Rookies And Revis

May 16, 2013 at 02:05am by Scott   •  1 Comment »

The Bucs have been busy signing their draft picks to contracts and currently have their last four picks taken care of. Only Johnthan Banks and Mike Glennon remain unsigned, but seeing as how there’s not a lot to negotiate over and neither of them are going to hold out and go back into the draft next year, the Bucs probably aren’t sweating it.

In other news about not sweating it, Darrelle Revis will apparently not attend OTAs with the team, but he will be at One Buc getting rehab for his knee.

Considering how heavily the Bucs are expected to lean on Revis this season, his absence during offseason practices raises questions about how seamlessly he can be integrated with his new team. Essentially, the man who is expected to be the most vital member of the defense won’t join his teammates on the field until the first day of training camp, at the earliest.

All these questions were raised by the Bucs when they traded for Revis because they knew he wouldn’t be ready right away. And as Stephen Holder points out in the article, Revis’s main responsibility will be to lock up a receiver one-on-one. Regardless of how complicated Greg Schiano’s defense is, it won’t make Revis’s job much harder and the learning curve won’t be anything he can’t handle.

Offseason Finally Interesting

April 23, 2013 at 02:01am by Scott   •  12 Comments »

I’ve had some time to digest the Darrelle Revis trade and am a little more at peace with it now that I know the details. And now that it’s already done and there’s nothing I can do about it. I love a good bandwagon.

But in all seriousness, this could turn out pretty good. The deal was for the Bucs’ 2013 first and their 2014 third (as long as he is still on the roster by the third day of the 2014 league year which he definitely will be unless legs actually fall off before then). This year’s first is steep at #13 and don’t let anyone tell you different. Revis himself was picked #14 a few years ago, so it’s a calculated risk by Mark Dominik to trade for a player who he knows has elite talent but is also a known injury risk and holdout risk as opposed to an unknown commodity on almost every level except raw physical ability. And Dominik mitigated his risk further by structuring Revis’s contract so that every year he was essentially on a one-year deal with NO guaranteed money. And Dominik paid Revis $16-million per year for six years. What’s Revis really ever going to hold out for? There’s very little incentive for Revis to ever act a fool and hold out, so my concern about that part of the deal is assuaged.

And honestly, this is a weak draft. If Dominik was going to pull this trade, this was the year to do it. There are some good players this year, don’t get me wrong. But a first round right tackle or nose tackle wasn’t going to make the same impact as a superstar corner.

The only issue is the knee. Revis didn’t discuss his rehab or how his knee is progressing, saying only that he’s working as hard as he can. But if the knee is good enough for Dominik, I suppose it should be good enough for me. And it needs to be good enough for Dominik since he’s pretty much betting his job and his legacy with the team on it. If Revis re-tears his ACL in week one, Dominik may never live it down, especially if whoever is selected at #13 is doing well. If Revis does well and the pass defense improves, no one will remember the former busts and bad signings. It’s a big gamble, but it’s a whole lot more exciting than signing a street free agent. So at the very least, thanks to Dominik for making this offseason interesting finally. For all you Bucs fans, this is what you’ve been waiting for — a secondary that doesn’t suck. And for all you non-Bucs fans, you read this nonsense all the way to the bottom? Seriously?

A Slightly Better Backup?

April 16, 2013 at 11:37am by Scott   •  3 Comments »

So, it’s been a few days… where to start? Oh, I know.

According to a report by Mike Florio in Profootballtalk.com, the trade talks between the Jets and Tampa Bay for cornerback Darrelle Revis have included the possibility of the Bucs assuming Mark Sanchez and his contract.

You might think I’m about to rag on Sanchez and say the Bucs shouldn’t take him. And you’d be half right because Sanchez is awful. Not an awful person since I don’t know him (although I’ve heard he’s a douche when you meet him) but an awful quarterback. But if the Bucs can restructure Sanchez’s contract so it’s more in line with what a likely backup makes and doesn’t include $8.25-million guaranteed, then he’s a better option than any of the other backups that are out there and would actually provide a perceived threat for Josh Freeman. Not an actual threat, of course, since Freeman is ten times better than Sanchez, but for some reason people keep thinking that Sanchez is good. Freeman knows Dan Orlovsky isn’t going to unseat him, but maybe Sanchez gets his attention a little more.

