It is now official. As Joe suspected previously, troubled Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib has been indicted by a Texas grand jury, charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon for his alleged involvement in pistol whipping a man and  shooting at (and missing) the fleeing subject.

The case moves to Dallas County’s criminal district court No. 2 under elected judge Don Adams.

If found guilty, Talib could be sentenced to incarceration in a Texas penitentiary, potentially up to 20 years, and his days as a Bucs cornerback would surely be over.

Joe will keep you up to speed on all the developments. As Joe has written before, this indictment comes as no surprise. What would be a surprise is if Talib’s case actually goes to trial.

Joe looks for Talib to cut a deal, if he can get his charges reduced to a misdemeanor and avoid the slammer.

Kellen Winslow is trying to lure Josh Freeman out of town

Word from Stephen Holder of the St. Pete Times is that Kellen Winslow is feeling so good that he’s going to move on from Josh Freeman’s Bucs workouts in Tampa for a while and head to the University of Miami to feel even more heat and train with other Hurricanes alumni.

But the troubling news is he’s pursuading Josh Freeman to come along for the ride.

So good, in fact, that Winslow plans to join fellow University of Miami alumni/NFL players in Coral Gables in a few weeks to partake in longtime UM trainer Andreu Swasey’s famous offseason workouts. Winslow has even extended an invitation to Freeman, with whom he is building a close bond. Freeman is still mulling the offer.

The workouts are in intense, not the sort of thing intended for a guy who isn’t confident in his knee. But Winslow clearly is feeling great, and if football at some point resumes, the Bucs will reap the benefits of his good health.

Now it’s great that Winslow is feeling like a new man who hasn’t had a pile of knee surgeries, but leave Freeman in Tampa.

If Freeman’s not here, which captain is going to organize the valuable offseason workouts for the rest of the Bucs?

Joe is as geeked as the next Bucs fan about the potential for the Bucs front line.

Just in the past two years the Bucs have drafted Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers all in the first two rounds. That has the potential for being as dominant a front line as the Bucs have ever had.

But hold up! Former NFL coach and front office executive Pat Kirwan isn’t as quick to jump on the bandwagon. In a recent chat on NFL.com, Kirwan was asked if the Bucs could contend for an NFC South title this fall. Kirwan is of the mind that the Bucs front four is too young for the Bucs to make much of a postseason run.

Justin, Lexington, Ky
The Buccaneers are a young and up coming team, but do they have what it takes to win a tough NFC South in 2011?

Pat Kirwan, NFL.com
They probably do on offense. but their problems, to me, remain up front on defense. I like the two draft pcisk at DE, Clayborn and Bowers. But there are meidcal issues surrounding both guys. they must become great pass rushers right away to deal with Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. and I’m not sure they are ready for that job.

There will be some Sundays when not one starter on the defensive line has a full season of NFL experience.

Kirwan touches upon a fair point. Both GMC and Price were hurt last year; Price’s injury could present an extremely dicey recovery. And as always, rarely do rookie defensive linemen shine.

This means to Joe that there will still be pressure on the Bucs’ linebackers to stop the run. Uh, oh.

Call Joe a masochist, but Joe got a great laugh out of the prolonged on-air beating he took yesterday afternoon from radio host J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010.

Joe’s used to getting slapped around in the comments section here, but this clubbing was special.

Peterson said, “I take offense” to the way JoeBucsFan.com blasted Jeff Faine for his disinterest in attending Josh Freeman’s ongoing team training sessions in Tampa. Joe had called Faine a lousy captain after Faine said on air Tuesday night that he passed on joining his teammates.

Jeff Faine: I was actually invited. I guess they wanted me to come snap the ball a little bit and block air. But I decided my time was best served in the weight room than making sure that our snaps were still good. They’re definitely putting in some work. These guys are out there throwing the ball. It’s good. It’s great for our young receivers and our young franchise quarterback to be able to get together and throw the ball around the yard a little bit and spend a little time together. They’ll hopefully be able to basically supplement what we’d normally be doing. But of course it definitely isn’t replacing the amount of work we’d normally be putting in, and that’s something that’s definitely going to be missed this upcoming season.

