Former Bucs DE Steve White

Bucs nation is rightfully ecstatic about the Gaines Adams trade. Count former Bucs defensive end Steve White among the excited Bucs faithful. 

White is a blogger and author who writes the stellar Bull Rush column for JoeBucsFan.com. In his last column, White explained that Jimmy Wilkerson should get more chances to rush from the left side, where Adams spent most downs.

With Adams gone, Wilkerson is now free to play to his strengths.

Tonight, White wrote that he sees the trade as good for both the Bears and the Bucs.

I personally think that Gaines will thrive in Chicago being coached by my old defensive line coach, Rod Marinelli (he better at least or Rod will crush him). On the other hand I can see the Bucs having some addition by subtraction. Now Greg White can take over as a starter on the right side bringing good pressure even on early downs. Jimmy Wilkerson will also get more opportunites to rush from left end as well. And finally now that Kyle Moore is healthy he can get some looks as a rush guy inside on 3rd downs.

White also told Joe that he expects Adams will need a full offseason with Marinelli to reach his potential. For now, Gaines will be “a rotation guy at best” behind the Bears’ starting ends.

Now that the Bucs have absolutely robbed the Bears of a second round pick in 2010, sending them Gaines Adams and his massive salary and even bigger wasted potential, Bucs fans and management can turn more of their attention to another overpaid underachiever: Michael Clayton.

Joe can’t help but think that the Adams trade turns up the heat on Clayton, the league’s first blocking-only receiver with an eight-figure salary.

The trade deadline is Tuesday.

If the Bucs are aggressively looking to purge the roster of solid waste, Clayton is the next place to start. Joe can’t imagine any Bucs fans would complain.

Perhaps the Bucs get lucky and move Clayton and a lifetime supply of Stickum for a third round pick.

Standing ovation to Mark Dominik and Raheem The Dream for finding a taker for Gaines Adams, who was well on his way to becoming one of the biggest draft busts in Bucs history.

Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli apparently see something in Adams that nobody else does. Their Bears traded for Adams today and gave the Bucs a second round pick in 2010.

That’s right a second round pick!  Great news for Bucs fans.

Joe is freaking pumped. Nothing like some uplifting news in the midsts of this crappy season.

Now Joe has no idea whether the Bears pick up Adams’ fat salary for the rest of the season. But if so, the Glazers surely will be dancing into the wee hours tonight.

Joe will have more through the night on this stunning development.

While co-hosting “The Red Zone” with Ross Tucker on Sirius NFL Radio Friday afternoon, former Bucs great linebacker and current BSPN analyst Derrick Brooks has some interesting things to say.

First, he confessed he was in talks with the Patriots since New England is playing more of a 43 defense. Brooks claims it came down to him and Junior Seau and the Pats picked Seau only because of his history with the Patriots.

Brooks got into a long discussion about the Bucs when a Bucs fan called asking, “They let go of you and now look at that franchise. What’s going on?”

Brooks said he wasn’t sure.

“If I knew, I’d pass it along so they can right the ship.

“They are struggling with inconsistency. Raheem is frustrated. You can hear it in his voice. You can see it in his press conferences. One week it’s the offense. The next week it’s the defense. The next game it’s special teams. Then his defense plays well and they let up a couple of big plays.

“He’s trying to get through the first year as a head coach. There will be frustrations. Coach Morris is trying to simplify things and trying to get everyone to play consistently. Everyone has to look in the mirror and correct what they are doing.”

Porter than asked Brooks if he had an idea he was going to be cut when the Bucs turned him loose earlier this year.

“Not quite. I wanted to be communicated with better. If the process was better, than I’d be OK with the decision. Hey, I knew the nature of this business. I worked every day to earn my right to be with [the Bucs]. I knew the nature of this business. I never woke up and assumed my position was solidified.

“But in the communication, I wish we had a discussion beforehand. What direction do we want to go in?

“Also from the PR standpoint, they could have put it in my hands and then walk away.

“I’m past the personal feelings. Yes, I was disappointed and yes I was fairly angry. But at the end of the day, I compared myself to the people of the world and I am blessed. I played as if every snap was my last snap. I tried to develop relationships that when I retired, I would transition into other things. So I don’t hold any hard feelings to the Bucs. They paid me well. Relationships [are] what it’s all about.”

