It seems, fairly or unfairly, Bucs offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah’s performance in his two years with the team mirrored the entire offensive line’s play.

As a rookie, he filled in for injured Davin Joseph at right guard and did a fabulous job. Rarely was Zuttah’s name mentioned, which is the highest honor an offensive lineman can receive.

Last year, when Arron Sears when AWOL, Zuttah again filled the role of replacement, this time playing left guard. However, Zuttah didn’t quite play to the level he had when he filled in for Joseph the previous season.

How much of this had to do with a new coaching staff or learning zone blocking, Joe isn’t sure. But like Zuttah taking a step back in 2009, so too did the Bucs offensive line as a unit.

Fielding a question from Bucstats on his Twitter account, Stephen Holder, of the St. Petersburg Times, explained what Zuttah is trying to do in the offseason to bounce back from a disappointing year.

I think he’ll be better in his second season as a starter. I think he’ll spend a lot of time this offseason working on strength, which should help him. It’s too early to determine what these offensive linemen are going to be. We need to seem them in training camp with pads on to know whether there’s a concerted difference. No matter what anyone on the coaching staff says, I’ll reserve judgment until then. In any case, I totally agree with your argument that Zuttah was a weak link on the line last year and needs to step up.

Zuttah was the weak link only to the extent that he was not even projected as a starter. There was a reason he was a backup. Sure, the Bucs, remembering Zuttah’s play the previous season, had high hopes when Zuttah replaced Sears, but Zuttah played more like the backup he was projected to be.

Some players just play better on specific sides of the ball and that may be the case with Zuttah. Joe doesn’t think it’s unfair to suggest if Zuttah has a solid year, so too may the Bucs offensive line as a whole.

Joe finds this amusing bordering on comical how otherwise chatty Bucs coaches suddenly lose the gift of gab when they leave the Tampa Bay area.

Chucky can spout utter nonsense on BSPN — like how Bill Callahan was the best player’s coach he ever had for an assistant — but when it comes to the Bucs, Chucky becomes a mute. Not even when Joe spoke to Chucky in person would Chucky talk about the Bucs.

Last year, when Raheem the Dream (finally) had his fill of the horrid Jim Bates Experiment, the Bucs defrocked defensive coordinator, always willing to chat, suddenly clammed up. Not even good guy Rock Riley, after catching Bates trying to escape a fast food joint, could coerce Bates into talking.

Now add former offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski to the list. Seems as though Jagodzinski, caught by Bucs beat writer eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, offered no more insight into his former team than has Chucky or Bates, so Kaufman wrote on the TBO.com Bucs Twitter feed.

Reached out to Jeff Jagodzinski for his take on his brief Buc tenure, but the short-lived OC declined to give his side of the story.

Joe could sniff this out from across the Bay, even with a head cold.

Team Glazer doesn’t want former employees discussing the team. And the proverbial hammer hanging over their ex-employees’ heads is their contract.

“Wanna get paid? Then shut the f’ up.”

Call it a six-figure muzzle.

Stylez White wasn't exactly smiling when fans mobbed Gerald McCoy sitting alongside him at the Rays game last night. White had to leave.

Joe brought you news last night that Bucs rookie defensive tackle and first round draft pick Gerald McCoy was hounded so much by Rays fans for photos, it nearly chased him out of the Fruitdome.

While the fans didn’t run GMC out, they did run off Stylez White. The Bucs defensive end went to the Rays debacle against the Red Sux with GMC. The fans suffocated GMC so much and badgered him so much, White Twittered he had to leave.

We end up leaving McCoy was gettn mobbed.. How were we to enjoy the game?

Com’ on people. Sure, it’s cool to meet an NFL player out in public and yeah, Joe gets the excitement that GMC has brought to the Bucs. But these guys just wanted to watch a baseball game. Let them be!

If you meet them in the concourse or the parking lot or at Fergs, OK. But if they are just in their seats, leave them alone. That’s no different than bugging these guys while they are out to eat with their families.

This is no different than you getting dinnertime telemarketing calls from that yenta-outfit Out House Networks, which specializes in virtual shake downs, forcing innocent subscribers to bankroll a lamer than lame news channel that thinks you want to see 12 reports a day about a yard sale in Spring Hill and get temperature updates every 10 minutes but won’t allow the football-starved masses to watch the NFL Network.