This is all assuming that including Sanchez as part of the Revis trade is to make it more equitable for the Bucs. If the Bucs are considering giving ANYTHING additional up for Sanchez, they should walk away now. They probably should anyway.

In other New York news, Da’Quan Bowers pled guilty to a minor charge of disorderly conduct and all the gun charges were dropped. Let this be a reminder to all of you to check your luggage for guns before you start packing for a trip. I suggest just jamming your hand into your bags blindly an feeling around for them.

The Bucs added a chicken nugget of camp meat in Eric Page, an undrafted free agent from 2012 who spend that year at home injured after receiving a settlement from the Broncos.

Did you know Eric Wright has a web site? In this blog entry, he explains the process of his restructure, his injury and conveys his gratitude several times to everyone involved. He’s saying all the right things. As long as he doesn’t take any of the wrong meds, I’m cool with it.

No News Is No News

March 26, 2013 at 01:20am by Scott   •  3 Comments »

The only Bucs news happening right now is non-news and it involves cornerbacks not doing anything. Eric Wright is on the trading block but it’s silly to think any team will give up anything more than a free buffet coupon for him since there are still a ton of decent corners on the market already and Wright is one Pepsi Max away from a year-long suspension. Also, Ronde Barber told NFL Network today that he doesn’t know if he’s coming back and he has as long as he wants to think it over. Oh, and Darrelle Revis may not even be available for a trade since the Jets have no idea what they want for him. Wasn’t free agency supposed to be more fun than this?

(If that free buffet coupon is from Shoney’s, though, it might be worth it. Good french toast.)

Who Needs Cornerbacks Anyway

March 22, 2013 at 01:27am by Scott   •  8 Comments »

If you didn’t think the Bucs’ cornerback situation could get any worse, you don’t have enough faith. The Redskins signed away E.J. Biggers, the only cornerback on the team qualified to start that hasn’t been busted for using “Adderall”. I”m going to go ahead and just copy and paste the Bucs’ current cornerback roster because you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you who was on it.

36 Gorrer, Danny CB 6-0 180 26 4 Texas A&M
29 Johnson, Leonard CB 5-10 202 22 2 Iowa State
28 Rogers, James CB 6-1 183 23 1 Michigan
37 Tandy, Keith CB 5-10 205 24 2 West Virginia
21 Wright, Eric CB 5-10 200 27 7 Nevada-Las Vegas
26 Gaitor, Anthony DB 5-10 182 24 3 Florida International
23 Lewis, Myron DB 6-2 203 25 4 Vanderbilt

Gorrer and Johnson have each had their moments and have potential as developmental projects, but neither is a legitimate starter now. I have honestly never heard of James Rogers and think he may just be a name the Bucs made up to fill out the roster. Tandy has made a total of 3 tackles in his NFL career. We already discussed Motorhead. Gaitor is in the same category as Gorrer and Johnson, although he may have a higher ceiling. And Lewis has been given every opportunity and still can’t seem to get on the field even though the three aforementioned non-qualified starters can.

And I know I railed against trading for Darrelle Revis, and I still think it’s a bad idea. But at least it’s an idea. I mean, if the trade goes down, they would have something to work towards and look forward to, right? That deal looked dead a couple days ago, but now it appears to have picked up some steam.

A source “close to the negotiations” between the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tells King that the Bucs likely would be willing to give their first- and second-round picks in the 2014 NFL Draft for Revis. The Jets are expected to get no less than first- and third-round picks in a possible deal, according to King.

The Bucs want the first round pick to come in 2014 and the Jets want this year’s pick. That’s the hold up. Otherwise, it sounds like the Bucs really want to get this done.

Both King and the New York Daily News indicate that the Bucs are willing to pay Revis big money. They are willing to give up valuable picks. They clearly want Revis. It shouldn’t be that hard to settle on what the picks are before the NFL draft.

So that explains why they haven’t snagged one of the several respectable corners left on the market. But it’s not like they don’t need a couple options. They could get Revis, Nnamdi Asomougha and still select a corner relatively high in the draft and be justified in doing it because you know those older guys are only a one or two year Band-Aid.

If the Bucs don’t do something about the corner situation, I recommend just blitzing 11 on every play. The first couple times they did it, at least it would be fun to watch.