J.P. Peterson: Pretty good participation level?

Faine: “From what I’ve been told from Josh, I checked in with him earlier today actually, great turnout. These guys were lifting, doing a little running and doing some routes and what not. So it’s been good.”

Peterson said Faine doesn’t miss OTA days, wants to play football, and the wrath of Joe and fans should be at the NFL for locking out players, not at a center who is passing on a rather meaningless May workout.

Peterson cited Faine’s multimillion dollar businesses and said Faine “has got better things to do,” noting that Faine is on a rigorous workout program to prepare for the 2011 season and has lots of responsibilities as an entrepreneur, like other players have with family and off-field commitments.

Peterson fielded calls and texts from listeners who sided with Joe, and Peterson said he believes some of the anger at Faine is misguided jealousy because Faine is a highly paid player and makes a pile of cash in the private sector.

Frankly, Joe couldn’t care less what Faine does off the field. Joe’s a capitalist, too, and admires Faine’s business acumen.

For Joe, this comes down to Faine accepting a captain’s role with the Bucs. Either you’re captain and fully devoted to the team, or you’re not. In Joe’s eyes, Faine has used terrible judgement — and shown poor leadership sense — with his public comments about Freeman’s workouts and by passing on attending.

First, Faine scoffed to the St. Pete Times weeks ago about how Freeman wouldn’t be successful in getting meaningful attendance at informal workouts, if guys showed up at all. Yet Freeman said yesterday on Sirius NFL Radio that up to 35 players have been to workouts on specific days, including offensive linemen. And Joe confirmed yesterday that some defensive backs have been there.

Then, Faine all but says this week that his presence at these workouts is meaningless. For Joe, that’s not captain-speak, and it shouldn’t be accurate, given the veteran wisdom Faine should be able to impart.

This is a unique offseason. That can’t be argued. Is Faine meeting his leadership duties as captain during these wacky, lockout times? No. And Joe will defend his honor and try to convince Peterson during a brief on-air, steel cage match today at 3:45 p.m.

Joe’s going to assume for a moment there are several employees at One Buc Palace who do not have guaranteed contracts and/or are paid by the hour.

Based on a statement from the Bucs, per the official team website, these people will lose a week’s pay — or be forced to use paid leave — when the Bucs close their offices next week as a lockout-driven, cost-cutting measure. (Joe wants to believe Bucs staff will get holiday pay for Memorial Day, but Joe’s unsure.) Below is the Bucs’ statement:

Due to the current NFL labor situation, the Buccaneers’ offices will be closed Memorial Day week.  If the work stoppage continues into the fall, additional office closures during the week of Labor Day and in the winter have been conditionally added to the calendar.  However, if the labor situation is resolved without the loss of any regular-season games, any lost wages will be fully reimbursed to Buccaneer employees.

“The Buccaneers remain hopeful that the 2011 season will be played without interruption; presuming this occurs, the plan will essentially provide the team’s entire staff with an extra week of paid vacation,” said team spokesman Jonathan Grella. “And more importantly, this plan preserves jobs and does not ask employees to work for less or no pay.”

The contingency plan was introduced in March in order to cause as little disruption as possible, and to allow the advance planning of vacations at a spot on the calendar when Buccaneers employees often take time off.

Other NFL teams are inflicting similar stress on their staff members. Joe feels bad for those whose lives are caught in the NFL lockout crossfire.

Joe thinks this potential cost-saving move by the Bucs is a little surprising and distressing, given how vocal Bucs officials have been in addressing the Tampa Bay region’s poor economy and the fact that the team needs all the time it can get to have its salespeople pounding the streets and working the phones to sell tickets.

