Lee Promoted, Human Turnstile Cut

October 28, 2009 at 09:14am by Scott

With Marcus Johnson staggering and stumbling off the roster, the team elevated James Lee, an offensive tackle who has showed promise, from the practice squad. And then they cut Sean Mahan, too. Because there’s never a bad time to cut Sean Mahan.

When starting center Jeff Faine suffered a triceps tear in the season opener against Dallas, the Buccaneers re-signed Mahan and put him in the starting lineup for the next four contests. Faine returned to action against Carolina in Week Six.

The Bucs web site is very kind to Mahan by not exposing exactly how much of a liability Mahan was during those four games. But Mahan basically treated defensive tackles the same way a screen door treats wind. For example, the Bucs rushed for 5.6 YPC in the Dallas game when Faine was healthy. Then he got hurt and for the next four weeks, the Bucs averaged 3.7 YPC with Mahan at center. And then when Faine came back for the Panthers game? 5.0 YPC. I’m not saying Mahan was the sole reason for the dropoff, it’s just that… wait, no. That is what I’m saying.

I’ll be completely honest here — I forgot Mahan was on the roster after Faine came back. I even posting something on a message board somewhere stating that I hoped the Bucs wouldn’t re-sign Mahan after cutting Johnson. I hope he pushed for that pony when he had the chance, because I think he’s done in Tampa.

The team will probably fill the extra roster spot today. I’ll laugh my ass off if they bring back Matt McCoy. That guy’s like the redshirt crewman in Star Trek. Every week he gets killed, and then somehow he’s back again the next week, ready for more abuse. Life as the 53rd man is pretty much an alternating series of paychecks and pink slips.