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The Bucs' Bottom Line Looks Good From Here

News Channel 8 file photo by BOB HANSEN

Tampa Bay Buccaneers' co-chairman Joel Glazer says the team is "absolutely not" in a financial bind.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 25, 2009

TAMPA - Joel Glazer had to know that questions were coming about the financial health of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he sat down with reporters Tuesday, and basically everyone knew what he was going to say before the words came out of his mouth.

Ira Kaufman of TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune didn't waste much time in his session with the Bucs' co-chairman. And Glazer quickly responded "absolutely not" when he was asked if the team is in a financial bind.

Of course that's what he said. And I'm not going to waste many brain cells on the various conspiracy theories out there (Manchester United!), since there is no way Glazer would admit to problems even if we found him standing by a stoplight with a sign that read "Please help … I need a linebacker."

People do like to assume the worst, though, and the perception is that since the Bucs didn't come close to using the estimated $61 million available in cap space during the initial days of free agency, the Glazers must be over-leveraged on their purchase of Manchester United and going broke.

Conspire away if you must, but I'm not buying it.

First off, just about every team in the NFL has millions in cap room. It doesn't impress me.

I've also never been one who believes you spend just to spend – in football or any other sport. I don't share the rosy outlook Glazer and his new coaching staff has for the upcoming season just yet, but I don't think recklessly throwing cap space around was the right way to address this team's
shortcomings.

I think they have steadily (key word there, steadily) addressed some things that needed to be fixed. I like the addition of Angelo Crowell at linebacker and Derrick Ward at running back. Re-signing Antonio Bryant was important. I'm skeptical about new tight end Kellen Winslow, but we'll see.

And while Raheem Morris is unproven and gives a lot of people the jitters, he did put together a pretty good staff. Coordinators Jim Bates and Jeff Jagodzinski have solid pedigrees.

Follow The Rays

It is a fact they were outbid by Washington, which always out-bids everyone, for Albert Haynesworth, and whatever new General Manager Mark Dominik did to acquire Jay Cutler (the proposed three-way deal with Denver and New England) obviously wasn't enough.

But Glazer made the point to Ira Kaufman that the most important thing is to have a plan and stick to it.

"You don't just sign people for the sake of signing people," he said. "History shows the successful teams have to draft well, develop those players and keep those players."

We have a good example of that in the back yard.

For years, the Tampa Bay Rays were a mishmash of poor choices and shoestring finances. When new owner Stu Sternberg took over at the end of the 2005 season, payroll actually went down (as if we thought that was possible) and losses continued on the field at an astounding rate. He was written off as just another cheapskate with an eye toward moving the Rays somewhere, anywhere.

People forget that the one time the Rays did venture into free agency in a big way, it was a disaster.

The ill-conceived "Hit Show" was a flop on the field and left the Rays with a payroll the market wouldn't support.

Sternberg had a more systematic approach in mind – continue drafting well, supplement with solid additions, and let the talent in house develop. We know how that blossomed last year and now the Rays are considered a model franchise.

The same principle applies in football.

Back On Track

One of Glazer's most interesting comments seemed to be a sideswipe – perhaps unintended – at the departed regime of Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen.

"No team has consistently won by putting a patchwork group of players on the field," Glazer said, and that's exactly what the Bucs had become.

It's hard for many to see a 9-7 record, which the Bucs had last year, and wonder why the team to be blown up and rebuilt. But if you objectively look at what was going on, the Bucs were on a treadmill of mediocrity. They were up one year, down the next. They were getting old while teams in their division got younger and better.

Something had to be done.

A lot of people went nuts on the day they purged Derrick Brooks, but of the five players let go – Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Cato June, Ike Hilliard and Joey Galloway – only Galloway has found a new home. Other teams weren't sitting on the front steps at One Buc, panting to sign the other guys.

It was time to step back and honestly assess where the franchise was, then take steps to ensure long-range stability. That might mean falling back for a year in order to take a big leap forward with a team that can sustain success.

It's too soon to tell whether Glazer's plan will put the Bucs back among the NFL's elite, but at least they actually appear to have a plan at long last.

That's a start.

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