Gerald McCoy is clear on his personal challenges for 2013. Near the top of that list, he said this afternoon at One Buc Palace, is taking a giant step forward in his leadership.

McCoy said his veteran status now allows him to take charge fully.

“I can say, ‘This is my defense,'” McCoy said.

That quote really took Joe back, primarily because it underlined in red that Ronde Barber is out of the picture — unless he decides to step back in.

McCoy was known for his leadership last season. Roy Miller pegged McCoy recently as the top leader he’s been around.

McCoy has proven he has what it takes; he just has to do it again.

Interestingly, McCoy was quick to correct a reporter who referred to him as a Pro Bowler today. McCoy said his Pro Bowl status is ancient history because he hasn’t accomplished anything in 2013.

It would seem logical that the Bucs will draft a tight end next week, but the big mystery is where.

Some think it’s with the No. 13 overall pick and Notre Dame stud Tyler Eifert. Draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, however, who has spent years studying the Big East as part of the USF Football radio team, pens in his latest mock draft that the Bucs will make their move on a Big East guy with massive potential in the third round.

73. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Travis Kelce – TE – Cincinnati
Commish’s Comments: I’ve become a big fan of Kelce. Yes, he was suspended for the entire 2010 season for a violation of team rules, but he came back to play 2 seasons at Cincinnati. Kelce is a very good blocker, but do not consider him just a blocking tight end.  He has very good hands to be a security blanket for the quarterback, but also has the speed to stretch the seem of a defense. Kelce is a very aggressive football player who might need consideration for a 2nd round pick.  Character concerns might drop him a little, but if he stays out of trouble, Kelce could end up as the top tight end in this class.

Kelce’s a true unknown. He was recruited out of high school as an elite 6-5 quarterback but transformed into a beastly tight end after being mysteriously suspended by Cincinnati for the entire 2010 season. He’s an elite athlete with a pile of baggage, who didn’t work out at the NFL Scouting Combine because he was coming off hernia surgery, but he was there to be grilled by teams.

Joe suspects Greg Schiano might have good intelligence on Kelce from his time in the Big East. Whether that draws the Bucs to Kelce, or makes them run, is anyone’s guess.

Formerly sackless Kyle Moore picked up his first three career sacks in Buffalo last season, so Joe supposes anything is possible.

Another former Bucs draft pick who also was senselessly gifted a starting job in Tampa, Sabby “The Goat” Piscitelli, is also looking to shock the NFL world. Piscitelli, per ProFootballTalk.com, is making a comeback effort in Jaguars camp. He sat out last season, after giving fans in Tampa, Cleveland and Kansas City night terrors.

Those new to JoeBucsFan.com might not know Joe was driven to near insanity watching Sabby The Goat take terrible tackling angles to a new low. Just the mere mention of Sabby The Goat returning to the NFL has Joe breaking out in hives.

Joe might need an early beer today. Right now the thought of watching serial loafer Sean Jones play safety is soothing.

Joe definitely is entertained by the spin, smokescreens and mysterious jockeying dished out during the offseason by coaches and general managers.

Yesterday delivered a great example. Recently cut and re-signed Dan Orlovsky got an interesting endorsement from Greg Schiano. The head coach was pressed on whether he’s still seeking competition for Josh Freeman, and this was part of Schiano’s response.

“Dan [Orlovsky] is an excellent backup. I believe that,” Schiano said. “At this stage in his career, is he going to go? I don’t know. You know, who knows? I wouldn’t say that’s the plan. So if we get someone in here we do. And if we don’t, we don’t. I’m good with that.

This made Joe chuckle considering the Bucs cut Orlovsky and re-signed him for roughly $350,000 less than his previous 2013 contract, which was voided when he was released. So essentially, the Bucs allowed Orlovsky to be dangled before every GM in the NFL, risking losing “an excellent backup” who knows the offense, to save a piddly amount of money.

Joe supposes legitimate kudos are in order for rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and Schiano for being prudent caretakers of Team Glazer’s cash. But the whole thing is a great illustration of some of the baloney flying around the NFL in April.

