Finally, every member of the Buccaneers’ roster will be at camp. It was reported earlier that starting left tackle Donald Penn had agreed to a new long-term deal, but now, the details of the deal are out publicly. Penn inked a 6 year, $43 million deal. The new deal will pay him around $7 million per year.

But that’s not all Tampa has done in terms of signing their guys. The Bucs and rookie defensive tackle, Gerald McCoy, have finally reached a five-year deal. The terms of the deal regarding money have not been announced yet.

With these two key players locked up, they can now get in to camp and prove their worth to the Tampa organization.

Penn appears to have ended his holdout

Reports are circulating that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and left tackle Donald Penn have agreed to the terms of a long-term deal that would ultimately end his holdout. Jason La Canfora of NFL Network was the first to report this, but as of now, nothing is official. La Canfora also mentioned that Penn and his agent, Rocky Arceneaux, are on their way to Tampa to sign the contract.

The Pewter Plank will continue to track this story, but for now, we can take a brief sigh of relief as it appears that Penn will finally be back in action.

Ever since Terrell Owens agreed to join forces with Chad Ochocinco in Cincinatti, the media has been in a frenzy. The two talented wide outs have been together every minute (it seems), and since they dubbed themselves the new “Batman and Robin”, NFL fans and supporters have been embracing the newfound bromance. Whether or not you’re a Bengals fan, or even a supporter of Owens and Ochocinco, you have to find it entertaining that the league’s so-called “founders” of post touchdown celebrations have joined forces. Now it’s no where like the NBA’s version of a bromance (Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh), but it is something to enjoy. But what does this mean for Tampa, and could their be a bromance developing in the Bay?

Welcome to Tampa Cody Grimm!

Cody Grimm, a fan favorite on this site, has finally signed a 4 year deal before the start of training camp on Saturday. Only one more Buccaneer rookie remains unsigned, first round pick Gerald McCoy. The Bucs also released rookie safety Dennis Rogan to make room for Grimm on the 80-man roster. So what does Grimm bring to Tampa?

Dez Bryant is just one of the two first-round picks who have signed up to this point

With training camp approaching for Tampa, the number one priority should be to sign their first round pick, Gerald McCoy, before camp starts. The Cowboys are the lone team, up to this point, who signed their first pick (Dez Bryant, 24th overall) before their camp got underway. Besides Dallas, the New England Patriots are the only team who have their first round pick locked up (Devin McCourty, 27th overall). So why are these first round picks not signing?

The Bucs continue to sign their draft picks, signing wide receiver Arrelious Benn today to a 4 year deal. With only a few days before the start of training camp this is a major sign for the Bucs. He joins fellow rookie Mike Williams who signed earlier as they battle for a starting position for opening day.

Benn, the 6′2″ 220 lb. receiver out of Illinois could be a starter on opening day due to the concerns the Bucs have at receiver coming into camp. Signing Benn before the beginning of camp on Friday is a great move that will get him into practice without missing any time (someone tell Donald Penn camp starts Friday, he must not know). Only Cody Grimm and 1st round pick Gerald McCo remain unsigned for the Bucs rookie class. There are rumors that Sam Bradford could sign before Friday; McCoy is waiting to see what kind of money Bradford will sign for before talking a major deal with the Bucs.

With Training Camp set to start in 3 Days, it’s time for the Planks’ 3rd Annual 53 Man Roster Prediction.  I have been pretty successful at these the past two years.  The way I go about this is a pretty gut instinct thing.  I copy the full roster from the Bucs site, copy it to excel, add a Y or N next to everyones name and move from there.  This year, on my first run, I had 53 guys, I hope this all makes sense when it gets typed out!

