Today I got my tour of One Buc Place.  I must say, our season ticket money is going hard to work somewhere, even if it isn’t on the the players that populate the building of One Buc Place.

The tour started with about an hour session with GM Mark Dominik where he spoke a little, and then answered questions from the 25 or so of us who were in attendance.  Most of the questions were asked by yours truly and the Owner of WhatTheBuc.net.  We both had some questions about Donald Penn’s RFA tender, which has yet to be signed.  Dominik indicated that if it wasn’t signed by 4PM today, that he would be offered 110% of his 2009 salary, essentially losing over 100k that he would have made from the tender offer presented by the Bucs.  Derrick at WhatTheBuc also asked a question about the hiring philosophies of the Bucs and how they may have changed since the coaching fiascos of 2009.

My next question centered around the “charade” as I so eloquently put it of starting Byron Leftwich last year, even though it was apparent to me at Training Camp that we were going to be awful.  He cited Leftwich’s charisma and veteran leadership as grooming tools for what he called a “not quite ready” Josh Freeman at the time.

After touring all of the facility (the dining room, weight room, practice fields) we were led back into the auditorium to talk to our ticket reps.  I talked to mine for a good 20 minutes, but got nowhere as far as a reduction in my 2010 tickets.  She even said to me at one point in jest, “I bet you were a stubborn kid!”  To which I replied, of course I was!  She was quite polite, but once again, I got nowhere as far as tickets were concerned.  She seemed to understand my plight but has been given no authorization from the franchise to provide recourse for disgruntled season ticket holders.

Glad I went, wish I could have got my tickets reduced.  End of story.

Now nothing has been official, but Leftwich appears to earning his time with the first-team offense during the offseason minicamps. Former Oregon Duck Quarterback, Dennis Dixon, is also a possible option for the Steelers, but they will most likely use him in a “Wildcat”-type role in the early weeks.

Tampa Bay has received yet another draft pick, giving them twelve total picks. They are tied with the New England Patriots for the most picks in the upcoming draft.

With Leftwich gone, the Buccaneers are left with second-year starter Josh Freeman, as well as Josh Johnson. With a dozen picks in the artillery, the Buccaneers could draft a quarterback anywhere from the mid-rounds to late-rounds. Possible targets could include West Virginia’s Jarrett Brown or Tennessee’s Jonathon Compton.