SHED NO TEARS FOR CHRIS SIMMS. From Steve Stone, of Tampa: “Please don’t go out and buy a hallmark card for Chris Simms. In your MMQB article, you imply that the Bucs are doing an injustice to Simms by holding on to him and should put him out of his misery by releasing him. The local media in Tampa are hammering the Bucs and also share the same sentiment. I have a problem with this.
“The Bucs last year went out on the limb and committed millions of dollars to Simms at a time when his football playing career was in jeopardy. When the contract was signed, Simms could not even throw a football 15 yards, and received little interest from the other 31 NFL teams. The Bucs were not obligated to sign him to a multimillion dollar contract, but they did the right thing, which is seldom seen in the NFL, and paid him after he gave up his body for the team and provided him financial security. After watching Chris play while he was healthy, an argument could be made that the Bucs paid too much for his services based on his stats and performance prior to the injury.
“Now a year later, the Bucs should just release Simms after investing millions of dollars in him. Simms needs to come to training camp, fight for a roster spot, prove he is healthy and honor the contract he signed. The Bucs are doing nothing wrong by holding on to him and trying to get some return on their investment. If he proves healthy and is one of the top quarterbacks, he will either make the team or possibly be traded to a quarterback needy team.
“Peter, if misery includes the $5 million earned last year for not playing a down, please let me know what line to get into to be miserable. I would be happy to trade places with him if he has it that bad. I’m glad the Bucs are always looking to upgrade the most important position in football, which is more that I can say for some teams (see Chicago Bears). Also, can you move the Bucs down a few more spots in your rankings? The Bucs seem to play better when they get no respect from the media.”
Steve, this might be the best letter in MMQB history. Well thought-out, reasoned, smart. Thanks for writing it. It caused me to re-think my opinion on the issue and look into it a little bit more. Yes, the Bucs re-signed Simms for a $3 million signing bonus and a $2 million salary in 2007 — on Dec. 27, 2006, after Simms ruptured his spleen and there was some doubt whether he would be able to play at a high level again. If he makes the Bucs this year — which I doubt will happen — Simms will make $2 million in salary, plus a $1 million roster bonus. I’ve also learned this: The Bucs did not get an offer from any team during the draft. They’ve had some conversations, but no solid offers recently.
Steve, you’re right — the Bucs deserve the right to try to get something for Simms if they can. Now, I would also say this. Chris Simms has been nothing but a classy, hard-working kid for the Bucs since he was drafted, and he got a serious injury for them when he was doing everything he could to help them win. As soon as they determine they won’t be able to get anything for him, and as soon as they’re convinced he’s got no future in Tampa, they’ve got to do the right thing and let him go.
Pewter Report is stating that according to their sources, that the Bucs are not interested in signing former Bengals receiver Chris Henry. Henry is an explosive playmaker and could probably be a great target for any teams QB, but the Bucs have been making a point of not signing any turds, and this falls right in line with that practice.
Former Georgia Tech and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Joe Hamilton was charged with marijuana possession, driving under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run early Tuesday, less than a week after he was hired as the school’s assistant director of player personnel.
Not really the way to step into a new job if ask you me!!
I was in Monks Corner, South Carolina earlier this year (the hometown of Joe Hamilton) and this man is revered there. Probably will not go over too well with the locals either.
“He has athletic ability,” Gruden said. “He’s what’s advertised. He’s going to be a good contact player, I think, when we start putting pads on. He’s instinctive, he has good functional speed and he appears natural. He appears comfortable in this defense, and we’re excited about that.”
Jon Gruden on rookie DT Dre’ Moore
“He’s an explosive big man,” Gruden said. “I think he’ll be the first to tell you his stamina is going to be an issue. He’s got to get in much better condition, and that’s why we have that factory over there, that industrial, weight room machine factory over there. We’ll get him in there. He is strong, very powerful, but I think the stamina needs to be addressed and it’ll be addressed. Hopefully he starts it himself here as he leaves the building.”
Dre’ Moore definetely seems like a player who will get time in the Dline rotation this upcoming season. Unless we have given up on Quincy Black, which would be hard for me to imagine at this point in young career, it is going to be tough for Geno to see any time on the field besides special teams duty.
Bruce Allen - Why did you choose a quarterback on Day Two?