A chipper and refreshed Bucs coach Greg Schiano met the fourth estate, the local branch of the pen and mic club, for the first time yesterday since the end of the 2012 season and the first time standing before ink-stained and coiffed masses since the NFL Combine.

Not surprisingly, one of the first questions to Schiano was about Ronde Barber’s status.

“No. 20 did not show up,” Schiano said. “He’s not under contract so he is not here. [There are] no developments which is fine. We will still keep in communication. There is no silence or anything. Just in the process of figuring it out.”

Since the end of last season, Barber, Schiano and Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik have broken bread and discussed a potential return at least twice. Yet Barber is still out there, a free agent without a home.

When Joe asked Schiano if there was a deadline for Barber to make up his mind, Schiano stated there is no deadline in the foreseeable future.

“No, at some point I guess down the road but we are not anywhere near that now,” Schiano said. “For planning purposes, down the road” there is a deadline.

Schiano did not elaborate when that deadline may be, but Joe’s going to guess — just a guess — July 1. If Barber doesn’t commit by that time, it gives the Bucs a chance to bring in someone off the street or via a trade to join the team by the opening of training camp.

But what is taking Barber so long to make a decision? Joe has no inside information on this but it sure seems like Barber is torn, understandably so.

Could it be he wants to see who Dominik brings in to bolster the cornerback unit? After that ugly loss to Philadelphia last season, Joe had never seen Barber so steamed. He was one PO’ed individual. So mad and frustrated, Barber likely questioned why he even came back.

Or is Barber getting tugged to hang it up by his wife? Look, Barber has played relatively injury-free, sans a broken arm after the 2011 season. His knees are intact, he claims he’s never had a concussion. In short, for playing so long in the NFL, he is in remarkable condition. Perhaps his wife is telling him to get out while he’s ahead of the game? He’s dodged the bullet so many times, maybe he shouldn’t press his luck.

Joe thinks it is cool that given what Barber has meant to this organization, Dominik and Schiano are allowing Barber so much time to make what Joe is sure will be a difficult and potentially emotional call.

“SalPal,” Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, one of the few credible journalists Joe respects from the four-letter outfit, has an update on the results of Darelle Revis’ MRI this morning.

Earlier, SalPal noted the Jets have hit the “pause button” on trade talks with the Bucs, which sort of reinforces what Bucs general manager Mark Dominik told Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan of SiriusXM NFL Radio last month, and what Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune reported last night on WFLA-TV — that the Bucs really don’t know if Revis is on the trading block.

Greg Schiano is a detail guy whose core beliefs are “trust, belief and accountability.” Therefore, it was awfully strange to Joe to hear Schiano say the following about Eric Wright today, “He just had some bad luck last year.”

Was Schiano talking about Wright’s recurring Achilles injury or occasionally shaky cornerback play? Or was there a truly unique situation surrounding Wright getting suspended for four games after violating the Bucs’ substance abuse policy? Or was Schiano joking and referring to Wright flushing millions down the toilet?

It was a an odd way for a tough-guy coach to talk about his letdown cornerback, one who (for now) the Bucs are counting on heavily.

Sporting a blue dress  shirt and a mellow demeanor, the leader of the New Schiano Order took to the podium at One Buc Palace today and answered various questions on all things Bucs.

Here are Joe’s highlights from Schiano’s comments.

*All Buccaneers reported back for opening day of spring workouts today except for Eric Wright, whose wife gave birth yesterday.

*Asked to update Ronde Barber’s status, Schiano smiled and said there were “no developments, which is fine.” He said the Bucs and Barber are just in “the process of figuring it out” and the Bucs are nowhere near any deadline for Barber’s decision.

*Adrian Clayborn looks good and feels good.

*Schiano said he’s so happy to be in Year 2 of his regime and it’s great and beneficial to be in meetings today with players studying their own video, versus Rutgers video or that of other NFL teams.

*Schiano called Orlovsky “an excellent backup.” And Schiano said “I’m good with that,” referring to a scenario that would include no additional competition for Josh Freeman. He said Freeman has remained in great physical condition.

*A rookie cornerback should have no major issues becoming a starter in his defense, “I think that guy would be capable, whoever that guy is,” Schiano said.

