willie Parker of the Steelers. He has been a starting tailback on two Super Bowl-winning teams and he couldn’t start for his college team (North Carolina).

But if the Bucs must draft a running back in the first round, you will find few better than Moreno.

The thought of having no good reason to post this picture has Joe in tears.

Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia’s agent was told by Bucs general manager Mark Dominik that Garcia’s services are no longer needed at the CITS.

“My time in Tampa has come to an end,” Garcia said.

Joe is chagrin over this. But the worst thing about this news? No more Carmella!!!

Joe sometimes has a habit of declaring his lust for certain women. That’s why you see references to Carmella, Jenn Sterger, Tiffany Simons and Jenn Brown. At the risk of not sounding like a man, Joe has to confess he has a mancrush on Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji. Joe would go crazy if somehow the stud would fall to the Bucs with the 19th pick.

But if Todd McShay of BSPN is to be believed, the only way the Bucs get their hands on Raji would be via a trade. McShay talks about some players in the NFL draft who see their stock rising and falling. Raji’s is rising.

Nolan Nawrocki of ProFootballWeekly suggests the Tyson Jackson will be wearing pewter and red instead of purple and yellow this fall.

Like many NFL observers, Nolan Nawrocki of ProFootballWeekly.com believes the Bucs need to upgrade their defensive line. In his mock draft, he has the Bucs selecting LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson in the first round.

With Kevin Carter entering what may be his final year, the Buccaneers have a mentor in place who could help groom Jackson into the rock they need on the left side to stop the power “0” and improve their run defense. Many league insiders have suggested the Bucs could be hesitant to ever draft another LSU defensive lineman after they had problems with Booger McFarland, but the Bucs do a good job of maintaining their poker face about their draft intentions.

Joe isn’t so sure a left defensive end is needed that much, but he wouldn’t lose sleep over it. (Joe, unlike Nawrocki, also knows Kevin Carter is a free agent).

Defensive tackle is where the Bucs need to upgrade, but Joe doesn’t want to see the Bucs make a reach for one either. If the Bucs truly feel Jackson would upgrade the defensive line, fine.

Bucs defensive coordinator Jim Bates crashed and burned in just one season leading the Broncos' defense in 2007.

We’ve all heard about Bucs new defensive coordinator Jim Bates and his great successes around the NFL.

That got Joe wondering. Why did Bates’ 2007 defense stink up the joint in Denver, where he was about to get demoted after his first and only season as Broncos’ defensive coordinator”?

Bates quit before Mike Shanahan dethroned him.

Under Bates, Denver’s defense went from average in 2006 (ninth in points allowed) to the bottom of the league in 2007 (28th in points allowed).

Here’s three names for you: Jarvis Moss, Tim Crowder and Marcus Thomas. These are the three defensive linemen the Broncos drafted in 2007.

According to the Denver Post, Bates had a huge hand in this draft. And that makes sense, since Shanahan was the offensive guru, general manager and under increased pressure to take his defense to the next level.

If Bates hasn’t been given carte blanche of the Broncos’ defense, he clearly possessed the most influential voice in the team’s draft war room last weekend. The Broncos made four picks in the draft and three were defensive linemen.

Let the Jim Bates era begin.

Bates’ picks haven’t impressed. Moss, the former Gator stud, has been a bust. He was the 17th overall pick (the Broncos traded up). Crowder (2nd round) had an encouraging season under Bates in ’07, but rode the bench for 2008. Thomas (4th round) has been a non-factor and had legal issues.

If Bates was, in fact, making the calls on defense, then he also judged Simeon Rice worthy of a $3 million deal in Denver, after the Bucs let him walk. Rice accomplished nothing and was inactive for some games.

Joe’s got a lot of respect for Bates’ record around the league. But he definitely has something to prove in Tampa. Bottom line is he got fired – quickly – in Denver, where there’s always been a fair amount of loyalty and stability.

And let Joe be the first to say Bates and the Bucs look to deal for Tim Crowder.

It appears that Donald Penn doesn't communicate well with his agent.

Depending on who you believe, Bucs restricted free agent left tackle Donald Penn is either close to a deal, or talks are not going well.

Last week, Stephen Holder of the St Petersburg Times wrote that Penn was near a deal to sign a new contract.

Just talked to Donald Penn and he is ready to strike a deal.

His thoughts in a nutshell: “Film doesn’t lie,” he said. “I think I deserve it. I want to make sure my family is financially secure. . . I’ve been the lowest-paid starting left tackle for two years and you want to be compensated.”

Penn added that the Bucs and his agent were close to a deal during the season, but things never got finalized for some reason.

A day later, Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune spoke with Penn’s agent and got a much darker prediction than Penn gave Holder.

Talks aimed at securing a new deal for Penn have not been going on for days or even weeks. They’ve been going on for months and there hasn’t been all that much progress, according to Penn’s agent.

The agent, in fact, doesn’t seem very confident at this point that a deal will get done. And while some could argue that it’s early in the process, it’s really not.

So who is yanking who? Is Penn really that out of touch to what his agent is doing, or — Joe understands this may be a shocking assertion — could Penn’s agent be using Cummings?

