Bucs' Morris on free agency: 'It's not Sam's Club'

We can't say they didn't warn us.

The people who run the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said they wouldn't be big players in free agency, and they've been true to their word.

Besides trading for a journeyman receiver and taking a look at potential safety help, the Bucs have mostly done what they do best. They have kept their money in their pocket - unless you consider sending a sixth-round draft pick in 2011 to Philly for receiver Reggie Brown to be aggressive, which I don't.

Yahoo Sports recently reported the Bucs are one of seven teams with less than $90 million committed to player salaries in the coming season. Since they've barely stuck their big toe in the free-agent pool, it adds to the runaway perception that they're cheap.

I can't get too wadded about it though. Any help they could get on the open market right now probably wouldn't be worth the bother. Most likely, they'd be trying to fix a problem that was years in the making with short-term help.

"It's not Sam's Club. The mistake people make is that they see unrestricted free agents and then they see the restricted free agents, and they think it's the pick of the litter," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said.

They're not about to give up picks in the first and third rounds to sign a top restricted free agent, and I don't blame them for staying out of the Julius Peppers sweepstakes. He signed last week with Chicago. A lot of Bucs fans had him on the list of players they wanted to see in Tampa, but his best years seem to be behind him.

"We're going to do it on our terms, and that's been the case all along," Morris said.

Besides, if St. Louis takes a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick, the Bucs will get one of the two premium defensive linemen in the draft - Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy. Most fans would be satisfied with that.

"You've got to do what fits your club. Our plan is for youth and development. If there's a player out there right now who could help us, maybe," Morris said.

"But our plan is to do long-term winning. Our focus is to develop guys. Our focus is the draft. Our focus is April 22. Our focus is those three days of the draft this year, being as prepared as we can be for that. That's the most important thing. That's the thing that will define us as coaches. It's everything."

So we wait to see how they handle the draft, and here's one encouraging note. Remember that rumor a couple of weeks ago about the Bucs packaging their first pick at No. 3 in the draft, plus another pick or two and quarterback Josh Johnson, just to move up two spots for St. Louis' No. 1 pick?

Scout.com reported the plan allegedly had been discussed by the Bucs and Rams, except the St. Louis general manager flatly denied it. Morris said it was news to him, too.

When he saw the rumor come across his TV screen late one night, he immediately got in touch with Bucs general manager Mark Dominik to see whether it was true.
It wasn't.

"I'm sitting on my couch, watching 'SportsCenter,' and I see that rumor about the Josh Johnson trade. I immediately text Mark, and he sends back, 'No, what are you talking about?' He's not watching television at home," Morris said.

"Stuff pops up. Our owners even call sometimes - 'We did that?' People throw stuff against the wall sometimes. A lot of that is agent stuff. There are so many rumors."
Morris said he called Johnson right away.

"I called Josh and told him, 'Don't worry about it - Bill Cowher's getting hired here in three days, too.' "

I'll argue that the Bucs should have found a way to keep Antonio Bryant, who agreed to a four-year deal Wednesday with Cincinnati. Top receivers are hard to come by, and Bryant is better than anyone the Bucs can bring in. The Bengals must have believed so, too.

It has made for a quiet March so far, and it's disconcerting when the talent level on the Bucs is less than it was barely two months removed from the conclusion of a 3-13 season, but that's where they are.

A slow-and-steady rebuilding project won't appease the masses, and it's putting a lot of faith in the draft, but right now it still seems like the wisest way to go.