Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer made his annual visit with local scribes at the NFL owners meeting in Phoenix today and like Bucs fans, he is irritated that the Bucs are still looking for their first postseason win since the Super Bowl.
In short, Glazer stated the blame for lackluster seasons since, ultimately, stops at the conference room door of the Bucs’ ownership group, so Twitters Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
@NFLSTROUD: Glazer: “I don’t know how to describe how it feels. It rips you apart on the inside. Every fan feels that way. There’s no question we have to take responsibility.”
Well, what Glazer said is both noble and true. He is the man who hires people who are supposed to build the football program.
At the end of the day, and Joe is certain Glazer would admit this, he is not steeped in the intricacies of player personnel moves nor is he a football coach on the level of those collecting NFL paychecks.
That’s why he hires people to build his team. He delegates authority, as most owners do.
Glazer is not George Halas or Al Davis, men who wore all the hats in the football organization. The Bucs have both won and lost without Glazer holding critical positions in the Bucs’ front office.
For Bucs fans who can’t get enough rumors of Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, Joe can’t stress enough — and has written as much — that the hangup with finishing such a deal is clearly in the lap of Jets general manager John Idzik.
There is simply no way Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik trades a high draft pick for a guy that will likely bolt nine months later. Dominik will need to rework Revis’ contract before a trade is consummated and to date, the Jets have yet to give Dominik permission to do so.
Negotiating with a player from another team is known in NFL circles as “tampering,” and the fines are quite ugly.
Even the New York Post believes the Jets are choking like a dog in these talks with Dominik.
The Buccaneers are losing patience with the Jets, according to league sources, over the teams’ inability to strike a deal for the All-Pro cornerback. The Buccaneers have told people around the league they may have to look at other options at cornerback soon if they can’t make a deal for Revis.
“It’s amazing,” a league source said. “The Jets are going to screw this up.”
There are a lot of corners still on out there for the taking; it’s a great buyer’s market.
Now the New York Post also published what the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, reported, that the Bucs have turned their sights on free agent Brent Grimes.
Given how cheap the Bucs can get Grimes in this market, Joe isn’t so sure signing Grimes would prevent the Bucs from still pursuing Revis. And signing Grimes would be a bold statement to Idzik that Dominik isn’t playing around.
Remember, Eric Wright’s contract is still on the books for the Bucs — he would certainly be cut if the Bucs sign Grimes — and is far more than what the Bucs would pay Grimes.
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Joe’s got the audio downloads below of a very interesting interview of Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM yesterday. Joe already brought you Cummings’ take on the Bucs starting multiple rookie cornerbacks next season, but this is the entire back and forth.
Among the takes, Cummings says the Bucs weren’t happy to see Michael Bennett leave their nest.
“That one got away from the Bucs,” Cummings said. “I know they wanted Michael Bennett back. They wanted him back at a certain price, and I gotta think around $5 million may even be below what they were thinking over one year. Certainly for one year I think they would have done that had Michael gone back to them. Obviously, Michael decided. He felt like the pressure was on to make a decision. He could see the market was not quite what he hoped it would be.”
Check it out below. It’s excellent lunchtime listening.
Joe thought he was rid of experts trying to bestow greatness on the head of Aqib Talib, despite Talib being a guy who was torched annually, injured annually, and in trouble annually. But no, in his Monday Morning Quarterback column yesterday, King told the world Talib was the best cornerback available when the free-agency bell rang.
3. New England: CB Aqib Talib, one year, $5 million. Patriots fans would want it to be a longer deal, because Talib could play himself into a bigger money deal elsewhere if he plays the way he can this year. But the Patriots weren’t going to overpay for a player who could blow up in their faces. The best overall cornerback on the market was a must-keep for New England.
Perhaps Talib’s alleged greatness explains why the Bucs have a near empty stable of cornerbacks. If King is to be believed, and Talib was the best money could be on the open market, then it would make sense that the Bucs would pass on everyone else in free agency.
Funny thing about NFL front office types. They often don’t need to hear the wailing of fans and ranting comments on the Internet to know where their team stinks.