Even the King of All Media would have been revolted by the Bucs rush defense and the Jim Bates Experiment last season.

There are two things that are prerequisites to start the workday for Joe:

1) Mass quantities of caffeine. A 16-oz. bottle of Diet Mountain Dew and a 20-oz. cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee — black — is usually inhaled before 8 a.m.

2) Howard Stern.

The King of All Media, now heard exclusively on Sirius satellite radio, has been a daily fixture for Joe and a morning ritual for some 18 years. When that guy retires, it will be like a death in the family.

So yesterday morning, Joe heard Stern talk about a contest that he’s planning that will have guys with foot fetishes blindfolded, and they would have to smell people’s feet to determine which is a man’s smelly feet and which is a woman’s.

For some reason, the thought of sniffing fungus-encrusted toes sprang to mind the Jim Bates Experiment.

This abortion of a stunt last year with the Bucs defense, this Jim Bates Experiment, smelled worse than a overflowing septic tank much less people’s feet. Joe’s nostrils flared just looking at the numbers.

Last season the Bucs coughed up nearly a heinous five yards a carry — five yards!!! Well, 4.8 yards to be precise, but Joe assumes you get the drift. It was the worst in the NFL in 2009.

The Bucs were so horrid with the rushing defense, they gave up 25 running plays of 20-yards or more. That’s 25!!! No other team in the NFL had more than 19.

Opposing running backs gushed through the Bucs defense so bad, even British Petroleum officials had to turn their backs.

It’s no wonder Bucs general manager Mark Dominik drafted two rookie defensive tackles with his first two picks. But was the defensive front the only problem with the Bucs stopping the run? Time will tell.

To depend on two rookies and a second-year player to all of a sudden stop the rush is asking a lot. Joe sure hopes Gerald McCoy and Brian Price are up to the task.

"Two good receivers on the field at the same time? Gee, I hope I've got Marvin Lewis' cell phone on my blackberry."

One of the nails in the coffin of Chucky’s tenure as the Bucs coach may have been his infamous arrogant/clueless statement/lie to Bucs fans (via the messenger known as the Bucs pen and mic club) was that he didn’t have Joey Galloway and Antonio Bryant play together because he couldn’t figure out a way to get both speedy receivers on the field at the same time.

Seems as though Bengals and near-Bucs coach Marvin Lewis has no such conundrums.

Lewis and his offensive coordinator, Bob Bratkowski, (who was the offensive coordinator at the University of Miami when the Canes won national titles in 1989 and 1991) are having Bryant, the former Bucs star receiver,  play multiple receiver positions in order to maximize his time on the field, writes Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

This is a task that Chucky famously failed to grasp or refused to consider but has Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer all giddy.

” … or moving Antonio (Bryant) around all over the place. No. 2, No. 3, No. 1. You don’t want them to know where he’s going to be every time. It’s not so much getting him on a mismatch. We don’t think it matters if it’s going to be a nickel (corner), linebacker, or starting corner. We think it’s going to be a mismatch. But just getting him in a spot where the defense isn’t sure where he’s going to be once we break the huddle.”

Exhibit A is that Bryant is playing the Z (strong side) as well as the F (the slot) when he has usually only played the X (the weak side).

“I like it. I like playing different spots,” said Bryant, who caught a career-high 83 balls in 2008 when Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden had him at the Z. “It allows you to use all of your talent.”

Using all of your talent! Something Chucky didn’t feel like doing for whatever reason.

As many coaches that fly in from around the country to hang with Chucky in his bunker to go over football Xs and Ox, maybe Chucky should fly in Lewis and Bratkowski so Chucky can comprehend how to get two talented receivers who can stretch the field on the same play.

Ah, the life of a football celebrity in a football town. That’s what Bucs rookie defensive tackle and newly-deemed savior of the Bucs defense Gerald McCoy is finding out.

Seems GMC has some good box seats behind the Rays dugout for tonight’s game with the Red Sox. Attending the game with Stylez White, GMC, after stealing someone’s fries, apparently agreed to pose for a photo.