*Schiano gave no real update on Darrelle Revis and apologized for being evasive.

Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune believes Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert is on the Bucs’ radar at No. 13.

Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune had a sit down last night with WFLA-TV’s Dan Lucas to discuss the prospects of the Darrelle Revis trade and the upcoming NFL draft.

Cummings dropped all sorts of good nuggets and this is the second exerpt of the sitdown.

Cummings, per his research, believes the Bucs may have narrowed their choice of a No. 13 pick, if the Bucs still have that pick, down to three possible players. That would be Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert.

Cummings noted that unless the Bucs trade up, there is little to no chance Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner or Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes will be available, so a cornerback pick at No. 13 is out because other corners would be too much of a reach.

Cummings noted that Eifert at No. 13 “may be a bit rich, he’s more of a No. 18, 19, 20 pick. But the Bucs have shown if they like a guy they will go get him and right now the Bucs’ strongest asset is the offense and what a dynamic addition he would make for the Bucs at tight end.”

Let’s just say Joe would not be sickened by either of these moves, Lotulelei, Richardson or Eifert.

Jimminy Christmas! The Bucs don’t need to invest heavily in another wide receiver, especially when one studies the numerous, high-priority holes on the roster.

But those details won’t stop the buzz around West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin wearing pewter and red.

Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, homeless-mistaken, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports told the world today that the Bucs are smitten with Austin.

At 13, Tampa Bay is growing impatient with the Jets on this Darrelle Revis trade. What I’m hearing is the current discussion is first-, third- and fifth-round picks for Revis, though I don’t know which picks are this year and which next. If the Bucs stay put, they love Tavon Austin

Now Joe’s already explained that Austin makes little, if any, sense for the New Schiano Order. There’s only one football to go around, and Josh Freeman has plenty of weapons. And Joe knows Greg Schiano yearns to run the ball more often than he did last season.

Former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas and popular sports radio personality Adam Schein discuss the latest in the Darrelle Revis saga in this SNY video.

A mock draft from a pair of respected NFL minds has the Bucs trading their second round pick for Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert.

Friday afternoon, Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan, co-hosts of “Movin’ the Chains,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, had their second mock draft. The full two rounds of their mock can be found here.

The duo has Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik awfully busy a week from Thursday night. They forecasted Dominik trading the Nos. 13 and 73 picks to Cleveland for its No. 9 pick where the Bucs land Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

But Dominik won’t be done with that, Kirwan and Ryan say. They predict Dominik will then trade their second round pick to Jacksonville for the No. 64 pick in the draft and quarterback Blaine Gabbert.

Now Joe has to admit this is creative thinking here, but Joe can’t see it. If Dominik were to pull off such a move, it would scream “panic” all over the place.

Joe knows Greg Schiano wanted competition for quarterback Josh Freeman, but Gabbert is miserable and in no way is he worth a high second round pick.

Second, such a move would signal to Joe that Freeman’s days with the Bucs are all but numbered if the Bucs are willing to spend a second round pick on a quarterback. You just don’t do that for a backup.

Today could be a big day for both the Bucs and the Jets. The star corner of the Jets, Darrelle Revis, long rumored to be the center of trade talks between the Jets and the Bucs, is to arrive  in Gotham from hiding and will undergo a medical exam including an MRI.

Revis, who required ACL reconstructive surgery after blowing out a knee last season, would pretty much need to given a medical green light for trade talks to continue. Tampa Tribune scribe Woody Cummings, appearing with WFLA-TV’s Dan Lucas in a sitdown to discuss Revis and the NFL draft, said the trade talks could be killed depending on Revis’ medical exam today.

Monday “is a pretty big day. [Revis is] supposed to go for an MRI and that is a pretty interesting development because that MRI would tell us a whole lot whether this trade, if there is a trade, is going to move forward,” Cummings said. “If something, anything negative comes up in that MRI, if that knee is not healing properly the way everybody thinks it should be at this point, that’s going to kill this trade right away. So [Monday] is going to be an important day.

“If we get anything out in the next 48 hours I would say, maybe 72 hours, about the results of that MRI are negative, you are probably going to see the hopes of the this or the chance of this trade going down significantly. But if it comes clean, well, it remains on the table as much as it has been on the table.”