Without further ado…

Centers
Cut – Donovan Raiola
53 Man – Jonathan Compas, Jeff Faine

Cornerbacks
Cut – Brandon Anderson, Derrick Roberson
53 Man – Ronde Barber, EJ Biggers, Myron Lewis, Elbert Mack, Aqib Talib

Defensive Ends
Cut – Brandon Gilbeaux, George Johnson, Carlton Powell, James Ruffin, Michael Bennett
53 Man – Tim Crowder, Erik Lorig, Stylez White, Kyle Moore

Defensive Tackles
Cut – Ryan Sims
53 Man – Gerald McCoy, Roy Miller, Dre Moore, Brian Price

Fullbacks
Cut – Rendrick Taylor
53 Man – Chris Pressley

Guards
Cut – None
53 Man – Davin Joseph, Keydrick Vincent, Jeremy Zuttah

Kicker
Cut – Hunter Lawrence
53 Man – Connor Barth

Linebackers
Cut – Rico McCoy, Niko Koutouvides, Lee Robinson
53 Man – Jon Alston, Quincy Black, Geno Hayes, Adam Hayward, Barrett Ruud, Dekoda Watson

Long Snapper
Cut – None
53 Man – Andrew Economos

Punter
Cut – None
53 Man – Brent Bowden

Quarterbacks
Cut – Rudy Carpenter
53 Man – Josh Freeman, Josh Johnson, Jevan Snead

Running Backs
Cut – Kareem Huggins
53 Man – Earnest Graham, Clifton Smith, Derrick Ward, Carnell Williams

Safety
Cut – De’von Hall, Corey Lynch, Matt O’Hanlon, Dennis Rogan
53 Man – Cody Grimm, Tanard Jackson, Sean Jones, Sabby Piscatelli

Tackles
Cut – Mac Dile, Derek Hardman, James Williams
53 Man – Demar Dotson, Xavier Fulton, James Lee, Jeremy Trueblood, Donald Penn

Tight Ends
Cut – Jeron Mastrud, Ryan Purvis
53 Man – John Gilmore, Jerramy Stevens, Kellen Winslow

Wide Receivers
Cut – Chris Brooks, Michael Clayton, Terrence Nunn, Mario Urrutia, Michael Spurlock
53 Man – Arrelious Benn, Reggie Brown, Preston Parker, Maurice Stovall, Sammie Stroughter, Mike Williams

Breakdown By Team and Position
Defense-23 Players
CB – 5
DE – 4
DT – 4
LB – 6
S – 4
Offense - 27 Players
QB – 3
RB – 4
FB – 1
C – 2
G – 3
T – 5
TE – 3
WR – 6
Special Teams-3 Players
K – 1
P – 1
LS – 1

Upon initial review, especially for nailing 53 men on the first go, this looks like a pretty even distribution of players throughout the O, D and ST. At least along the lines of the standard NFL roster.

Now time for the inevitable criticism, which is undoubtedly coming! Let me hear it.

Congrats to Garza's no-hitter!

Although this has absolutely nothing to do with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it is still a major accomplishment in the Bay area. Matt Garza, a former first round pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2005, pitched the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays’ history. The feat was the fifth of it’s kind this season, which hasn’t happened since 1991. Garza joins the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez, Edwin Jackson, Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay (both Braden and Halladay threw perfect games).

Garza just missed the perfect game, allowing just one walk, which occurred in the second inning. At the beginning of the game, Garza utilized his fastball, but towards the end of the game, he brought out his breaking ball more often.

It’s also worth noting that the Tampa Bay Rays are used to seeing no-hitters and even perfect games…but not for them. Since last July, the Rays have been victim to three hitless games, including two perfect games.

 The Pewter Plank would like to congratulate Matt Garza on his well respected accomplishment, and for bringing some attention back to the Bay area.

Just sign already Penn!

There are only a few days left before the beginning of mandatory training camp and there is still no signs of left tackle Donald Penn. In fact, he is not even in the state, he is in Southern California (home) where he hosted a charity football camp. The Bucs are not saying much about the situation, but all signs point to a very long and distracting hold out, not good news for young Josh Freeman and the offense.