And another.

And another.

Pretty soon, so many Bucs fans wanted a photo of GMC, he’s about to leave the game.

How does Joe know this? Because Joe follows GMC on Twitter and GMC has documented his night.

Now the pictures have begun! I gave one and now they continue. Might have to leave game early!

Com’on people, let GMC enjoy the game. The way Matt Garza is pitching, GMC and Stylez will be leaving anyway because it’s a blowout.

At least wait for GMC to get up and leave before you ask for a photo.

Joe has been following GMC before the draft and his Twitterings are very entertaining and hardly malicious or mean or even provocative. Just clean fun.

Joe does hope GMC continues to Twitter and doesn’t begin spreading agent-driven speculation.

It seems Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times is taking a new and smart twist on microblogging.

The Bucs beat reporter is fielding questions from fans, not from his Times e-mail account, but from Twitter (you can’t send a Twitter question/message without having a Twitter account). Questions that catch Holder’s eye are being answered in detail on the Times’ Bucs blog.

In the first installment of this feature, Holder decides to tackle, figuratively, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. Holder, though hesitant to make any bold predictions, suggests one impressive trait of Freeman’s is his ability to handle adversity.

Another area I think Freeman compares favorably with good young quarterbacks is in his learning curve. From all indications, he is picking things up quickly despite being put in an unenviable situation last year in which he had to re-learn an offense after the change in offensive coordinators. I think you’ll see a very big step forward in terms of savvy and understanding this fall, largely because of the time he’s spending this offseason in the film room and with his new quarterbacks coach. That should translate into good decision-making and improved timing.

Of course, the timing may take time. Remember that the Bucs quite possibly will have two rookies and one second-year wide receivers on the field in three-receiver sets this season. So it’s quite possible Freeman will put up better numbers in the latter weeks of the season as opposed to, say, September.

Joe caught up with one of the coolest ex-Bucs around, former offensive lineman Tony Mayberry at the Chris Thomas Memorial golf outing at Feather Sound. Trust Joe, the guy has lost so much weight, Mayberry looks more like a long distance runner than an offensive lineman.

Mayberry shared some of his thoughts about the Bucs offensive line and what he expects this season.

JoeBucsFan:  What happened to the Bucs offensive line? That unit seemed on the cusp of something great and they really regressed last year. Was that due to trying implement zone blocking?

Tony Mayberry:  [Zone blocking] is not easy to learn. Those guys did a good job if you ask me. There are a lot of talented players there. [Learning zone blocking] is just a matter of time and playing with each other, learning how each other fits in. It’s hard enough learning a system, but learning a new system at the pro level with guys who were quite proficient in a system they were previously in, that will challenge you.

Joe:  Some have suggested that former offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski getting fired messed with the progress of the offensive line?

Mayberry:  Football is adaptation and the ability to overcome. If it doesn’t kill you,  it will make you stronger. I believe the offensive line will be the most improved aspect of the team, yeah.

Joe:  Joe is of the belief Aaron Sears not showing up and Jeff Faine being injured early hurt the offensive line more than anything.

Mayberry:  Now that is unique situation with Sears. I wish the best for the guy. He has to get himself right before he can think about doing something [on a football field]. People don’t understand the stress that is put on some. You know, unless you walk a mile in their shoes, it’s very hard to judge. I hope he has good people around him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a comeback. When he played early on, I saw a lot of talent.

Joe:  So do you believe Jagodzinski’s firing stunted the offensive line’s progress more than injuries and absences?

Mayberry:  Jagodzinski? That’s just an obstacle that may slow your learning but what you learn in the NFL is to adapt and overcome. Dudes get hurt. They don’t stop the season. They keep playing. If someone gets hurt, get the next dude up and coach him up as best you can. Make sure he doesn’t decide the game for us.

Yes, Joe’s over the ridiculousness of hiring Jim Bates as Bucs defensive coordinator last year.

Sure, Bates was very qualified on paper. But as the Bucs forced a defensive scheme on the team without the horses to run said scheme, it was obvious Mark Dominik and Raheem The Dream had made a fundamental error in hiring Bates. They learned the hard way that a coordinator’s job is to best utilize the talent on the roster, not hope for the best from a scheme that doesn’t fit the players.