Tucker was taken aback by Brooks’ putting his exit from the Bucs behind him.

“Well, I’ll never get over how [the Bucs] offered contract extensions to guys like Kellen Winslow and not to Donald Penn or Barrett Ruud. I don’t know what they are doing down there.”

Later, when Brooks picked the Bucs to beat the Panthers, Tucker said, “How could you pick the Bucs the way they treated you?”

Brooks even got some love from current NFL players who appeared as guests, like Ryan Clark of the Steelers who seemed like a kid on Christmas morning finding his new bike.

“This is special for me,” Clark said. “I’m on the air with Derrick Brooks! This is an honor.”

The best way to build a good team is to build through the draft. So it’s no surprise to Joe that the Bucs have had rotten drafts the past decade.

eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune pours through the Bucs drafts in recent years and it’s brutal. Joe will let eye-RAH! tell the story:

While it is premature to judge the past few draft classes, Tampa Bay’s recent legacy is not encouraging.

From 1998-2008, encompassing six drafts with Rich McKay as general manager and five under Bruce Allen, the Bucs selected only two players who went on to earn Pro Bowl berths.

Kicker Martin Gramatica (third round, 1999) made the Pro Bowl following the 2000 season, and right guard Davin Joseph (first round, 2006) was added to last year’s Pro Bowl roster as a first alternate.

Two players! And one is a kicker for crying out loud! So for all intents and purposes, the Bucs have drafted one Pro Bowl player — ONE! — the past 10 years.

In Joe’s eyes, general manager Mark Dominik wouldn’t be making a mistake by cleaning out the entire scouting department.

Programming note Joe just stumbled upon:

Former Bucs linebacker great and current BSPN NFL analyst Derrick Brooks is co-hosting “The Red Zone” this afternoon from 1-3 p.m. on Sirius NFL Radio with Ross Tucker. It can be heard on Sirius Channel 124.

Joe has heard Brooks on local radio for years. Joe’s not sure if he’s been coached up by the people at BSPN or if Tucker knows what buttons to push on Brooks, but Joe has never heard Brooks as enthusiastic as this.

It’s good radio. Brooks is not holding back on criticism like Chucky does on BSPN.

Another week, another round of Power Rankings.

Things are looking grim for the Bucs and national reporters reflect the grim showing.

Mike Sando of BSPN.com has the Bucs at No. 31.

The team that stood by Jerramy Stevens might add Matt Jones to the locker room? Not sure that’s the right way to go.

Former Bucs beat writer and current SI.com columnist Don Banks has a slightly more favorable look at the Bucs at No. 29.

It’s nine consecutive losses for the Bucs since they marched into Carolina in Week 14 last December with first place in the NFC South on the line. The Bucs got their butts kicked by the Panthers that Monday night, and it could unfold roughly the same way when they face Carolina again this week.

Adrian Hasenmayer of FoxSports.com isn’t too fond of the Bucs either ranking them at No. 31.

THE BRIGHT SIDE: The Bucs are showing signs of life, despite getting blown out in nearly every game. More than anything, it’s been big plays that have crushed this team — with these game-changing plays surrounding solid stretches when they’ve handled Philly and Dallas fairly well. Young QB Josh Johnson is raw, but has shown a lot of spunk, fire and escapability in the pocket.

THE FLIP SIDE: The Bucs may very well go 0-16 with arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL this season.

Clifton Smith of SportingNews.com believes the Bucs are slightly better at No. 29.

Few bright spots, other than Josh Johnson showing flashes and gaining experience.

Cap Rooney of TheBigLead.com has the Bucs at No. 31.

The Bucs ran 75 offensive plays to the Eagles’ 48, won the T.O.P. battle 35 minutes to 25 minutes, and even benefited from 110 Eagles’ penalty yards. They lost by 19 points.

It’s a jam-packed sports weekend in the Tampa Bay area. There’s a full slate of solid, compelling college football games Saturday, several with national championship implications.

The Lightning travel to the Steel City to face the Stanley Cup champions Saturday night as well. Beer and hockey go together better than Joe and the Lightning girls.

And of course the Bucs have their best chance for their first win by hosting the toothless Panthers  Sunday. As bad as these two teams are, you’ll need to numb yourself with plenty of Caybrew.

What, you’ve never had Caybrew? What’s the matter with you?

