Doug Williams Took The Extension

December 31, 2009 at 11:28pm by Scott   •  1 Comment »

It didn’t take Doug Williams too long to decide that sticking with a front office job in the NFL is preferable to sweating the sidelines of a SAC school.

“I weighed my options and realized the NFL is best for me at this time,” Williams said. “I like what I’ve seen from some of the young (Bucs) players, and especially the quarterback (rookie Josh Freeman).”

You’ve got to believe that either this is a contract that the Glazers don’t mind eating if they hire someone like Bill Cowher who will demand full control, or Raheem Morris is reasonably safe. A win on Sunday definitely secures Morris, and even a competitive loss would be enough. I think the Bucs have to lose big to keep Morris from getting the cane.

You Don’t Say

December 31, 2009 at 11:12pm by Scott   •  3 Comments »

Ira Kaufman is the first local reporter I have seen to give serious consideration to… guess who. Eric Berry.

The Bucs have to be looking hard at Tennessee safety Eric Berry, who is expected to announce later this week that he is skipping his senior season to enter the draft. The Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation’s top defensive back, Berry could combine with Tanard Jackson to give the Bucs a pair of young, dynamic safeties.

The hell you say! Please, do go on.

Berry is a versatile 5-foot-11, 203-pound big hitter who is already drawing comparisons to Pro Bowl safeties like Troy Polamalu (Steelers) and Ed Reed (Ravens).

With Sabby Piscitelli struggling in his first full year as a starter, the Bucs could view Berry as their best option if Suh is off the board. Berry ranks second on the Vols with 83 stops and, unlike Piscitelli, he is a sure tackler who would bolster Tampa Bay’s erratic rush defense.

It’s nice to see a reporter making an effort to talk about someone else besides Suh. Even if it had been someone besides Berry, I would have taken note of the article. But it probably would have been buried in a Rear Entry or mentioned casually somewhere. But for Berry, yeah, we’ll make a special post.

Cadillac And Antonio Both Want To Be Bucs

December 31, 2009 at 01:27am by Scott   •  No Comments »

This week will likely be the last interviews with Bucs players for a while, so reporters are trying to get their feelings about the offseason. Both Cadillac Williams and Antonio Bryant confirmed their interest in staying with Tampa, albeit in different ways. Cadillac’s, for example, was gracious. Pewter Report got some good quotes from him in the HIDEOUSLY TITLED article, “Cadillac Wants To Remain Parked In Tampa Bay“. Really? Car puns in his fifth season?

“I would like to remain a Buccaneer. The Bucs have been loyal to me and stuck with me. They drafted me, too. I appreciate everything they’ve done for me and them sticking with me. It will definitely factor in to me wanting to stay here.”

Bryant gave his normal I’m-a-team-player-but-I’m-personally-getting-screwed response.

“It’s not (about) me,” Bryant said. “I know there’s things I’m capable of doing on the field that can get other people open. We just have to find ways for other people to get me open. There’s a lot of double coverage. It’s to the point where teams don’t respond to other things happening on the field. They just keep rolling that safety over.

“We’ve been able to use that where I just go out and run a deep route and take that safety and then you have (Kellen) Winslow come underneath or (Maurice Stovall) come. So, it works to our benefit to some degree.

“But on a personal level, did I like that? No, because I couldn’t get the ball.”

“I won’t have a contract (in the offseason), but I can play football and I can play it better than a lot of people who have a contract,” he said. “It’s just a matter of people understanding that, ‘If this is what you want, this is what you can have.’ I’m not worried about that. Do I want to stay here? Of course.”

Bryant has a point that he has been underutilized this season, and I’d love to know Greg Olson‘s reason for not including him more in the game plan. Is he still a little gimpy? Is he not practicing well? You’d think that a two-receiver set with Winslow as the receiving tight end and Cadillac running well would be a nice combination.

It’s going to be hard speculating about anyone’s future before the deadline for a new CBA. Unrestricted free agency will be bumped out two years, so guys like Cadillac and Barrett Ruud and Jeremy Trueblood would still be subject to the Bucs’ whim depending on the kind of offer they tender. That’s gotta make them feel just great. “Uncapped” just has a nicer ring than “stuck”.

Read It, Bitches

December 31, 2009 at 12:02am by Scott   •  2 Comments »

Just to show that there are differences in opinion here in December. Also, Todd McShay has Eric Berry going to the Bucs at #4 in his mock draft. I realize that means less than nothing right now, but it was still a cool graphic to see the Bucs logo next to Berry’s name.

Stop, You’re Making This Too Easy

December 30, 2009 at 12:57pm by Scott   •  2 Comments »

Yes, Urban, relax.

REAR ENTRIES: None Of This Is Interesting

December 30, 2009 at 12:35pm by Scott   •  1 Comment »

BUCS SIGN SAFETY: The Bucs claimed safety De’von Hall off of waivers from the Colts yesterday to take the spot of one of the players put on injured reserve on Monday. Hall went undrafted out of Utah State this year, has a total of three tackles this season so far for the Colts and will probably just play on special teams snaps on Sunday if he dresses at all. But at least his name has an apostrophe.

DOUG WILLIAMS OFFERED EXTENSION: Okay, I know Doug Williams has the title of “Pro Personnel Director”, but I have to tell you, I don’t know what the fuck Williams does for the team. Does he scout? Does he recruit free agents? Does he negotiate contracts? I take it from the “pro” part of his title that he has no say in the draft. WHAT DOES HE DO? Well, whatever he does, the Glazers think he should do it for one more year and offered him a contract extension. This comes on the heels of his interview for the head coaching position of Southern University.