There’s this thing called “tape.” It is an outdated term better known as “video.” The front office types and coaches study the game video over and over again, unlike most of us.
Imagine how ill the Bucs’ suits and coaches got this past season? The vast majority of Bucs fans wouldn’t dare watch film over and over again to revisit how dismal the Bucs cornerbacks played.
Joe can only assume Team Glazer has stock in Beecham, the maker of TUMS.
In case you thought rock star general manager Mark Dominik wasn’t aware of the craters he has in his roster for starting cornerbacks, think again, Twitters eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.
eye-RAH! is out in Arizona for the NFL owners meetings and he has spoken to Dominik personally about this issue.
@IKaufmanTBO: Bucs GM Mark Dominik admits the club’s current roster of cornerbacks doesn’t provide a comfort level of competition at the position
Joe just cannot fathom the Bucs going into training camp with the likes of Eric Wright and Danny Gorrer listed atop the cornerback depth chart.
Joe is pretty confident somewhere along the way Dominik will sign a corner if he is unable to rework a contract with Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (remember folks, the Jets have to grant Dominik permission to speak to Revis’ agents; it takes two to work out a deal), and he very likely will draft two corners next month.
Obviously, the Bucs’ offseason is hardly a finished product (thank goodness). It’s satisfying to freak out about the moves/non-moves, but an ultimate assessment wouldn’t be fair at this point. Though Joe understands those who say, ‘What the hell is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik doing?’
Heck, Joe’s asked that question when it comes to the exits of Michael Bennett and Roy Miller.
Yesterday, Dominik offered an explanation to Rick Stroud, of the Tampa Bay Times. It seems the loss of Bennett and Miller came down to sticking to a financial plan.
Going, going: Dominik lamented the loss of DT Roy Miller to Jacksonville and DE Michael Bennett to Seattle, but said they exceeded the value the Bucs had on them in an allocation system.
“Roy is a good defensive tackle,” Dominik said. “He played well for us. The market is what it is. The same with Michael Bennett. We have limits with what we can do. We have a value on every player. When you get more disciplined in doing that, you don’t get to sign a player back because someone values him more.”
Now Stroud’s use of the word “lamented” seems over the top. Here’s the definition. Joe finds it difficult to believe Dominik is saddened by the loss of players he let walk away. Both Bennett and Miller were clear in their desires to remain Buccaneers for many weeks following the 2012 regular season.
As for this player-value/discipline thing, Joe gets the concept, but there’s a load of gray area there. Even the average fan knew Dominik overpaid for Eric Wright and Quincy Black immediately upon their signings.
Some players are worth overpaying because of their specific value to a team and a scheme. A “custom-built” for the Bucs nose tackle for $2 million and change a season comes to mind.
Yes, it is past 2 a.m. Tuesday and Joe has potentially breaking news.
The quest for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to swing a deal with the Jets for Darrelle Revis seems to be going south, and no, not towards Phoenix. If reports are to be believed, the Bucs have turned their sights instead toward Brent Grimes.
The creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, is at the owners meetings in Arizona and he has learned that Dominik refuses to be held hostage by Jets general manager John Idzik for next month’s Bucs first round pick.
The biggest takeaway from our first full day at the league meetings in Phoenix is that, with the Jets and Buccaneers taking strong opposing positions as to the trade value of one of the best defensive players in football, the Buccaneers are close to moving on. The belief is that the Jets want a package headlined by a first-round pick, and that the Buccaneers are willing to part with, at most, a 2014 first-round selection.
The Plan B remains Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes, who has drawn interest from the Dolphins and the Browns. The Bucs and Grimes are, we’re told, talking — and if/when the Buccaneers land the Falcons’ 2012 franchise player, the Bucs will be out of the Revis business.
Florio explains it would be in the Jets’ best interest to quit playing hardball and play ball with Dominik. Florio details how people think if Revis walks after the 2013 season, the Jets would get a third round pick in compensation.
But hold up, Florio writes! Notice the Bucs got stud wide receiver Vincent Jackson last year and the Chargers got zilch in compensation.