Seems as though the former might be more accurate. Penn told Holder last Wednesday a deal was imminent. Here it is nearing noon Monday and nothing has changed.

Speaking on Sirius NFL Radio Saturday, Bucs free agent wide receiver Antonio Bryant said he wanted to stay in Tampa.

It seems The Dream hopes Bucs free agent wide receiver Antonio Bryant continues to wear pewter and red. And it seems Bryant also wants to stay.

So what’s the hangup?

E-squared of the Tampa Tribune caught up with The Dream after he tried to motivate the Bolts (unsuccessfully) at the Ice Palace Saturday. The Dream told E-squared:

“We just want Antonio to be in a Tampa Bay Buccaneer uniform,’’ Morris said. “Anytime you can have that kind of production, be that good of a teammate, do the things he did last year, that’s pretty special. We’re just crossing our fingers right now hoping he’s a Buc. [General Manager] Mark Dominik has been doing a great job to ensure that, so we’ll in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully he’ll be in a Bucs uniform wearing No. 89 running down the field scoring touchdowns.’’

Speaking on Sirius NFL Radio Saturday, Bryant had a variety of subjects to talk about including signing with the Bucs.

In short, it doesn’t seem like Bryant thinks much of Michael Clayton, likes the fact the Bucs kept assistant coach Richard Mann and front office executive Doug Williams and likes Luke McCown and Jeff Garcia, and likes Tampa Bay.

On Chucky being fired:

“Coach Gruden took the fall for the players, for the team. If anyone complains about Gruden, then they are not team players.”

On McCown:

“People forget I caught Luke’s first two touchdown passes in Cleveland. He’s smart and he’s always prepared.”

On Garcia:

“Jeff Garcia may not be the prototypical quarterback but he also has more heart than most. He’s the first guy I would pick if I had to go into a war with. You have to be excited to play with a guy who lays it all on the line like he does.”

And when asked if he would prefer to play for the Bucs next season, Bryant responded:

“The Bucs know I want to stay.”

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com throws out some names to keep in mind when free agency signings begin in a short two weeks. Among the players Florio brought up were two that Bucs fans are talking quite a bit about: Albert Haynesworth and Antonio Bryant.

Bucs quarterback Luke McCown was a guest on Sirius NFL Radio recently with the interview rebroadcast Saturday. Sadly, Joe missed most of it but did pick up on a few interesting things McCown had to say about the Bucs offense under new offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

“The new offense will be a hybrid-West Coast offense with more of an emphasis on throwing the ball downfield with a lot of play action.”

Joe is somewhat glad to read this. Though Joe was hopeful the Bucs would scrap the West Coast offense, it’s good to hear the Bucs will not rely on the dink-and-dunk passing any longer.

“There will also be a lot less verbiage. The playbook is getting pared down.”

Joe doesn’t know what to make of this but he assumes there will be less delay of game penalties as a result, which of course is a good thing.

"Brian, I love you, bro. But I'm not here to love you anymore."

Joe is waiting somewhat patiently for Mark Dominik and Raheem The Dream to trade or release Brian Griese. Maybe they can get back the 2009 sixth round pick the Bucs gave the Bears for him last year.

There is absolutely no reason to have Son of Bob on the roster in 2009. None.  

And Joe is nervous and perplexed because the MSM and sports radio talking heads are acting as if Griese will return. It’s almost as if that seems OK with them.

Talk about treating the new regime with kid gloves. 

Can we not do better for a backup quarterback?  Son of Bob cost the Bucs $4.2 million in 2008, according to USA Today.

Surely, there is a No. 2 QB with at least some potential available. And one that costs as much or less than Griese.

The Bucs need a No. 2 QB with upside. If Luke McCown is the starter, absolutely nobody knows whether he is durable or not. Plus McCown likes to run the ball, which will expose him to more hits than most.

Maybe jeff Garcia would be willing to come in specifically (key word: specifically) as a backup to McCown. Garcia accepted the reserve role in Philly three years ago for $1.3 million. There’s no reason to think he wouldn’t do it again, especially at age 39.

Garcia has earned more than $37 million over the past seven years. He’s not broke and might be happy to come back to Tampa for, say, $2 million.

There’s no way Jeff Jagodzinski and The Dream are going to name Son of Bob the opening day starter, and there’s no way the Bucs go anywhere, or accomplish anything for the future, with Griese playing significant minutes. And since Son of Bob will never start, shouldn’t the Bucs bring somebody in to truly compete with McCown? Isn’t that healthy?

Let Joe be the first in 2009 to say Griese needs to be 100 percent out of town. The sooner the better.

Joe is a pimp for the NFL Network, largely because it is such a quality channel. If you happen to have some low rent cable system that doesn’t have the NFL Network (but makes sure to run a continuous loop about a swingset in Brandon city park) then you need to disable the cable right now and be a man: Get NFL Network.

The NFL Network is just outstanding, partially because of NFL Films. Here, NFL Films has a highlght package of hits from Ronde Barber.

Enjoy and get rid of your 20th Century media distribution outlet (does the term “Out House Networks” mean anything to you?).