Credit the Glazer family and general manager Mark Dominik for recognizing Williams’ overall value to the franchise, which goes well beyond his duties as the chief pro talent evaluator.

He’s the chief pro talent evaluator? Huh, he always seemed more like a Buccaneer figurehead to me. But if he’s the guy responsible for bringing in free agents, it’s been a hit and miss season. Tim Crowder, yes. Derrick Ward, meh. Mike Nugent, no. Kellen Winslow was a big yes, too, so give him credit for that. But the reason why this may be news is that if we are assuming that Bill Cowher would want complete control of all football operations (and I don’t know why everyone is assuming that), extending Williams wouldn’t make sense. Unless it’s not a guaranteed contract, in which case it’s just the Glazers hedging their bets.

SPURLOCK IS THE NFCSTPOTY: Micheal Spurlock won the NFC Special teams Player of the Week award. Yep, he sure did.

NO BUCS IN THE PRO BOWL: This is not news because no one expected that a Buccaneer would make it. The only thing that bothers me about it is that the Rams got a selection in the Pro Bowl. The Rams! Steven Jackson made it with his 1,300+ yard, 4.5 YPC season, which I guess are Pro Bowl numbers and I don’t have anyone more deserving than him. But, man, a 1-14 team putting a player in the Pro Bowl after the Bucs had two nice wins just seems wrong.

“Biggest Egg In Saints Regular Season History”

December 29, 2009 at 09:39am by Scott   •  7 Comments »

I know you’ve been wondering what ever happened to Bobby Hebert after he retired from professional football. From the picture above with Drew Brees, no one would blame you if you guessed “Off-Strip Vegas Magician” or “Tim Robbins Paparazzi Decoy”, but you’d be wrong. He has a radio show in New Orleans now and offers his opinions on everything Saints-related. And when he blogged about Sunday’s loss to the Bucs, he made a pretty bold statement:

To me, it’s the biggest egg in the history of the Saints regular season. I mean, the #1 offense, going against the #25 defense, there’s no way in hell you should lose. The Saints did.

The Saints have been around since 1967. They didn’t have a winning season until 1987 and didn’t win a playoff game until 2000. But the Bucs shutting them out of the second half of Sunday’s game was their worst regular season performance EVER? Wow. And keep in mind that Hebert isn’t just a former Saint. He was born in Cut Off, Louisiana (I swear that’s really the name of the town) and went to college at Northwestern State in Louisiana. If anyone is going to know Saints history and be able to speak authoritatively on how bad they shit themselves Sunday, it’s him.

Ronde May Retire If Raheem Is Fired

December 28, 2009 at 10:54pm by Scott   •  1 Comment »

Ronde Barber threw his biggest support yet behind Raheem Morris, indicating to Pewter Report that if Morris was to be let go, it would influence him to retire.

When asked if whether Morris’ return will influence his decision to come back for a 13th season with the Buccaneers or retire, Barber said it would.

“Absolutely it will,” Barber said. “I can’t say which way it will, either, but I think you can assume which way (planning on retiring).”

It’s not as big a deal as it seems. If Morris stays, Ronde stays and everything is like it was this year. If Morris is canned, chances are good the new head coach would want to remake the team in his own image and that wouldn’t include a 35-year old cornerback anyway. But the sentiment is nice. Kind of a “thank you for not booting me with all the other old guys”. Hallmark really is missing out on that market.

Two More On Injured Reserve

December 28, 2009 at 05:45pm by Scott   •  4 Comments »

Earnest Graham and Jimmy Wilkerson were both put on injured reserve after getting hurt in Sunday’s game. Graham tore a toe ligament and Wilkerson tore his ACL. That means that Wilkerson may not be ready for training camp in July. It also means that the contract extension talks that the Bucs were having with Wilkerson’s agent are most likely on hold for a while.

The team already filled in one roster spot with Ryan Purvis, a tight end who has been on the practice squad just waiting for someone to get hurt. I guess Purvis can also play fullback, like one of those “H-Back” guys I hear about every now and then? That’s the only explanation I can think of for promoting him when they were already down to their third-string fullback in Graham. They definitely don’t need another pure tight end for the Atlanta game. The second spot will be filled before they practice on Wednesday, so that should shed some more light on it.

UPDATE: I made it sound like the Bucs didn’t have any fullbacks on the roster after Graham was put on IR. I forgot about Chris Pressley, who should be in a position to compete for the starting fullback spot in 2010.

Good Answer, Raheem

December 28, 2009 at 05:19pm by Scott   •  4 Comments »

Raheem Morris is about as good at press conferences as I am at keeping my pants on in the grocery store, which is to say not at all. But when he was continually confronted with questions about his future with the Buccaneers and the rumors about the Glazers speaking with Bill Cowher, he gave the best answer possible.

“I don’t think Bill Cowher makes those decisions,” Morris said. “I think our ownership does. I know I don’t, so I don’t worry about it.”

Perfect. It had a little bite to it, but it wasn’t disrespectful and it sounded confident. Why can’t he talk like that all the time?

That’s it. I just thought that since I pick on him so much for when he screws up his conferences that it would only be fair for me to point out one time when he sounded like a head coach.