So if the Jets don’t want to be left with their pants around their ankles and see Revis walk, they may want to take Dominik’s offer of the Bucs’ 2014 first round pick.
With Grimes talking to both the Browns and the Dolphins, Idzik better put down the magazine and get off the toilet damned quick.
Though the fervor for Eric Wright’s head has calmed down in recent days upon learning Wright lost his grievance against the Bucs for a contract clause stating Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik could cut him for popping Adderall, an NFL banned substance, Bucs fans still pine for Wright to be jettisoned.
Prior to that news, Joe was inundated with queries daily about when the Bucs were going to cut him.
In short, not yet, so Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times Twitters.
@NFLSTROUD: Dominik said it’s not a certainty that CB Eric Wright won’t remain with the team, but he would have to restructure his contract. … Dominik said the team hasn’t made a decision about whether to offer Wright a new deal but will address it after the owner’s meetings.
What does this tell Joe? With news that Brent Grimes and the Browns are making headway on a contract, Dominik doesn’t want to get completely shut out on cornerbacks and will consider keeping Wright, for a much-reduced price.
So, in a twist of events, your big free agent cornerback signing may actually be Wright.
Not much new here, but it is a fresh nuance to the LeGarrette Blount trade possibility.
Speaking at the NFL Owners meetings in Arizona this evening, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik implied that while he’s exploring trading Blount, he’s aware that a solid No. 2 is necessary. Per the Twittering of Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud, it seems the Bucs believe Blount could be their No. 2 and he won’t be dealt for a ham sandwich.
@NFLStroud – “Right now we’re just listening with the understanding that Doug Martin can’t do everything,” Dominik said.
Joe can’t blame the Bucs for seeking to trade Blount, who becomes a free agent after next season. If the Bucs aren’t going to use Blount much, they might as well see if someone will part with a middle-round pick.
Perhaps the Bucs are sniffing a running back they like in a middle round, but don’t love enough to use one of their current picks on him.
It’s widely known that the Bucs courted turnover machine Matt Cassel to push/compete/mentor/cater to Josh Freeman. So Joe can’t see any reason why the New Schiano Order wouldn’t want to purse Matt Hasselbeck, who is a better quarterback and has proven to be a willing and capable backup.
Hasselbeck was released by the Titans today because they didn’t want to pay him $5 million and change for 2013. He turns 38 in September and was 2-3 as a starter last season, completing 62.4 percent of his passes, including seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
The guy’s won playoff games and made a few Pro Bowls. The Bucs could do a lot worse, and Joe suspects Hasselbeck knows a hell of a lot more about playing QB than the Bucs’ new quarterbacks coach.
Put aside Jets coach Rex Ryan’s loud mouth and world famous foot fetish, and one must respect the man’s knowledge of defensive football players.
So it was interesting to note his comments today on Darrelle Revis, via NFL Network. (Here’s the video, including footage of Revis training.)
“His work ethic’s unbelievable,” Ryan said of Revis.
Ryan went on to say “absolutely,” when asked whether Revis will return to the Jets. “He’s our player.”
Surely, Ryan talking about Revis staying with the Jets could just be him touting the company line, but it was world’s more convincing that the clip of the video when Ryan talks about Tim Tebow competing for a QB job with New York this season.
Few writers have the kind of access and behind-the-scenes stream of information King has, and he frankly believes Jets general manager John Idzik is blowing smoke when he claims he wants studly cornerback Darrelle Revis on his roster.
I think when I see headlines about the Jets keeping an open mind on whether or not to trade Darrell Revis, I am heartened that they have not lost their minds. Then I think: They’re just saying that. There’s far too much smoke out there, and far too little whispering to sources off the record that Revis is going nowhere, for me to believe they aren’t desperate to move him. Mistakenly, of course.
Joe will have more later on the Revis-to-Bucs chatter, but Joe must caution fans. If a Revis trade to the Bucs is going to happen, it is more likely to happen later than sooner.
A new form of ice water was tossed on a potential Darrelle Revis trade this morning.
Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings had an in-depth chat with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM and proclaimed the New Schiano Order has the fortitude to open the 2013 season with two rookie starting cornerbacks, if it doesn’t like its options and value via trade or free agency.