For Joe, the whole Bates thing bubbled to the surface yesterday, as Joe was glued to WDAE-AM 620 listening to the Tampa Bay Lightning introduce their new general manager, Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman fielded a detailed question about what kind of hockey team he wants to develop from Day 1– a speed time, a finesse team, a physical team, etc.

The response from Yzerman was quick and direct: “The style of play is dictated by the players you have,” Yzerman said.

That got Joe wondering why that was a such an easy answer from Yzerman, yet Dominik and Raheem The Dream didn’t understand that concept when they set out to build a winner in 2009. That’s still scary.

Joe believes Dominik and Raheem The Dream learned their lesson big time. But it’s still disturbing that the Bates debacle ever happened.

Just wanted to bust out a thank you for all the support in May, which is one of the quietest months of the year for NFL happenings.

JoeBucsFan.com is very close to April’s record traffic numbers. And while Joe might miss that mark, May is a lock to be the second best ever traffic month on JoeBucsFan.com.

Joe is humbled. Thank you!

Look for Joe’s message board to launch this summer, and for some other announcements that will enhance the daily content here.

Tanard Jackson was one of the few draft picks from the Chucky era that panned out. There are few more distructive hitters than Jackson.

Jackson, Joe thought, was one of the Bucs’ handful of decent defensive players, a bone-crunching ballhawk of a safety.

Granted, last year he missed the first four games of the season as he was suspended by the NFL for allegedly missing a whizz quiz mandated by the league.

Despite Joe believing Jackson is budding star, David Gardner, of FootballOutsiders.com, isn’t as enamoured. Gardner claims Jackson’s numbers have slipped every season since his rookie year and claims last year Jackson was one of the worst tacklers in the NFL if not for his teammate Sabby the Goat.

This year, for the first time, the Football Outsiders game charting project tracked broken and missed tackles. On defense, no defense player was shredded more than 15 times, with one exception: Tampa Bay safety Sabby Piscitelli, who led the league with 19 broken tackles.

Fellow safety Tanard Jackson, who has never quite been able to repeat his excellent rookie performance, also missed quite a few tackles when he came up in run support. When they weren’t busy missing tackles last year, Jackson and Piscitelli were trying to trying to cover up the play of cornerbacks Ronde Barber — who may have finally hit the age wall — and Elbert Mack, who allowed a dismal 11.4 yards per pass according to our game charters.

This is a bit surprising to Joe, but the videotape/DVD apparently doesn’t lie. The camera doesn’t blink.

Joe wonders if Jackson’s poor showing with missed tackles (this came as quite a surprise when Joe first learned of it) last season was part of a domino effect created by horrid play upfront. Or was Jackson, as Gardner suggests, not just covering for Barber, but also covering for Sabby the Goat, therefore spreading himself too thin?

Tuesday, Joe met Bucs wide receiver Michael Clayton at the Chris Thomas Memorial golf outing at Feather Sound Country Club. Clayton actually flew in from parts unknown Tuesday morning just to help raise funds for the Suncoast Hospice Foundation, an organization that assists those in need from all walks of life.

Clayton spoke with Joe about the Bucs offense this season, specifically about the professional growth and influence quarterback Josh Freeman has had on his teammates.

JoeBucsFan:  How much has it helped both Josh Freeman and you, along with the offense, to be able to work with Freeman for a full offseason?

Michael Clayton:  Oh, it’s fabulous. [Freeman] has done everything in his power to make himself better. The reps that he is getting, it’s a whole new, different level of intensity. The throws that he is making [now], we didn’t get a chance to see that last year.

Basically last year, he was just waiting in the wings.

The way he approaches the game, he really makes our team better. We have made some good choices in bringing in some good receivers so [Freeman] will be able to make some plays down the field. [Working with Freeman in the offseason], it’s been a good thing this year.

Joe:  What was your take on how Freeman actually went to Arrelious Benn’s hotel room during OTAs to work with him and Mike Williams to go over tape?

Clayton:  He definitely has that leadership role in him. To be able to relate to young guys and let the young guys know what he went through and maybe why he wasn’t as successful, to let those young guys learn from his situation is very big. For [Freeman] to be more mature this year and kind of bring those guys along, they are going to be better for it in the future.

