Finally. Finally! Joe has figured out who defensive line coach Keith Millard reminds him of. It’s Jesse “The Body” Ventura.

The man’s coachspeak sounds like Ventura talking to Mean Gene Okerlund circa 1985 on WOR-TV. Ahhh, Joe longs for his teen years. The invigorating, inspiring voice resurrecting the Bucs’ D-line sat down for an interview Thursday with the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 and rapid-fired takes on his students.

So what does Millard, a former All-Pro manbeast of defensive tackle himself, think of Da’Quan Bowers?

“Oh, man. He’s a brute. You remember Reggie [White]. That’s what I think of when I think of him. Big strong 285-pound guy, 16 [percent] body fat. Unbelievable explosion out of his stance,” Millard said. “When he gets in his stance we call him hidden dragon crouching tiger. I mean he is down there low. Just got to clean up his technique and his lines a little bit, how he’s gettin’ off and staying on his lines. You know, getting him to use a little more footwork.

“He likes to go right down the middle of people. He likes to blow people up. You gotta have a little bit of changeup in there. You know what I’m talking about Ian. But he’s coming along great. We’re trying to get him healthy at the same time, you know, so we’re a little bit slower on bringing him along as far as the technique and things of that nature.

“We’re making sure he’s assignment sound. But we don’t want to push hin too much and not be able to have him for the season. We want him for the season.”

Reggie White? That’s the highest of high comparisons. Of course, Joe knows Bowers has yet to play a down, but Joe got fired up hearing Millard spit that out as only he can.

A little scary that Millard doesn’t consider Bowers healthy, but we’ll all know the truth soon enough. Nonetheless, Joe’s excited to see the guy who is a massive X factor for the Bucs this season.

For those unfamiliar with Jesse Ventura, also a former Bucs radio man, here’s a clip below:

What mentors does Raheem Morris credit for his success? (yes, Joe realizes haters will be quick to say Raheem has a losing record.)

Surely there’s a long list from Raheem’s 10 years coaching in the league. But somewhat surprisingly, it appears the Bucs head coach puts Derrick Brooks atop the list, so he told the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday.

“Everybody knows he’s the Don. And that’s how we refer to him,” Raheem said of Brooks. “I guarantee you. Half the stuff I say, I got from him, that he probably got from Dungy or some of the great coaches he worked for, Coach Bowden.

“I’ll never forget, it’s like clockwork for me right now, about him explaining to me one day about falling back in Cover 2. He talked about letting the 3-technique win. And he talked about ‘taking two steps, three steps, if you go any farther you’re going to go too far you won’t be able to fall back. You won’t to make the play.’ To this day it’s a coaching point.

“It is absolutely from the Don. That is not in any playbook.”

Brooks was at Bucs practice yesterday, and Raheem acknowledged that Brooks still has a heavy influence.

Hopefully, Brooks has all the young linebackers on speed dial.

The Bucs won’t be cutting massive checks to their big free agent signings until next month. But it’s coming, so ESPN blogger Pat Yasinskas detailed today.

Yasinskas says he’s looked at the contracts of Davin Joseph and hopefully-not-overpaid Quincy Black, and they’ll get big first-year paydays before their annual salaries slowly drop.

The Bucs didn’t give Joseph a signing bonus on his seven-year, $52 million contract. Instead, they put a ton of money right up at the front of Joseph’s contract. They gave him a $9.5 million base salary for this year and the same for next year. Both years are fully guaranteed.

After that, Joseph’s base salary drops to $6 million in 2013 and stays the same in 2014. It rises to $7 million in 2015 and stays the same in 2016. In 2017, Joseph’s schedule salary is $7.5 million.

The Bucs took a similar tact when they brought back linebacker Quincy Black. He didn’t get a signing bonus either, but he got a big first-year salary. Black will earn $6 million this year and his salary drops to $5.5 million for each of the following four years.

Looking at the massive payday for Quincy Black — Quincy Black! — Joe wonders how incredibly motivated Geno Hayes must be. Hayes will be a free agent in 2012.

One could make an argument that Hayes, who turns just 24 next week, is more valuable right now.

Joe’s great partners at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, Brandon Auto Mall by Ed Morse and Ed Morse Auto Plaza Buick/GMC Mazda and Suzuki in Port Richey are tremendous givers in the community year-round.