The reality of the heinous lockout, if it continues deep into summer, is that teams will be pressed into action quickly.

Joe has no doubt that players and owners won’t care much about the quality of football on opening day, just that the game gets in and the TV and sponsor checks clear the bank.

In light of that likely reality, Raheem Morris says he’s getting ready for the ultimate hurry-up scenario, so he said last week on WQYK-AM 1010.

Everybody’s getting their seven-day install ready so to speak. And usually that’s a training camp type of deal and an atmosphere. But you also got to be ready to be game-plan-ready, in case you’ve got to go right into a game or whatever the case may be,” Raheem said. “We’re very optimistic around the building. We got a couple of different plans.”

How nuts would it be if teams got, for example, a week to sign free agents, a one-week training camp, and then had opening day the following weekend? Crazy times.

Bucs team leader and starting quarterback Josh Freeman appeared on “The Blitz” Wednesday co-hosted by popular sports radio personality Adam Schein and former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio. In the segment, Freeman described the team workouts he has organized during this asinine lockout orchestrated by NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell, and lauded his dedicated teammates for coming out to participate in droves.

Adam Schein: He’s one of our favorite quarterbacks, we welcome Tampa Bay Buccaneers outstanding quarterback Josh Freeman, Josh, welcome back to the show this is Adam Schein along with Rich Gannon, how are you?

Josh Freeman: I’m doing great.

Rich Gannon: You’re one of the quarterbacks that has to be concerned with the lockout because you carried a lot of momentum into the offsesaon. Are you concerned that the momentum lost may hurt the team because you haven’t had the opportunity to be part of the offseason program?

Freeman: For sure. Being a young team, with a lot of young guys, being able to be together and to work in the facility and to be around the coaches, it was very valuable. Last year, the type of offseason we had led to us being competitive and winning games. Not being around the coaches and the facility hurts. We are trying to figure out how to get quality work in.

Schein: You and Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik talked about how important the offseason is. You are organizing workouts. How has the participation been?

Freeman: It’s been good. The thing about being such a young team, a lot of these guys, it’s tough for them to maintain a house or an apartment here without a workout check. It’s been good though. We have found a way to get guys into town and to work. We try to get together for two weeks out of the month. Kellen Winslow, as soon as he heard about the lockout, he moved right back out here and we got a lot of work in, good work, watching film. This week we had a lot of offensive linemen in and some defensive guys. [Joe’s note: Joe has learned Jeremy Trueblood was among the offensive linemen in attendance.]  They take the Bucs logo very personal. It’s been great for the guys. We will have anywhere from 35 to 20 guys. We’re definitely getting the work in.

Schein: Josh, you get the sense that the workouts you have set up, people are hungry.

Freeman: No doubt. We were so close last year. There were so many games, yeah we were close but we should have pulled those games out. We had two close games with Atlanta that they got away with and the Detroit game. We have to find a way to win those games and get over the hump. The playoffs are just a start.

Gannon: Change is constant in this business. What kind of changes do you think will happen with the offense? Where will it evolve?

Freeman: You know, our playbook is huge. Rich can attest, there is so much you can do with it. Coach Olson does a great job of mixing it up week in and week out. I know we have a new offensive line coach so I am sure he has a different philosophy on calls. But I don’t anticipate that much to change. Being a second-year guy with these rookies, like Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount it will allow the offense to move forward. This will be my third year. I am very comfortable with the offense. It just keeps moving forward.

Schein: How comfortable are you as a leader of the Bucs?

Freeman: I have been very fortunate growing up with my parents and my high school coach and my college coach. I’ve really been groomed for this. I always had the opportunity to step up and lead. In the NFL, I viewed it as a challenge. It starts with hard work and being on time all the time and ultimately performing on the field. I feel like this role I am made for but I have a lot of character teammates. Everyone wants to lead and do the right thing.

