Victim of numbers game?

So in the past few weeks since Tom Brady retired and the Bucs began hyping Kyle Trask and how he will compete for the starting job, one name Joe noticed was never mentioned: Blaine Gabbert. [read more]

Hall of Fame résumé.

Joe thinks Logan Ryan might be trying out for Joe’s job. [read more]

“Blaine, I made a few calls.”

The pattern this season in free agency shows that nearly every player who visited a team signed with that team. [read more]

Parades matter.

Imagine a free agent during The Lost Decade of Buccaneers football ever pointing to Tampa and saying he wanted to play there because that’s the home of winners. [read more]

Todd Bowles

New Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has only played with one player on the Tampa Bay roster, but he does know a coach. [read more]

New Bucs QB Baker Mayfield.

Let the competition begin! [read more]

When Joe sat down with new Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales at the NFL Scouting Combine, the message was clear: the new Bucs system would be crafted for the pieces in place — and they weren’t all there yet. [read more]

Joe was among the many fans disgusted by the horror show that typically was the Buccaneers’ short-yardage running game last season. [read more]

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield.

So new Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield will field questions from the local pen and mic club this afternoon at One Buc Palace. [read more]

With young defensive backs Mike Edwards and cornerback/nickel Sean Murphy-Bunting now wearing the uniforms of AFC teams, two Tampa Bay Super Bowl pieces, the perception of Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean’s value is more clear. [read more]

CB Sean Murphy-Bunting.

It appears a Bucs 2020 playoff star will play in a different uniform this fall. [read more]

What’s on the other side?

Joe has been hearing the following lately and is trying to figure out the answer. [read more]

Bucs DT Greg Gaines.

Joe thinks the signing of Rams defensive tackle Greg Gaines was a good hire. Joe also suspects the crowd that despised Gerald McCoy may have angry flashbacks. [read more]

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield.

There are few NFL analysts Joe respects more than Greg Cosell of NFL Films. [read more]

Bucs CB Jamel Dean.

Regular readers of this here site and listeners to the “Ira Kaufman Podcast” knows how one of the Joes felt about this. [read more]

The wining and dining stage of free agency has arrived. [read more]

Bucs quarterback Kyle Trask will be competing for a starting job, the Bucs claim.

Is Baker Mayfield capable, mentally, of being a backup quarterback? He is wired to be a starter and history shows he’s not interested in changing. [read more]

Several Bucs free agents are chasing a contract.

Tomorrow rings the bell on one week into free agency and the three Bucs free agent receivers are still looking for work.

They represent a statistical loss of 56 catches for 594 yards and 3 touchdowns from one of last season’s worst NFL offenses. [read more]

Regular readers here know Joe obsesses about all things Bucs 24/7, which includes soaking in all kinds of NFL radio, podcast and TV chatter. [read more]

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BY IRA KAUFMAN

The NFL owners meetings are slated for next week in Phoenix, where Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer is expected to discuss the state of the franchise with local media.

Things have changed markedly from 2020, when the Tom Brady era began in Tampa and ownership charged GM Jason Licht with an aggressive approach that would maximize the club’s chances for a Super Bowl title. Licht responded in kind, trading for Rob Gronkowski, adding Leonard Fournette as a free agent just before the season opener and signing Antonio Brown in midseason as he was finishing up an 8-week NFL suspension.

Back in 2007, Glazer sat down with me in Phoenix during a gathering of owners. The Bucs were coming to the end of a cycle and had just endured a 4-12 season with Bruce Gradkowski under center. The defense wasn’t very good and the offense was awful, averaging 13 points per game. [read more]

Formers Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott.

Joe has been asked, ‘What about the Bucs signing Ezekiel Elliott?’ [read more]