Now through August 14, you can head out to any Bay area Ed Morse dealer and donate school supplies to score a free ticket to Lowry Park Zoo. The supplies will help students in Pasco County. And the zoo animals will enjoy your visit. It’s that simple.

The Aqib Talib saga has now taken what possibly could be a sad turn for Bucs fans. Power-hungry commisioner Roger Goodell has retained judge, jury and executioner rights to player disciplne as it relates to the league conduct policy.

ProFootballTalk.com delivers the news this morning, via Adam Schefter of BSPN. The issue was a negotiating point in the new labor agreement, and it seems Goodell won out in the 11th hour.

So what does this mean? Well, in Joe’s mind, Goodell is not going to take any kind of swift action to suspend Talib for being arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon in Texas during the offseason. Talib’s trial is scheduled for March 2012.

Joe’s of the mind that Talib is nowhere near a priority for Goodell because Talib is not a big-name player. He may be around here. But nationally? Hardly. And Goodell has no pressure on him to do anything.

If you think who the player is doesn’t make a difference, then Joe has swamp land to sell you.

Plus, considering there is no hard evidence available to Goodell that reveals Talib used a gun at his sister’s house, if Goodell is a remotely reasonable person, he’ll have to let the courts play out the case before issuing any judgement against Talib — much like was done when Talib slugged a defenseless cab driver in 2009, as the guy drove down the highway. Goodell waited to see how the case played out, and Talib was suspended for opening day of 2010.

Then there’s that sticky potential complication of Goodell’s right to suspend a player when he wasn’t under contract during the asinine lockout.

Of course, there’s always a slim chance Talib goes to talk to Goodell and cuts a deal with the hatchetman.

Click below to learn about Dorman & Gutman and the experience and accolades of its attorneys.

As can be expected, Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net gives his detailed breakdown of what went down yesterday at a padded Bucs training camp practice.

The wild and wacky 2011 season continues to be unique. Signed free agents still haven’t practiced (hopefully today), and now the Bucs won’t prepare in a traditional way for Game 1 of the preseason, Friday Aug. 12 in Kansas City.

Speaking to the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, Wednesday afternoon on WDAE-AM 620, Raheem Morris explained his club will care little about their opponent until the day before the game.

We “might go into [the preseason opener] with two days of preparation, one day, whatever the case may be, because I think it’s more important for us to get our brand of football in place and then go excecute … rather than a normal game plan,” Raheem said.

This is out of the norm, even for a preseason game, but almost necessary for all teams, courtesy of the asinine lockout. Joe can only imagine the craziness on a club with a new coach and/or a new quarterback.

Joe’s putting even less stock in any preseason result this season.

Well, it now it’s official; Cadillac is gone.

There are few better sources out of St. Louis than veteran sports guy Howard Balzer, who has covered the NFL all kinds of ways over the years. And Balzer Twittered moments ago that Cadillac has joined the Rams.

@HBalzer721 Cadillac Williams has agreed to terms with the Rams

Joe wrote about this earlier a couple of ways (scroll down) but Joe’s going to take this space to wave goodbye to Caddy, who was a model of determination and character, and delivered a lot of great moments for Bucs fans. Anyone who’s been to training camp the last couple of years knows that Cadillac was hands down the fan favorite.

Joe remembers talking to Davin Joseph during the 2009 preseason about Caddy. Joseph basically told Joe that Cadillac was an extraordinary inspiration for the entire team. Essentially saying there’s guys with work ethic, and then there’s Cadillac in another league.

Joe hopes to be proven wrong, but Joe thinks the Bucs made a mistake by basically choosing unproven Kregg Lumpkin over durable Cadillac, who didn’t miss a game in 2009 and 2010, and was a realiable third-down option.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik talked this week about how he wanted to get back to fans knowing numbers of players and bonding with homegrown Bucs talent.

Everybody knew and loved No. 24.

Count former Bucs quarterback Shaun King among those not crying over the apparent departure of Cadillac Williams.

Speaking as co-host on The King David Show today on 1010 AM, King said Earnest Graham can do everything Cadillac can at the running back position.

“I think they’re the same guy. I dont feel like there’s a lot of separation between Earnest and Cadillac,” King said. “Earnest is almost a clone. Both understand the offense, both are serviceable. If you need one to start at tailback for a couple of games you’re going to be fine. They both understand the pass protections.”

But King is nervous about LeGarrette Blount and Kregg Lumpkin trying to fill that role, especially in big games.