Gannon: You came in a really bad situation. You had no quarterback coach after Jeff Jagodzinski was fired. Then you had the blend of two systems. How important was an offseason a year ago when you cleaned things up? How much did that help?

Freeman: It helped a lot, it really did for my game. When you step into that situation, that is not comfortable. My rookie year I tried to rely on my physical abilities and I took a lot of chances. After spending some time with Coach Olson, I followed him around the building and he would have me go out of the building and work on my footwork and that really helped my game.

Schein: Josh, you really deserve a lot of credit for organizing these workouts for the Buccaneers.

Freeman: Thank you.

"Leaders lead, man."

Recently, Joe offered up a kind request to Bucs unquestioned team leader and quarterback Josh Freeman that he open up a workout or two for the fans.

This notion was largely shot down by many of Joe’s readers as bordering on insurgency if not outright sedition.

In this NOLA.com video that is surely to leave union-first Bucs center Jeff Faine truly confused, Saints center Drew Brees explains not just the importance of having open workouts, but inviting the fans to participate as he did recently in New Orleans.

Now before any Bucs fans go crazy, please note that not only is Brees an NFLPA leader, the lawsuit the NFLPA filed against the NFL owners bears Brees’ name, not Faine’s. After listening to Brees and then read Faine’s words as to why he’s not working out with his teammates, it strangely rings hollow.

In Faine’s defense, Brees does not own a haberdashery.

"Just be happy I'm not playing defensive end, little guy."

The esteemed Bucs captain Jeff Faine says there’s a team in the NFC South that’s got a serious edge if the NFL Lockout extends deep into the summer or beyond.

Sadly, he’s not on the same page as rockstar general manager Mark Dominik, who had said he believes the Bucs’ youth will give them a post-lockout advantage.

Faine likes the Saints, so he told J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010 Tuesday evening.

J.P. Peterson: Looking around your division, you think anyone would have an advantage [if the lockout extends to late August]?

Faine: Yeah, I think that New orleans, especially, with the pieces that they’ve had in place for some time. Not much change. You’ve got a hell of a quarterback that’s leading his team in an offseason program. Those guys have played together for some time. They’ve had the same coordinator in Sean Payton and also the head coach for some time. I don’t think there’s a better duo when it comes to head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterback relationship in the league than those two.

Faine may be exactly right, but his style of presenting himself as captain of the Bucs makes Joe ill.

Guess who turned down the true leader of the Bucs when asked to participate in informal team workouts in Tampa?

That would be Bucs captain Jeff Faine, aka Captain Negative.

Remember, this is the same dude who told the St. Pete Times Freeman wouldn’t be able to get strong attendance at his workouts and was all down about them.

“You’re not going to see Josh Freeman and our receiving corps down at the University of Tampa soccer field,” Faine said. “They might go out there and run some routes and throw. But you’re talking about getting an entire receiving corps together being able to work against an entire defensive backs corps. It’s just not going to happen.”

Now Faine has changed his tune a bit during an interview with J.P. Peterson yesterday evening on WQYK-AM 1010.

Jeff Faine: I was actually invited. I guess they wanted me to come snap the ball a little bit and block air. But I decided my time was best served in the weight room than making sure that our snaps were still good. They’re definitely putting in some work. These guys are out there throwing the ball. It’s good. It’s great for our young receivers and our young franchise quarterback to be able to get together and throw the ball around the yard a little bit and spend a little time together. They’ll hopefully be able to basically supplement what we’d normally be doing. But of course it definitely isn’t replacing the amount of work we’d normally be putting in, and that’s something that’s definitely going to be missed this upcoming season.

J.P. Peterson: Pretty good participation level?

Faine: “From what I’ve been told from Josh, I checked in with him earlier today actually, great turnout. These guys were lifting, doing a little running and doing some routes and what not. So it’s been good.”

What a captain! Faine’s fellow Bucs are lifting, running and working and Faine feels his presence is meaningless.