In short, for this busy sports weekend, you’ll need to stock the fridge with plenty of brew.

Your brew.

Caybrew!

Forgive Joe for not providing exact quotes here. When Joe recently heard safety Will Allen talk briefly on 1040 AM about the Bucs fighting for a playoff spot this season, Joe nearly flipped his Taurus in traffic.

So Joe’s trusty notebook and recorder couldn’t be put to work to provide precise quotes here.

That said, Will Allen spoke about the Bucs still having a chance to win all their division games, which would leave them primed for a playoff spot. Allen, in essence, said that fact presented an uplifting opportunity and he and the rest of the Bucs need to get that message and bring that understanding and motivation to Sunday’s Carolina game.

Bravo, Mr. Allen. Bravo!

It’s about time someone on the Bucs — players and coaches — started talking publicly and seriously about winning. Not just eventually winning a game. But winning on Sunday and getting on a roll.

Joe’s played on a lot of teams. And one thing is constant. Whether it’s high school, college, or the elbow-throwing 40-and-under basketball leagues around the Bay area,  if team members are staring at their schedules and not thinking about how they can run the table with their remaining games, then there is a serious problem on the squad.

Joe expects every Bucs player to be consumed with getting a win against Carolina and clawing their way to play a meaningful game in December.

That’s just how Michael Clayton players with the right attitude behave.

Charley Casserly has been around the NFL for some time. He knows the ups and downs. And for first-year coaches, there are more downs than ups usually.

Casserly, writing for CBSSports.com, detailed all the pitfalls a first-year coach much overcome.  One is often the quarterback position and Casserly, a former NFL executive, talks about what Raheem the Dream should do with Josh Freeman.

Tampa Bay is facing the question of when to play Josh Freeman. I would wait as long as possible. I thought he needed a lot of work coming out of college in the pro style passing game. I would play Josh Johnson as long as you can.

Joe pretty much has offered the same take. There is no good reason to play Freeman now, unless you want to risk the kid turning into David Carr. Freeman isn’t going to magically turn this season around.

The NFL LIve game from BSPN of Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth and Marcellus Wiley look at the Panthers-Bucs game. They have to reach to say anything good about the two teams. Joe understands.

You know the best way to get some guy hacked off? Talk bad about his significant other.

So it’s understandable that Raheem the Dream would get upset when he heard someone talk bad about Josh Freeman.

Tim Ryan of Sirius NFL Radio, who also works for Fox Network, claims that he heard from someone inside the Bucs organization that the team is not happy with Freeman’s progress.

Raheem the Dream got sort of bent when he heard that, reports Vacation Man of BSPN.com.

“Tim Ryan didn’t get that from me, so I’ll just comment on how I feel about Josh Freeman,’’ coach Raheem Morris told the Tampa Bay media Wednesday. “Josh Freeman’s development is really going well. Josh Johnson, however, has been here for a year. He’s been through the six o’clock meetings in the morning, class for a year, he’s known Greg Olson for a year, he’s been through these protections for a year, calling the protections, being on the same page with the center, which we had some issues with this week in the game, but not the fault of a young quarterback, the fault of all of them. And Freeman’s going through that process. So I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s having a problem from the neck up, because everything that Josh Johnson’s doing, Freeman’s doing. He’s going through the process of being the wingman, so to speak. He’s sitting there and learning from Josh and he’s also learning from Byron (Leftwich).”

Easy, Rah.  This was nothing personal on Ryan’s part. No need to take it personally. It was just business. 

The NFL’s in-house reporter, Jason LaCanfora, a man with infinite access and accomodating sources, is telling fans that the Josh Freeman era is on track to begin against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 8.

But there is one caveat, per LaCanfora’s video report on NFL.com, the Bucs must lose their next two games.

“Watch the bye week,” LaCanfora said. “If they lose [against Carolina] and lose in London to New England, people in that organization expect the move to be made leading into their bye week Nov. 1, and going with the first round pick Josh Freeman in the second half of the season.”

So there it is. No Bucs fan should be surprised.

Freeman’s in the bullpen and Raheem The Dream is nine days away from picking up the phone — maybe.

The Bucs, if they don’t truly stink as badly as they appear, should really beat Carolina on Sunday. And, of course, they’re staring down the barrel at a good beating in London against New England the following week.