Joe:  Do you see guys, your teammates or coaches feed off of that energy and work ethic?

Clayton:  Oh yeah, definitely, I’ve already seen Rah scripting his plays for the offense so he won’t get embarrassed every day [laughs]. So I’ve seen that too. [Freeman] has really upgraded this team by his dedication to be there in the offseason and to do his diligence. We’re all better off for it.

Joe:  Last summer when Kellen Winslow spoke to Joe, he described Freeman as the “black Ben Roethlisberger.” How accurate is that?

Clayton:  [laughs] He has all of those talents! Josh has a little stronger of an arm and maybe more accurate but Ben can move in his pocket so well. That will come for Josh with experience. Josh is blessed with that talent as well. Year by year we will see him get better but he is one of those guys [like Roethlisberger] who can think on the run and make plays when it’s not there.  That’s really big for a second-year quarterback who didn’t play for the first seven games. We’re excited for him.

In what might be great news for Donald Penn, but is surely welcome word for every NFL fan, a very upliftling legal development has severely cut the likelihood of owners locking out players in 2011.

That’s the take from longtime BSPN legal analyst Lester Munson.  Not only did Munson give a lengthy legal explanation on The Fabulous Sport Babe show Monday of how the Supreme Court ruling in an anti-trust case against the NFL would impact the lockout, BSPN.com published a snippet of his reasoning in a Q&A .

What is the future impact of this ruling? Many observers expect the owners to lock out the players in March 2011. Is a lockout now more or less likely?

The opinion from the Supreme Court makes a lockout less likely but clearly does not eliminate it. The NFL has clearly been preparing for a lockout. The league hired Robert Batterman, the New York lawyer who led NHL owners through a season-long lockout in 2004-05. The NFL has hired Troy Vincent, the former president of the NFL Players Association, in an effort to work directly with players. It has organized older players as an independent force. The coup de grace would have been antitrust immunity. With immunity, the owners could have locked out the players without any concern that an antitrust case could have ended the lockout and exposed the owners to triple damages. After Monday’s ruling, the owners face the prospect of antitrust attacks on any lockout, with the prospect of injunctions and treble damages.

Joe’s not big on boring legal talk. But in the radio interview, Munson pretty much explained that the players now have leverage to drop a now likely antitrust suit on the owners, which the owners are very doubtful to win. So as of yesterday, owners are quite motivated to reach a new collective bargaining agreement in 2010.

Munson further explained that an antitrust cast brought by the players would force the owners to reveal their detailed accounting records for the world to see, something NFL ownership wants no part of.

While not a Bucs story, per se, this news is important to everything NFL. 

As for Penn, he just found himself some strong leverage, in addition to being the only qualified guy on the Bucs roster to handle the most critical position on the offensive live.

Jeff Faine was not one of the reasons the Bucs offensive line was subpar last year.

Entering the 2009 season, Joe thought the strength of the team was its offensive line. Joe was certain the offensive line was about to break through as one of the dominant units of the NFL.

That didn’t happen. In fact, the line regressed. Joe assumed that was because the Bucs were trying to incorporate zone blocking, which is what most of the NFL employs. As a result, Joe was of the belief the line didn’t play nearly as well as expected because it was learning a new system.

Not so, claims Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times. Holder believes, indirectly, that the Bucs head coach is the culprit to the disappointing offensive line.

But in fairness, the performance of the line in 2009 wasn’t totally a product of sub-par play. The linemen were done a disservice by their coaching staff and were left to deal with a change in offensive coordinator that resulted in a philosophical shift.

Under Jon Gruden, the Bucs were a power running team and they built their line accordingly. The members of that line are still here, but fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski changed to a zone-blocking scheme that requires more athleticism and agility. When he was relieved of his duties and Greg Olson took over, the Bucs used a combination of zone blocking and man-to-man tactics.

And who hired/fired Jagodzinski again? Yes, Raheem the Dream.

Joe’s not so certain this was the main reason the line stunk. From talking to various offensive linemen, Joe learned that zone blocking cannot be perfected in a season, it takes time. Also, remember the Bucs had injuries and others went into hiding (literally).