Perhaps it is.

In this video from The Oregonian, Bucs fans can see Sammie Stroughter interviewed and working out at Oregon State University. He’s joined by a tragic figure in Bucs history, a young mangoat, who in this interview seems completely oblivious to the fact he played for the Browns to end the 2010 season.

Josh Freeman passed out directions to another clandestine Bucs informal workout yesterday to Stephen Holder of the St. Pete Times.

Nothing much new and exciting to report by Holder, other than Luke Stocker’s appearance and an admission by Arrelious Benn that he doesn’t feel injured despite ripping apart his ACL in December.

“I’m new to the knee injury thing, but for the most part, I didn’t think that I’d be back this fast,” Benn said. “I kind of feel like it never happened. But I have to be smart. I still have things coming back together in my knee. I might not feel it, but I’m young right now, so I heal fast.”

Holder paints a picture of Benn running routes and catching balls. Joe wonders whether Benn’s ahead of schedule, in part, because he’s not under the cautious eye of Bucs doctors.

Joe loves the magic of Twitter and Facebook. What great sources for Bucs information, quality one-liners and revealing photos.  

Sniffing around last night, Joe found evidence of Buccaneers defensive lineman working out together in San Diego. First, there was Kyle Moore’s revelation on Facebook.

Kyle Moore:
All i know is that Gerald McCoy, Michael Bennett, Adrian Clayborn, and me of course Kyle Moore have been getting some good workouts in today in sunny California!!! The young BuC D-Line is getting ready!

Then there was Gerald McCoy’s Twittering.

@GK_McCoy – Out here in San Diego with my boy @AJaClay getting it in with @ToddDurkin. For all Bucs fans who are wondering, yes he is focused and ready!

Piecing together Twitterings from Adrian Clayborn, it’s pretty clear the group of D-linemen started training together Monday, and Clayborn recently ate an overpriced breakfast and gorged on crab legs.

Hardly exciting news, but in the world of the heinous lockout, it’s at least uplifting.

Bring up the name “Barrett Ruud” and many Bucs fans slam their beer down so violently and scream obscenities so loudly they are thrown out of they’re neighborhood bar.

To hear these same Bucs fans bellow, Ruud is such a disgrace to the NFL he should be shopping for feminine products.

But NFL insiders and those that played the game, from Pat Kirwan to Steve White, from Tim Ryan to Derrick Brooks explain in great detail why Ruud is as important a cog to the success of the Bucs defense as any player strapping on a chin strap.

Count Bucs coach Raheem Morris in the latter group. In speaking with video star Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune this morning, Morris explained how both Ruud and Cadillac Williams are key targets to re-sign with the Bucs.

“First of all, you mentioned two guys with great character,” Morris said. “Two leaders in our community and two guys that gave us great service throughout their time and hopefully it can continue.

“We’ll get a chance to sit down when all the collective bargaining agreement stuff is solved. We’ll get a chance to find out if we can have both of those guys back on our football team, the two guys that we know we’ll have in free agency right now. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Now whether the Bucs can retain both Ruud and Williams is another story.

As this notorious, asinine lockout drags on in large part thanks to NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell, Williams will continue to be the object of desire by the Rams and Ruud will (wisely) continue to work out with the eastern European hotties of the WTA.

So what’s Raheem Morris’ day like during a lockout with no players around to inspire?

His day is about half has busy as it would usually be, so Raheem told the WQYK-AM 1010 morning crew last week. Raheem says the lockout makes him worried about players improving without coaches around — missing out on what he calls “the stuff that makes you great.”