If Josh Johnson can’t get a W in the next two, it’ll be nearly impossible for Raheem The Dream to keep Freeman off the field.

Joe suspects the Glazers’ patience will have worn out with an 0-7 record fresh off getting mauled by the British media, which no doubt take some powerful shots at the Bucs.

Joe found it more than curious, though happy about it, that the Bucs sold out this Sunday’s game with the Panthers.

Joe heard from countless people how Bucs fans were nearly outnumbered by Dallass fans in the season-opener. No surprises, Cowboys fans travel well.

The next home game the Giants and many of their fans from Gotham showed up. Again, no surprise.

But the Bucs are still a horrible team, playing another horrible team from Carolina on Sunday that doesn’t travel well at all. Yet the Bucs still sold out.

Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Review believes the Glazer family is “buying” the unsold tickets.

Maybe the Glazers had to absorb the last few thousands seats, which could have happened, because there were at least a few thousand empty seats in the second level of the stadium for the Giants game, which typically are the last to be sold.

There were even plenty of empty seats in the club level, indicating that even season ticket holders decided not to bother.

It’s hard to imagine that average people bought tickets ahead of the blackout deadline _ and then didn’t bother to show up on Sunday _ just so the game would be shown on local television.

If the Glazer family is indeed buying the tickets — Joe wonders if there’s an NFL rule against that? — it’s beyond a kind gesture by Bryan and Joel. Joe humbly thanks them from the bottom of his heart.

But let’s not be naive, this is a shrewd marketing move. Just think of the capital lost in the area from bars and restaurants if the Bucs are blacked out, not to mention unhappy local advertisers on WTVT-TV? That doesn’t foster much love for the squad.

Also, Joe remembers growing up in the 1970s. He lived within the blackout radius of the then-St. Louis Cardinals, who were beyond putrid. Rarely was a home game ever shown on TV, with the exception of three seasons. Joe remembers the first NFC East division title the Cardinals won in St. Louis came against the Giants, and was blacked out.

As a result, virtually everyone Joe grew up with had a favorite team other than the Cardinals. Dallass, Green Bay, Miami, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Los Angeles. Those were the dominant teams (though Green Bay had begun a downward spiral) of the time and those teams seemed to be on TV each weekend.

As a result, that jackass Bill Bidwill literally lost a generation (or two?) of fans who could care less what his team did. Joe remembers being in college when the Cardinals moved to Phoenix. The reaction of the area was pretty much a shrug of the shoulders and attention quickly turned to spring training.

That’s just what Bryan and Joel would be looking at here (again): a return to the Culverhouse Era. Bryan and Joel do not want that to happen again. Bryan and Joel did not and do not want the Bucs to become irrelevent.

Bucs fans have had their stomachs turned watching this team flounder and flop.

Raheem the Dream is sick, too. So much so he doesn’t even want to hear music. Tom Balog, of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, noted Raheem the Dream always started practices with music. But Raheem the Dream is so sick of losing, he can’t even think of music.

”We motivated ourselves today by reliving that sick feeling on Sundays that we’ve been having. That’s how we practiced today and you can tell. You can see the anger in practice, you can see the difference.”

If the Bucs keep stinking the joint up, the only music Raheem the Dream and others will have to worry about is the song of “Taps.”

Meanwhile, Joe hopes he doesn’t have to puke (again) watching the Bucs secondary get roasted (again).

Joe is again pleased to bring you the gorgeous Jenny Dell of BSPN and her weekly breakdown of an upcoming Bucs game. Watching this video, Joe didn’t quite catch all Ms. Dell had to say. For some curious reason, Joe was distracted, though he kept hearing her voice. Strange.

Just like the Bucs, Jordan Gross and the Panthers are having problems blocking opponents as well.

Let’s see, a team that has a horrible record is having trouble blocking despite having an offensive line that was supposed to be a team strength.

Sound familiar?

Well, it’s not just the Bucs, but the Panthers. Seems as though the Panthers offensive line leaks worse than the proverbial screen door on a submarine, which is good news for the Bucs. Charles Chandler of the Charlotte Observer has the gory details.

All five starters returned this season, led by 2008 All-Pro left tackle Jordan Gross, but so far the line has struggled both in run blocking and pass protection.

The Panthers rank 23rd in the NFL in rushing and have yet to get a 100-yard performance out of either of their highly regarded backs, DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart.