“When you get in that huddle on third down, it’s loud, it’s wordy,” King said before barking a 3rd-down call that made Joe’s head spin and stop transcribing.

“The running back has to read mike to sam, then the play is changed. That stuff is confusing. The ability to process that is difficult for guys who don’t even understand the fundamentals of what’s going on.”

With Blount and Lumpkin not on the team for the 2010 offseason and at home during the asinine lockout, King says neither has had sufficient time with his position coach to be reliable under pressure. And it’s safe to say Allen Bradford is in the same boat.

Joe has no doubt Graham can fill Cadillac’s role as well, or better, than Cadillac. However, for Joe, that’s not the point when measuring the loss of Caddy.

The point is the Bucs potentially are asking a lot of 27-year-old Lumpkin, who has no track record, and running a huge risk if Graham gets hurt, which he often does.

Joe’s not going to run play-by-play of Barrett Ruud’s every move in Tennessee. But when it ties to the Bucs, yes, Joe will dabble.

In a story yesterday in The Tennessean, former Bucs defensive tackle Jovan Haye, a man front and center during the great December collapse of 2008, offered overwhelming praise for Ruud.

“Come on, the man got cheated out of Pro Bowls in ’07 and ’08,” Haye said. “Sometimes you read stuff like, ‘Oh, he’s not physical,’ but at the end of the day he had like 200 tackles one year and 160 another year. At the end of day, as long as man gets on the ground, that’s all that matters.”

Joe suggests you read the whole story linked above, there’s interesting stuff from Ruud and more from Haye on Ruud positioning a defense.

As for Ruud, getting hosed for Pro Bowls? Please.

This morning, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak appeared on “The Blitz,” hosted today by popular sports radio personality Adam Schein, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Munchak began talking about signing former Bucs leading tackler and middle linebacker Barrett Ruud. Not until last Friday did Munchak have any inkling Ruud would be available. He told Shein he was convinced Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik wouldn’t let Ruud slip away.

When Ruud was still dangling come Sunday, Munchak, after speaking with Ruud, made sure the Titans jumped on him.

Later, a Bucs fan called Schein and asked exactly how the Bucs could replace Ruud with what the Bucs currently have on the roster.

Schein, who has made no bones over the fact he is a Ruud fan, then launched into a defense of Ruud and mocked the Bucs for letting him walk.

“I still cannot believe Barrett Ruud is not playing linebacker in Tampa Bay,” Schein said. “That is their leader, their energizer bunny, their rock. I am in disbelief. I am in denial.

“If I was a Bucs fan, I would be distraught.”

Joe isn’t quite distraught only because of his trust in Dominik, but Joe has to confess he is shaking his damned head over how a rookie who was an outside linebacker is going to learn the nuances of both the Bucs defense and opposing NFL offenses in a grand total of five weeks and duplicate Ruud’s play.

Joe, and he assumes many Bucs fans, will be distraught if the not-so-stout Bucs run game last year turns into a Jim Bates Experience-like sieve this year in Ruud’s absence.

Bucs fans were crossing their fingers that fan-favorite running back Cadillac Williams would return to the Bucs.

But apparently in a move that proves Bucs rock star general manger Mark Dominik is not afraid to turn a page, Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times has Twittered that Chris Mortensen has word that Williams is finalizing a deal with St. Louis.

@NFLSTROUD Cadillac Williams finalizing deal with RAMS today, per Chris Mortensen, ESPN.

And so, if it happens, the Cadillac Williams era is over in Tampa Bay.

Joe hopes the much-heralded (by Dominik) Kregg Lumpkin, who Ted Thompson and the running back-poor Green Bay Packers let walk — is up to the task of replacing Cadillac.

By now most fans have learned there’s no salary cap floor in 2011. So the Bucs don’t have to spend another nickel in free agency this year. But with hundreds of players unsigned and hopefully Tim Crowder and Cadillac Williams still on their radar, Joe hopes they will.

So how far under the cap are the Bucs? Mike Florio, creator and curator of ProFootballTalk.com, says the Bucs join 10 other teams that are $20 million or more under the new cap.

Leading the way are the Bengals, with more than $41 million in cap room.  The Jaguars have more than $34 million.

And the bronze goes, surprisingly, to the Browns, with more than $30.4 million.