While the Bucs did change offensive coordinators, Pete Mangurian, the Bucs offensive line coach, remained. So Joe’s not so sure Raheem the Dream is the reason the line stunk.

It would have also helped if Dunderhead Trueblood would remember the snap count from time to time.

Fans of Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski will be eager to know that he will be pinch-hitting for the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, broadcasting live from the Chris Thomas Memorial Golf tournament at Feather Sound heard today at 3 p.m. on WDAE-AM 620.

“The Big Dog,’ the organizer of the event to honor his former colleague at WDAE, the Great GOB,, will be a bit too busy so Justin will handle the heavy lifting this afternoon.

Though Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com will not make his weekly appearance today(tentatively rescheduled for Thursday), there are loads of local sports celebrities who may pop in for an interview with Justin. Just a few of the heavy hitters at the outing are Booger McFarland, Josh Freeman, Michael Clayton, Dave Andreychuk and more.

A lot has changed for Josh Freeman in the past year.

Some 12 months ago, Freeman was fresh from the wheatfields of Kansas. Two offensive coordinators, 13 losses and 11 months later, Freeman is no longer a follower. He’s trying to be a leader.

Sure, we’ve all read the stories of how Freeman prevented rookie receivers Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams from having a booty call in the middle of the night as Freeman wanted to go over tape with his new passing duo.

It’s not just rookies that Freeman is working with. Veteran center Jeff Faine noted that Freeman has taken some of Faine’s responsibilities away from him so the center can concentrate more on blocking, so reports always dapper Backwards Hat, aka Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger.

One of the guys who sees the improvement is center Jeff Faine, whose role has been reduced this year by the work Freeman has done in the offseason. For the past two seasons, Faine has been calling out the team’s blitz protections to the line and running backs. This year, Freeman is handling those duties.

“He’s maturing into the leader of the offense,” Faine said. “He’s starting to really take that role and run with it a little bit. He’s able to recognize and see things. Instead of feeling his way through things and thinking he knows what’s going on, now he does it and knows he’s right, and he’s moving forward making the right decisions.”

It’s impressive to see how the Bucs are quickly becoming Freeman’s team. It seems he is holding teammates up to a certain standard.

Nice to see that, Josh. Keep it up. Oh, and lose that ugly Royals cap, will ya?

Joe is confident that when Bucs left tackle Donald Penn decided to take a siesta and sat out OTAs last week, it got Josh Freeman’s attention.

When the Bucs tentatively decided to replace Penn with a basketball player, Freeman likely wondered what the hell is going on?

That is just what the Bucs did: As it stands in late May, if Penn decides to hold out the entire season due to his frustration with the lack of contract talks between his camp and the Bucs, it appears a guy more known for his basketball skills than his football skills will fill Penn’s void.

That’s the message the Bucs are sending Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. Demar Dotson, a former Southern Miss basketball player, is slated to replace Penn.

Their objective was to see if Dotson, a basketball player in a football player’s body, could develop his football skills to the point he’s capable of playing regularly in the NFL. So far, Dotson is proving it is possible.

Now two years removed from Southern Miss, where his entire college football career amounted to seven games played as a defensive lineman, Dotson is strengthening his grip on the backup left tackle’s job.

“He made good strides,” Bucs coach Raheem Morris said of Dotson, who stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 315 pounds. “He has slowly built the confidence in my mind and our coaches’ minds that he can play here.”

To be fair, maybe the Bucs may have stumbled upon something. Dude is 6-9, 315. That’s a walking eclipse of the sun. And a decent basketball player needs to have good footwork, especially a post player like Dotson was.

Anyone who knows anything about playing offensive line also knows that footwork is essential.

Still, Joe is rather uneasy thinking a converted basketball player will try to replace Penn. Freeman should be equally concerned, if not frightened for his well-being.

The sight of Mike Williams wearing his pewter Bucs uniform doing an endzone backflip was enough to get Joe a little jazzed for Bucs football this morning. The pickins are slim this time of year.

NFL Network cameras caught Williams’ stunt at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where about 30 NFL rookies gathered to take photos at an event sponsored by the players’ association over the weekend.