“They have the confidence they can make that work,” Cummings said.
Cummings cited former Bears secondary coach Greg Schiano’s hands-on ways with the Bucs’ defensive backs in practice, as well as the team’s faith in its safeties, which now include All-Pro Dashon Goldson. (Joe also will point to Schiano’s apparent takeover of the defensive backs very late in the 2012 season.)
Now Joe can’t predict what the Bucs will do with their woeful cornerbacks corps. It is considered a deep class of rookie corners. But Joe thinks starting two rookie cornerbacks would be the equivalent of NFC South suicide.
However, Joe does believe a Revis trade will get done this spring.
You may have heard Joe yesterday on WHFS-FM 98.7 talk about the Bucs and the favorite subject of seemingly all Bucs fans, Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The issue of what ransom Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik must cough up in order to land Revis is concerning.
Joe is against giving up a first-round pick for two reasons: There’s not a doctor on the face of this earth that can tell Joe if Revis, after an ACL surgery, can run, cut, jump, stop on a dime and start, and explode the way he used to — repeatedly through a season. Any doctor who can predict otherwise is, in reality, a witch doctor.
Second, Joe does not believe the Bucs are one all-star cornerback away from a Super Bowl. Shoot, we’re talking about a team with a losing record that just lost three of its starting front-seven. Have they even been replaced yet?
This is the issue Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly shares. He believes, as always, it all goes back to No. 5, and even Fennelly is confused by that position.
Is this a Super Bowl quarterback — even a playoff quarterback? It’s a question with an answer that changes with Freeman’s ups and downs. We’ve seen him dress up as Michael Jackson. Cool. Great. Now, can he pretend to be Joe Flacco? I’m not so sure.
This is a bulls-eye by Fennelly. If the Bucs had a top-tier quarterback, with the weapons Freeman has, heck, Joe would probably pull the trigger on a first-round pick for (a healthy) Revis.
But Joe would sure like to see the Bucs in the playoffs first before tossing out first-round draft picks for guys coming off of ACL surgery who have a habit of holding out and squeezing a front office for more cash.
This week’s NFL owners meetings, starting today in Arizona, were supposed to be a time for Jets and Bucs big shots to enjoy bagels and coffee together and happily hammer out a trade for Darrelle Revis.
But it seems the Jets have started playing — and blowing smoke — before breakfast has even been served. Via ProFootballTalk.com, the Jets already were talking tough last night upon arrival in Arizona.
“I expect Darrelle Revis to be a New York Jet,” Idzik said, according to USA Today‘s Jim Corbett. “We as the Jets operate under that assumption.”
Owner Woody Johnson offered a similar sentiment, even suggesting an extension for Revis — who’s in the final year of his deal — wasn’t impossible, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
This doesn’t surprise Joe. To preserve some credibility with their grouchy fan base, the Jets have to play hardball with the Bucs. But the Bucs have to play hardball right back. Joe suspects the Bucs’ tough-guy act might be more credible if, say, they signed another starting-caliber cornerback.
Joe’s got the audio downloads below of a very interesting interview of Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM yesterday. Joe already brought you Cummings’ take on the Bucs 
Obviously, the Bucs’ offseason is hardly a finished product (thank goodness). It’s satisfying to freak out about the moves/non-moves, but an ultimate assessment wouldn’t be fair at this point. Though Joe understands those who say, ‘What the hell is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik doing?’
It’s widely known that the Bucs courted turnover machine Matt Cassel to push/compete/mentor/cater to Josh Freeman. So Joe can’t see any reason why the New Schiano Order wouldn’t want to purse Matt Hasselbeck, who is a better quarterback and has proven to be a willing and capable backup.
Put aside Jets coach Rex Ryan’s loud mouth and world famous foot fetish, and one must respect the man’s knowledge of defensive football players.
This week’s NFL owners meetings, starting today in Arizona, were supposed to be a time for Jets and Bucs big shots to enjoy bagels and coffee together and happily hammer out a trade for Darrelle Revis.