“We like the talent of Josh. He has not good statistics, not great statistics, he has spectacular statistics. He has been coached by coaches that we are very familiar with, Johnnie Morton has said some very positive things about him, and Coach [Jim] Harbaugh has said some great things about him. We want to give him a chance to see what he can do in the NFL.”
Jon Gruden - Do you feel the offense gained explosiveness?
“Well you can’t just look at the draft. We added Warrick Dunn, he has 10,000 yards, I saw him playing, he is getting older but I still see great quickness. We are hoping Cadillac Williams comes back; he is in the bullpen right now. We think Ben Troupe can do some things athletically. We have a Pro Bowl quarterback here. Our offensive line is going to be older and more experienced. I think Antonio Bryant can come through, Michael Clayton comes back, I guess that is it. I make no promises in April, I will just tell you this, and we are very enthused. We are adding a 4.3 wide receiver that has home run potential and legitimate return ability. We are excited with Talib, we think he is going to make life interesting on the other side of the ball.”
DT Dre Moore (4th round selection out of Maryland) - On the negative rep he has received for not playing balls out on every down
“I think when people say that, they don’t really understand the kind of defenses that we played, and the style of defense that we played at Maryland,” Moore said. “I spent a lot of time dropping into coverage, so I had interceptions, batted down passes, and a lot of times I was used in different ways. For example, our two defensive tackles were used a lot in the spy technique to offset the option attack from a lot of the teams we saw in the ACC. I think a lot of times people say that, they don’t really understand what the play was that was being called, and what I was actually doing on that play.”
OL Jeremy Zuttah (3rd round selection out of Rutgers) - What do you know about the current offensive line?
“I just got off the phone with Coach Gruden and Coach Muir, the offensive line coach, and they told me about the fact that they have a very young offensive line right now. A lot of guys that are familiar to me from the college football ranks, guys like Arron Sears and Jeff Faine. It is good to have everybody young and everybody on the same page. We will grow up together and mature together in the league, and hopefully come together as a solid unit.”
After this weekends draft it became apparent to the other teams in the league that we will not be able to carry the 7 QB’s currently on our roster. Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Bruce Gradkowski, Brian Griese, Chris Simms, Jake Plummer and Josh Johnson are all technically under contract (Plummer retired, Johnson still has to sign a deal). Consequently, other teams are starting to wonder who will get cut and show an interest them.
DallasNews.Com - Owner and GM Jerry Jones didn’t exactly say the Cowboys in the market for a veteran backup to pair with Brad Johnson over the weekend, but he didn’t close the door on the possibility either…Any thoughts on UT-ex Chris Simms?…Tampa Bay has 88 quarterbacks on its roster - OK, just seven: Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Luke McCown, Simms, Bruce Gradkowski, draft pick Josh Johnson and the rights to the retired Jake Plummer. Simms is staying away from the team’s voluntary off-season program for the first time in his career…Simms hasn’t played since 2006 after having his spleen removed and he is due a $2 million base salary. He turns 28 in August. He took Tampa to the playoffs in 2005. The Bucs say he is 100 percent healthy now. You would think the Bucs have to release one or three of these QBs at some point…Maybe he would be a good fit behind Johnson for now and a solid backup for Tony Romo in the future. And there’s this: he was a teammate of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett’s in 2004 for a spell.
ChicagoSports.Com - I know the Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently own the rights to seven quarterbacks after taking San Diego’s Josh Johnson in the fifth round, and one of them likely to get cut would look good holding a clipboard for the Bears. Chris Simms would be the preferred choice, but Luke McCown or Bruce Gradkowski would suffice so the Bears could let the winner of the Nick Hill-Caleb Hanie derby stay on the practice squad and run the scout team.
Garcia is an obvious lock to make the team. Barring a really good offer from another team, Luke McCown would be tough to let go of, as he showed us some nice things last year in Garcia’s absence. I would also think it highly unlikely that we let go of Griese. In my guestimation we carry 4 QB’s and Johnson makes the roster as well. That leaves Bruce G and Chris Simms as the odd men out. Teams should have an interest in Simms as he has shown some decent skills in the past, but I do not think anyone will give us anything for him because his release looks inevitable.