Comings And Goings

March 15, 2013 at 12:01am by Scott   •  8 Comments »

Hey, things happened!

The Bucs made several signings over the last 24 hours, the most noteworthy being WR Kevin Ogletree who was with the Cowboys. Wait, did I just say that was the most noteworthy? Maybe not as many things happened as I originally thought. But Ogletree has shown flashes here and there and will give Tiquan Underwood a good run for his money. Arrelious Benn is as good as gone and the team is making no effort to re-sign Sammie Stroughter, who is an unrestricted free agent, so the bench was pretty shallow before Ogletree’s signing.

The team also signed LB Jonathan Casillas away from New Orleans. Casillas missed all of 2010 with an injury and hasn’t done a whole lot in his time with the Saints, but he is on the rise and had a great game against the Bucs in 2012. And the Bucs need to bolster their linebacking corps since they released Quincy Black today, too. His arm wasn’t getting any better and it was pretty likely that he wasn’t going to play at a high level again, if at all. So that leaves Mason Foster, Lavonte David, Adam Hayward and Dekoda Watson as the known commodities at linebacker before the Casillas signing. Not the most glitzy name they could have gotten, but I think he’s solid.

And in the “guys who really didn’t have a choice” category, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and Corvey Irvin both signed their tendered. Irvin I can take or leave, but keeping Te’o-Nesheim is a good move.

Jeremy Trueblood signed with the Redskins today, putting the Redskins at 1st and 15 before the season even starts. Stephen Holder has a few kind words to say about Trueblood and, to be fair, he definitely had some good moments. But his proclivity for false starts and personal fouls at the worst possible moments was infuriating and I will not miss it. DRAFT A RIGHT TACKLE IN THE FIRST ROUND.

Nothing yet has happened with Darrelle Revis, although it is said that the Bucs are the only team seriously interested in trading for him. Supposedly, the dollars are all worked out with Revis, they just need to agree with the Jets on draft compensation. I hear the rumblings that this is a weak draft overall and would be a good year to give up a first-round pick for a known superstar, but that viewpoint ignores the fact that those people are dumb as shit. The #13 slot is still very valuable for several positions, all of which the Bucs can use help with. If they were drafting in the mid-20s and were a cornerback short of a Super Bowl, I’d be more likely to get behind it. But this team is still a couple years from truly competing for a championship. Build up that offensive line, get a franchise tight end (sorry, Luke), get the best corner possible — something other than spending it on a player still getting over an ACL and who is a known locker room problem. I’d also say get another strongside linebacker, but there’s no one worth taking at #13 except maybe Jarvis Jones whose value is all over the board right now.

It’s not quite the haul it was last year, but I’m liking most of the moves I’m seeing from the Bucs.

Revis Trade Talk

March 07, 2013 at 12:40am by Scott   •  7 Comments »

The big rumor going around in the news vacuum this week is that the Bucs are considering trading for Darrelle Revis, who is generally considered the best cornerback in the league when he isn’t hurt or holding out.

Revis played in only two games last year due to a torn ACL. These days that’s not a career ender, but it may slow him down a half step, suddenly rendering him human. And Revis can’t be trusted to fulfill a contract. If he has an awesome year, he’ll demand more money regardless of what he’s getting paid. How much is that amount of bullshit worth?

The Bucs have the financial wherewithal to make this happen. Swinging a deal for Revis not only requires draft picks/compensation to the Jets. It almost certainly will require that the new team and Revis agree to a new contract before the deal is complete. Such a deal would likely be the biggest in Bucs history, but their strong salary-cap position gives them the ability to take on that sort of contract.

What’s he going to want? $15-million per year? And the talk is that the Jets are looking for a first-rounder plus a later or conditional pick. I just don’t think it’s worth it, especially when you consider Revis is going into the last year of his contract and can be had as a free agent next year. Dunta Robinson was just released by the Falcons. He’s not as good as Revis, but he’s better than anything the Bucs have now and they don’t have to blow a draft pick to get him. The #13 slot is a good place to be this year. It’s a weak draft, so having a higher pick isn’t so great. The Bucs can get good value for that pick this year. The should use it on a lineman of some kind and grab Robinson (or a comparable free agent).