Bucs fans shouldn’t go running to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge if the MRI comes back bad. It just means the Bucs, in Joe’s eyes, will draft at least one and maybe two corners in the first two days of the draft and your starting corners might be Eric Wright and a rookie, perhaps Xavier Rhodes.

Veteran NFL scout Chris Landry, who also works for various media outlets including Yahoo! Sports, joined The Steve Duemig Show on Friday and spent a good chunk of his time passionately criticizing the way the Bucs have handled their offseason and a potential Darrelle Revis trade.

Landy said “there’s never been a better year to fill needs” and the Bucs haven’t gotten the job done in “a buyers’ market.”

Multiple times Landry referred to rockstar general manager Mark Dominik as a “cap” guy (versus a “football guy.”)

Landry said the Bucs should have added all kinds of quality and inexpensive depth, pointing to the limited amount of guaranteed money paid to free agent cornerbacks Antoine Cason, Captain Munnerlyn and Brent Grimes; Landry would have signed all of them, as well as defensive ends Robert Geathers of the Bengals and Michael Bennett. Plus, Landry would have signed Roy Miller — “$650,000 guaranteed [with the Jaguars], are you kidding me?”– and Kevin Vickerson and Sen’Derrick Marks at defensive tackle, as well as new Bucs DT Derek Landri.

The Bucs had plenty of cap room for these “bargains” and their low guaranteed money would have given the Bucs competition at key positions, the freedom to still trade for Revis, and not force their hand in the draft. Landry emphasized many times that cutting any of the aforementioned free agents would have had negligible impact because of their limited guaranteed money.

On the offensive side of the ball, Landry was calling for signing tight end Dustin Keller ($2.25 million guaranteed).

Chris Landry

Regarding Revis, Landry is fundamentally opposed to a Bucs-Jets deal now and blamed its genesis on Team Glazer and Dominik looking to make a splash.

“You don’t make a trade for a player that’s coming off an injury until you see him play,” Landry said on WDAE-AM 620.

“This is coming from upper management. This is coming from ownership. And this is part of the problems, when ownership becomes involved to the point where, and you got a cap guy running the franchise that kind of is like, “Ok, we gotta make a splash.” In other words, you failed if you don’t get this trade done. It’s not your job to do a trade or to make things splashy. It’s your job to do the best job for your team. So whatever it is they need to do to make their team better, that’s what [Dominik] and them need to do.

“I think kind of creating an atmosphere if they don’t get this trade done, by God, they’ve screwed this up. That’s where to me they have screwed it up. Because they’re bidding against themselves.”

There’s plenty more. You can catch the entire interview below.

Saturday morning during the “Weekend Kickoff,” co-hosted by Howard David and Amani Toomer, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, a Bucs fan called to ask whether Eric Wright and Darrelle Revis in the Bucs secondary would become the top pair of corners in the NFL.

Toomer wasn’t sure how to answer that, but he did note Bucs fans will find out soon enough just how good of a corner Wright is if Revis comes to Tampa Bay.

“I don’t know how great Eric Wright has been throughout his career but he is a corner they have wanted for some time down there. And if they get Darrelle Revis, we will get to see how good Eric Wright is, I’ll tell you that. Because [opponents] will not be throwing the ball at Revis. They will be throwing the ball at Wright. He’s going to get a lot of opportunities to show how really good he is.”

That’s a helluva point by Toomer. If Revis is fully recovered from his ACL surgery, quarterbacks are going to test Wright play after play after play, assuming Wright makes the team and is a starter.

How w0uld the Bucs combat this? Well, with Revis and safeties Dashon Goldson and Mark Barron, Joe’s going to guess that Bill Sheridan, the Bucs defensive coordinator, would roll some coverage over toward Wright’s side of the field.

New York/New Jersey takes on the Darrelle Revis trade aren’t exactly what you hear around the Tampa Bay area.

In this new SNY video, ex-Jet and former Rutgers star Ray Lucas strongly disagrees with colleague Adam Schein. An interesting point is made about new Jets GM John Idzik not caving to pressure to make a deal with the Bucs.

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