According to stats.com, the offensive line has given up 10 sacks through the first four games. That’s already half of the Panthers’ team total for all of last season.

A lot of people point to the Bucs defensive front as being a culprit in the toasty Bucs secondary. If the Panthers are truly this bad, the Bucs defensive line should get some pressure on Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme and thus should take some pressure off of the Bucs secondary.

If the Bucs can get pressure on Delhomme and the Bucs are still giving up home run passes, then we can check off the defensive line as being the root of the Bucs defensive ills.

“The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN takes a look at the NFC South in his weekly report. He seems to think the Bucs pass rush, or lack thereof, has been a scapegoat for the Bucs’ toasty secondary play.

Yeah, yeah, Joe understands that Raheem the Dream has a crush on Josh Freeman worse than Joe lusts over Rachel Watson. But at some point common sense and reality have to kick in.

Joe understands Rachel will never be waiting for him, scantily clad or buried in winter clothes, when he returns home.

(Oh, and not-so-kind memo to all the whining women pining for cold weather, Joe has a four-letter word for you: Ohio. You wanna wear coats so damned bad, move to friggin’ Columbus and leave Joe alone. You live in Florida. It’s supposed to be hot. SHUT THE F’ UP OR MOVE!)

So when Joe read in an article typed by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune that offensive coordinator Greg Olson — he of the genius who thought it would be oh, so edgy to run the freaking option in an NFL game — thought about putting Freeman into the Eagles debacle last Saturday, Joe almost choked on his coffee.

But after watching the Eagles’ defense launch a parade of blitzes, he thought better of it. Freeman, Olson decided, wasn’t ready.

“The feeling of the offensive staff was, ‘I don’t know if this is the defense that we want this kid to start off against,'” Olson said Wednesday. “We figured we’d let him develop a little further first.”

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed!

Has this guy Olson ever heard of David Carr?

The Eagles were coming through the lines worse than Patton’s Third Army was racing through France. Sean Mayhem, as Harry King pointed out, looked more like a greeter at Wal-Mart than a center. It’s a wonder Josh Johnson didn’t get killed.

And Olson actually had the bright idea of parachuting Freeman into that!?

Mind you Olson, as Joe pointed out earlier in the week, was so flabbergasted by the Eagles blitzes, he didn’t know what to tell Johnson.

Look, until the Bucs patch up their offensive line and put together some sort of running game, Freeman should keep his rear end firmly planted on the bench. The people who scream for Freeman to be put in a game (for what reason, Joe doesn’t know) Joe again points to Carr.

Carr, put up some decent numbers for the Texans, but was absolutely ruined if not scarred for life because the Texans offensive line couldn’t block the wind. Right now the Bucs offensive line is not much better if it’s better at all.

Joe wasn’t fond of drafting Freeman either but that doesn’t mean Joe wants to see the kid get maimed. There is absolutely no need to rush Freeman. None.

While Josh Johnson looked a lot better in his second start last week to the naked eye, a bit more of a study shows that Johnson is, well, inexperienced.

Don’t believe Joe? Well, let Antonio Bryant explain, per TBO.com.

“There were times when I was open on the field, especially in the red zone, and it would have been a touchdown had the read been there,” Bryant said.

Bryant went on to say that he believes Johnson misread the play because Johnson is used to practicing with “a different number” at wide receiver because Bryant has been hobbled with a bum knee.

Joe thinks that’s just Bryant backtracking trying to cover for Johnson. If the routes were run correctly, what the hell difference does a number — or receiver — matter?

One of the problems the Panthers had in losing their first three games was they couldn’t stop the run.

That stopped last week against the Redskins, thanks to a free agent pickup, so writes Charles Chandler of the Charlotte Observer.

Thomas is the rather portly (6-foot, 340 pounds) veteran of 14 seasons whom the Panthers signed to play the nose guard position that’s been their Achilles heel since Maake Kemoeatu tore his Achilles on Aug.3 in the opening practice of training camp.

Thomas’ presence helped clog the middle of the defensive line against the Redskins and freed middle linebacker Jon Beason to have his most productive game of the season (10 tackles and a sack).

This should be an interesting matchup in this game: the Panthers’ improved rush defense against the Bucs sometime struggling rush offense. It sure as hell helps that it appears Sean Mayhem will not be starting.