The others are:  the Buccaneers (more than $30.2 million); the 49ers (more than $30.0 million); the Chiefs (more than $28.7 million); the Broncos (more than $26.7 million); the Bills (more than $26.5 million); the Bears (more than $24 million); the Cardinals (more than $23.6 million); and the Seahawks (more than $21.2 million).

Joe reached out to Florio, who said the data is good through Monday night. The likely $1 million and change the Bucs are paying Adam Hayward in 2011, may or may not be included. Hayward signed Monday.

Joe knows some fans are surprised because they expected the Bucs to be sitting at rock bottom of this list. And Joe knows some fans are enraged that the Bucs are even on this list. Though calling the Seahawks a playoff team still sickens Joe, 25 percent of the NFL playoff teams are listed, which is worth noting.

Joe’s not an accountant, and Joe’s not excited by salary cap data, especially if there’s no floor and Rachel Watson isn’t sharing a spreadsheet with Joe in a hot tub. If there were a floor, then it would at least be somewhat interesting calculating how the Bucs would be forced to add to the roster or restructure contracts.

Winning in the NFL isn’t tied to payroll.

So what happens when a media member or outlet writes something preposterous about the Bucs? Are they punished or called out?

Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. And, of course, a response from the Bucs can take many forms. This is hardly unique to the Bucs. That kind of interaction runs throughout the sports world.

As Joe documented yesterday, Tom Balog, of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune ripped Raheem Morris in a column, essentially saying Raheem didn’t have Barrett Ruud’s back when his friend and quarterback of the defense needed him most. And Balog said that sent an ugly message to the rest of the team.

Well, at Monday’s news conference at One Buc Palace, Balog asked a question of Raheem. The head coach didn’t answer the question, told Balog he heard about the Ruud column and, with a smile on his face, said “I don’t read that garbage,” before moving on.

This calm, measured reaction from Raheem had former Bucs quarterback Shaun King doing on-air cartwheels yesterday during The King David Show on 1010 AM.

“The thing is, head coaches should roll up the local media. I don’t get this thing where, ok, the athlete is always accountable, but any time some dimwit that follows a local team writes something that’s completely wrong, they’re never held accountable for it,” King said. “He should be able to roll him up. Raheem Morris is probably the only guy over there that wanted to keep Barrett Ruud.”

“I am so sick and tired of the media not being held to the same standard as the athlete. How many guys write just bogus stuff? How many guys write stuff that’s completely wrong? How many times have you ever seen any of these guys come out and admit that ‘I was wrong?’ How many of them are held accountable?

“There should be some kind of standards and expectations that have punishments if it’s not met when it comes to people [who cover sports]. …”That’s the one thing I love about Belichick, they’re so afraid of Belichick rolling them up, they don’t even ask Belichick any weird questions.”

There are all kinds of great arguments to have when it comes to a coach’s — and a team’s —  relationship with the media. Joe’s can’t dive into all those here.

Joe has no problem with Raheem sending a public message like he did Monday. Would Raheem call out a national figure from BSPN or NFL Network in the same way? Doubtful, but possible. Regardless, Raheem is easily one of the most media-friendly head coaches in the NFL and it ain’t always going to be smooth sailing.

Has Joe ever been confronted/punished by the Bucs regarding a post during Joe’s three seasons of covering the team? Absolutely. It’s all part of the game.

Joe’s glad, though, that he runs this site in a way so it makes no difference whether the Bucs embrace him or treat him like Jeff Jagodzinski.  

Yeah, Joe already touched on this but Joe has a different perspective on the issue.

With the departure of Bucs leading tackler and middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has all but handed the open position to rookie Mason Foster.

In answering a question from former Bucs offensive guard and current WDAE-AM 620 sports personality Ian Beckles Monday, Dominik was confident Foster — who played outside linebacker last year at Washington — could handle calling plays in an NFL defense at middle linebacker.

Joe’s a big fan of Dominik, obviously, but Joe also has to be fair and balanced and while Foster with a little grooming very well could make Bucs fans forget Ruud, to expect a rookie with zero OTAs or minicamps to learn an NFL defense and opposing offensive tendencies in five weeks simply scares the hell out of Joe, and should any sober fan.

But as the great Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friends.”

There’s this Bucs linebacker by the name of Tyrone McKenzie who, reading the tea leaves this summer that Ruud was done with the Bucs (or more precise, the Bucs were done with Ruud), McKenzie flew to Ruud’s native Omaha and Ruud and McKenzie pored over game tape to help get McKenzie get up to speed on the Bucs defense, so Joe’s good friend Jenna Laine of NFL.com detailed.