Williams was one of the lowest 2010 draft picks invited to the event.  

Gerald McCoy and Arrelious Benn also attended. And McCoy Twittered about what a good time he had with his 2010 draft classmates and then needed to express that he wasn’t having homosexual feelings toward them.

Man the rookie class of 2010 is cool as a fan! We had a blast this weekend in LA! I loved all the fellas! No homo. Lol!!

Uh, um, thanks for clarifying, Gerald.

Joe never knew Chucky was tight with a Cleveland reporter, even daring to talk about his job status to this scribe, something Chucky just about never does.

But Tony Grossi, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, apparently had a little personal chat with Chucky, who told him he was staying with BSPN for another two years. Of course, Grossi revealed this in a Q&A with a reader today and didn’t detail when Chucky fed him this line, which Joe surely wouldn’t bet on being true.

Hey, Tony: During the draft Jon Gruden and Steve Young seemed mad when the Browns passed up Colt McCoy a few times and then they were glad when the Browns picked him. They both have worked with Mike Holmgren before. With that being said, do you feel it is possible that Jon Gruden could be the Browns’ next head coach if Mangini falls short this year or am I reading more into Gruden’s reaction? — Tammy Gill, West Salem, Ohio

Hey, Tammy: I wouldn’t read anything into Gruden’s comments. First, I don’t expect him to coach in 2011. He told me he would stay with ESPN at least two more years. Second, Gruden liked McCoy a lot and thought the Browns, with Holmgren as president, would be a good destination. …

Unless Chucky promised his family he’d stay out of coaching for a certain amount of time, Joe can’t imagine that he’ll really stay in TV very long. There’s nothing about Chucky that leads one to believe he’s happier in the booth than he would be explaining why he couldn’t get Joey Galloway and Antonio Bryant on the field at the same time.

The common perception around Tampa Bay is that Team Glazer can’t or won’t spend money.

This, of course, is news to Kellen Winslow, coveted blocking icon Michael Clayton and former Bucs kicker Mike Nugent.

This nasty fact doesn’t calm Bucs fans, who are convinced Team Glazer is more concerned about their lameass English kickball team and not the Bucs, which in the eyes of the locals, is a mortal sin to red-blooded American men.

The Professor, John Clayton of BSPN, suggests Team Glazer, and by default, Bucs general manager Mark Dominik, had good reason not to spend on free agents (conveniently forgetting the elephant in the room: the soon-to-be expired CBA): There weren’t any decent free agents worth bidding on.

Q:  The general consensus from the Bucs’ front office is try to improve on last year (seven, maybe eight wins). That’s fine as far as I’m concerned, but how do they expect the financial support (ticket sales, etc.) from the fans when they have all but admitted this plan of slow progress?

Ed in Cape Coral, Fla.

A:  They can’t be blamed for not spending much this offseason because there weren’t enough quality players on the open market. For that, they can get a pass. What the Bucs must do is start rewarding some of the young, core players once they start getting toward the end of their contracts. It’s one thing to not go into free agency, but it’s another thing to lose talent. The Bucs can’t afford to do that. I’m not convinced that the Bucs are ready to make that next step to get to seven or eight wins, though. For talent, they are the fourth-best team in the NFC South. To advance, they have to be able to get to 2-4 in divisional play. If Jimmy Clausen makes an impact on the Panthers, the Bucs might be stuck at the 0-6 or 1-5 mark. They do have an easy nondivisional schedule and might be able to go 4-6 outside the division. To get to seven wins, though, they would need to go 3-3 in the division, and I think that will be tough.

John Clayton

Joe has written this time and again, though Bucs fans don’t like reading it. Part of the reason Team Glazer isn’t spending on free agents, or signing guys like Donald Penn or Barrett Ruud, is that the CBA will expire in a few months.

No less an authority than Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert has stated several times on Sirius NFL Radio that the reason most (not all) owners haven’t gone crazy spending is because no one has any idea what the salary cap will be with the new CBA, whenever that is ratified. As a result, (most) owners don’t want to paint themselves in a corner and get stuck in salary cap hell.

It’s also hard to justify paying a guy a big salary bonus when there very well may be no football next season.