“Those guys that you don’t know at the beginning of the season, … they’re missing the opportunity to come into the facility right now and get better. That’s what you worry about. You know, usually we’re in the office a lot earlier. We’re in the office at 4 a.m. because we’re getting ready for our guys to come in, you know, for that hour that we get them as a coaching staff other than what they do as far as training. And we’re preparing for that and then in the afternoons we’re able to look at some of our cutups. Right now we kind of cut that day in half a little bit, so we’re just looking at our stuff and getting ready to look at [film of] free agents in the afternoon. So that’s the stuff that we’re missing, the stuff that makes you great,” Raheem said. “So it gives me a little more time to come up and talk to [media]. It also gives me a little more time to really enjoy what Coach [Joe] Maddon is doing. It gives me a little more time to really enjoy what’s going on with Coach [Guy Boucher].  … I’m really enjoying what’s happening in our city and our town.”

With the extra time on their hands, Joe wonders how tempting it might be for Raheem and other coaches to find their way over to Josh Freeman’s top secret workouts.

Seems that talk is seeping out of St. Louis that the suits and powers that be with the Rams covet Bucs running back Cadillac Williams.

Of course, this is all just chatter and what we are left with as news in the dearth of information during this asinine lockout orchestrated by NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell.

The Rams are looking for protection for Stephen Jackson, who by NFL running back standards is middle-aged. The Rams believe Williams and his blocking and running off the bench is just such the protection Jackson needs, so reports ProFootballWeekly.com.

Chargers RB Darren Sproles remains the most frequently mentioned free-agent possibility in St. Louis as a change-of-pace backup to Rams RB Steven Jackson. But another attractive option generating some behind-the-scenes buzz at Rams Park is Cadillac Williams, who took on a new role this past season in Tampa Bay as an effective backup behind LeGarrette Blount. “Cadillac would be a perfect fit behind Jackson,” one team insider said. “I hear he had no problem accepting a part-time role in Tampa. The one thing you have to wonder about, though, is whether the Bucs would really be willing to let a guy like that leave.”

One of the reasons Williams was so valuable for the Bucs is that stud LeGarrette Blount isn’t yet proficient in blocking, especially on blitzes. Cadillac excels in that area and is a very, very important element in keeping Josh Freeman’s jersey clean.

Many NFL insiders believe if Barrett Ruud walks, the defense will wilt. Joe believes offensively, that could happen without Cadillac on the roster.

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Josh Freeman is determined to keep his young teammates sharp and free of distractions.

That’s the word from NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, whose BSPN employee badge impressed Freeman enough to allow Yasinskas access to the Bucs’ top secret mini camp. Yasinskas explained that Freeman asked him to keep the location under wraps.

There are good nuggets in the story, but Joe was most impressed by Kellen Winlsow’s apparent dedication.

Speaking of peers, who has caught Freeman’s eye in the workouts?

“I will say [receiver] Sammie Stroughter is having an incredible offseason,’’ Freeman said. “So is [tight end] Kellen Winslow. Arrelious is obviously coming off his [torn ACL] injury, but he’s looking great as well. We have a number of guys playing great football right now. Kellen Winslow is just a guy that’s so impressive. He’s a guy that comes in and works out in the morning, then comes and gets the throwing part in, and then he goes and works out some more.’’

Considering Winslow has spent a lot of time in past offseasons in California, Joe thinks it’s pretty cool that he’s in town and setting a positive example. And Benn doing significant running five months after his surgery is a great sign.

Like most NFL fans, Gerald McCoy is frustrated that NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell has overseen the longest labor stoppage in league history and seemingly has done little to bring his employers to their senses and stop this asinine lockout.

As a result, GMC calls himself “unemployed.” But if one is to listen closely to what GMC has to say in this video, GMC likely wouldn’t be ready to go for OTAs as he is still rehabbing his injured arm.

In fact, GMC discusses with “Oklahoma Now” how his rehab is going. Shockingly, he said the longer the lockout lasts, the better it will be for his recovery. Hhhmmm?

Though Joe is confident the Bucs got players lists of approved medical facilities to use during the lockout, Joe can’t help but wonder if GMC would be at full-strength if he was using Bucs medical personnel.