The Bucs continued to bolster their offensive line with the selection of Rutgers OL Jeremy Zuttah in round 3. This makes 3 consecutive years we have taken a lineman in the first 3 rounds: Davin Joseph 1, Jeremy Trueblood 3, Aaron Sears 2, Zuttah 3. This guy is exactly what Jon Gruden looks for in an Olineman. His versatility is well known at this point as he has played every position on the Oline besides center (ala Aaron Sears last year). As soon as the Bucs made this pick, I began to think about the possible alignments that may occur as a result. Zuttah and Sears both have experience playing LT at a high level in college, and I would imagine that the LT spot will be an open competition this season between Luke Petigout, Aaron Sears, Donald Penn and Jeremy Zuttah with Zuttah or Sears moving to LG depending on who wins. Gruden has tried to immediately play all the lineman that he has drafted, and I see this as no different. I personally had a chance to watch Rutgers multiple times this year, and this was a guy who looked like a Buc lineman to me.
Scouts Inc. - He plays with balance and stays under control. A natural knee bender that can mirror-and-slide once set in pass pro. Does a great job with his hand placement and displays adequate upper-body power. Works hard to sustain his blocks and keeps his feet moving. Takes excellent angles as a run blocker and generally is able to get a push. Does a good job of staying low and anchoring versus the bull rush.
Zuttah - I hope to play as soon as possible…From my combine numbers, I am very physically mature, even though I am only 21 years old. I am strong, I am fast, I think I am physically ready; it’s just a matter of how fast I can learn the system.
It was apparent to anyone who watched our team last season that we needed some more playmakers on defense. After watching how the draft unfolded, in the second round particularly with the WR’s, it was also apparent to me that this was Jon Gruden’s man. With the depth of our team, and the real need to minimize our picks in this draft, we could have easily moved up one spot to take Malcom Kelly, or 3 spots to take Desean Jackson. Instead we sat still, moved our pick to the Jags, and moved back a few spots and took DJax. This guy is freaking fast and ran a 4.27 at the combine. He averaged an ungodly 22.9 ypc last season and had 9 TD’s on only 30 catches, showing his true explosiveness. This is another guy who should immediately compete with Talib, Buchanon and Ike Hilliard in the return game. He had his biggest games against the best competition (Michigan, East-West Shrine Game). While it may take him some time to assimilate the NFL game on offense, he should still be an occasional downfield factor this season.
Jon Gruden - Special teams really makes him a valuable guy for us…He’ll give us some depth at the receiver position while he’s progressing and he’ll also give us a real kick, I think, in the return game.
Two months ago, a poll was put up on this site, asking the readers to choose what position the Bucs should target in this draft. The choices were RB, WR, LT, DT and CB. The Bucs addressed them all this weekend. We obtained 3 players that I personally had high hopes of acquiring in Aqib Talib, Jeremy Zuttah, and Josh Johnson.
We will breakdown all of the picks made this weekend, there potential impact on the team, and throw in some highlights as well.
Round 1 - CB Aqib Talib, Kansas
Anyone who is a reader of this site knows that Talib was my first choice of corners. Not my first choice of corners that might be available when we picked, but my first overall choice. Mike Jenkins would have been nostalgic, but I believe that Talib is a much better fit. The Bucs had not chosen a CB on the first day of the draft since Dwight Smith in 2001, and Talib is only the second overall DB to be selected by the Bucs in the first round. He is a perfect fit for the Cover 2 in my opinion, and possesses great size and tackling ability. His biggest knock thusfar has been whether he will have the recovery speed to keep up with fast WR’s. In our defense, this point is moot. He has great instincts, and leaping ability. He led the nation in pass breakups per game at 2.8 last year, and was the MVP of the Orange Bowl. Talib should compete with Phillip Buchanon and Eugene Wilson for the starting job opposite Ronde Barber, and should see the feel often as we run a lot of dime and nickel sets. He should immediately become a player in the return game for us, competing with Ike Hilliard and Phillip Buchanon for those duties. I also would not count out Jon Gruden finding a way to utilize him offensively (he had 4 offensive TD’s last year).
Scouts Inc. - While it’s rare to see a two-way player at the next level, he has flashed the big-play ability to potentially contribute as a return specialist and occasionally on offense.
Jon Gruden - (Talib) has a knack for making plays on both sides of the ball.
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