With no film room to work with in the off-season, McKenzie flew up to Nebraska to meet with Ruud. The two went over tape in a hotel lobby. The former New England practice squad member says he’s ready to take over the defense, if asked.

“That was huge. Getting out there really helped me out,” says McKenzie, who now calls the plays for the defense. “Barrett is just a great guy. Just to sit down there and talk football with him, after this whole off-season, not talking football with anybody but myself, it was great to out there with him and talk football.”

Go ahead and scream that Ruud couldn’t shed a block in the Lingerie League if it makes you feel more of a man. But Ruud had to know his days as a Bucs linebacker were over or damned near over. Yet he took the time to help groom a soon-to-be former teammate take over his old job.

That my friends is a class act.

One reason Joe so enjoys reading the reports of Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune from One Buc Palace is that Balog is not afraid to tackle a subject, no matter how sensitive it may be.

In a recent blog posting by Balog, he went so far as to infer that Bucs coach Raheem Morris was an NFL version of Judas Iscariot.

Balog notes how often Morris proclaimed how he was a close friend of the departed Bucs leading tackler and middle linebacker and that Morris was known to hang out at upscale hotspots with Ruud and share an adult beverage or two.

It is because of this, Balog suggests, that Morris turned his back on Ruud when he could have saved Ruud’s job with the Bucs.

The translation for the rest of the Buccaneers: Despite however much Morris tries to be close to you now, someday, at contract time, he will not be there for you. He will disown you, just like he apparently did Ruud.

As a head coach, Morris certainly was not there for Ruud. And if he was not there for Ruud, who is he going to be there for?

The upshot of all this, is that it undermines the people-person image of Morris, who is by nature a good guy.

Now Joe loves reading Balog and probably enjoys talking football with Balog even more. Joe can see how Balog, logically, could connect the dots on this but Joe isn’t swallowing Balog’s premise. Here’s why:

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, Morris would regularly throw his weight around One Buc Palace saving roster spots or employment positions solely to people he was close with? Does anyone believe Morris would still be employed by the Bucs?

Morris is a close family friend of Jim Bates, the former Bucs defensive coordinator and architect of the heinous Jim Bates Experience, a franchise-worst defense. The defense under Bates collapsed so horribly (one could argue it was the beginning of the end of Ruud), that Morris defrocked his family friend of his coaching duties and shortly thereafter jettisoned Bates from the franchise.

Had Morris let emotions get in the way of common sense, the Bucs defense in 2009 would have been so horrific, it would have made Rosie O’Donnell look like Kathy Ireland in her prime.

Morris was also close with Derrick Brooks. What happened to him? How could anyone not like Warrick Dunn? What happened to him?

The NFL, as we are reminded time and again, is a business. If, as an NFL head coach, one doesn’t look out for No. 1, you won’t be employed for very long.

Ruud is an intelligent soul. Surely he had to know that no matter how close Morris was with him, that if Morris kept Ruud on the roster because they liked to throw down a pint or two now and then, that Morris would be torpedoing his own job security, if the coach actually believed Ruud’s presence on the roster was not in the Bucs’ best interest.

Shoot, as far as we know, the Titans could have paid Ruud more than the Bucs offered. If that is true, how exactly would that be a stab in the back?

While Joe can clearly see Balog working here and how he can draw the conclusion that Morris sold out his friend, Joe doesn’t believe that to be the case.

"I dare you to write something bad about me, Joe."

A couple of former Bucs receivers will get to extend their disappointing careers: Maurice Stovall and blocking icon Michael Clayton.

Stovall signed with the Lions, per the Detroit newspapers, and Clayton is back with the New York Giants, so says the NFL Network ticker.

Joe still can’t forgive Stovall for the worst special teams non-tackle in modern history that led to the Bucs stunning home collapse against Atlanta in December.

As for the blocking icon, Joe fully expects him to light up the preseason at the Meadowlands.

In a rare video interview that’s not a deposition,  Aqib Talib joined Adam Kohler of Bright House Sports Network to talk all things Bucs. 

Talib offers great insight as he swats at the gnats in his face at training camp.

Click here to watch.

(It figures that the sasistic cable outfit that denies its customers NFL Network would not offer embed codes.)

Joe’s glad Talib illustrates the point of new defensive line coach Keith Millard’s infectious energy. It’s good to see it’s spreading throughout the team.