via i.imgur.com

Well, here I am being publicly humiliated if front of the greatest historical site Texas has to offer - The Alamo. This photo, for those that do not know, is repayment in full to Sander Philipse and the bet we had during the 2010 NFL season. I explained that we were not a very good team and would win 5 or fewer games. Sander, of course, had 6 or greater for his portion of the bet. If he had lost, we would possibly be looking at some kind of giant windmill in the background - or something to that effect.

FYI - I admit only to incorrectly guessing the amount of wins we would have in 2010. I still stand pat on my core belief that we completely sucked that season - despite the pretty 10-6 record. Damn...

I found this story in the Silicon Valley Mercury news recently and thought it would make for some interesting reading by Buccaneer fans. It there any real truth to SF 49er head coach Jim Harbaugh making a trade with us, thereby reuniting with his old college QB Josh Johnson? Check out the link below:

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b8Rpl

I personally don't see him as a viable back-up in this league, so obtaining a draft pick from someone who does seems like a pretty good idea. One mans trash is another mans treasure...

It appears he is on his way out of Phoenix, so why not sign a veteran like Matt Leinart  or Sage Rosenfels to back-up Freeman? I have not heard any specifics regarding what it would take to get him away from ARI, but he might be worth considering if the price was reasonable. JJ will probably never amount to much as a QB, so it might be a wise insurance policy to have a legitimate QB here as #2.

Position change in his future? Albert Haynesworth has been working very hard in the off-season to drop his playing weight. He seems to be quite serious about making the change of position he desires. It's good to see him motivated and working toward making a big contribution this year, wherever he might end up. He could become a genuine terror at the end position, and would be nearly impossible to block one-on-one. I would expect some renewed interest from teams needing a quality DE. He could legitimately play any position on the DL now.

I personally think he would look great lined up next to McCoy...

We all like to question the Buccaneer personnel moves, or possible lack thereof. It's part of being an active fan and one reason why we are all here. There have been some very good moves (bringing in a previously banged up Kellen Winslow, or drafting our future HOF'er in Gerald McCoy) and some others have been pretty bad (the "Killing Field" veteran purge of '09, or awarding Clayton big $$ for his painfully undemonstrated potential). This is your big and very public chance to make your own positive mark on the 2010 Bucs. We all know there are many armchair GMs among us (guilty here), so bring your A game and your chair on up to the front of the class. Would it be a blockbuster trade? If so - for whom, with whom and why. This is an opportunity to fully display your unquestionably hidden brilliance among your peers and help to (theoretically at least) right the Bucs floundering ship, or at least dislodge us from our current 3-13 sandbank.

Please describe your move in detail. If you have arranged a trade, who would it be and what would you have to give up in return? If you were trading a current player, to what team and what would you require in return? Also, please try to make these as realistic as possible. For example: No Michael Clayton for Peyton Manning trades - totally unrealistic and completely defeats the purpose of the exercise.

This Buc'Em fanpost is presented to shed some light on our present GM - Mark Dominik. This is the man firmly entrenched behind the "War Room" doors... if you will. The original story here has been abbreviated a bit because of some content issues, but still a halfway decent read. Halfway.

A brief Dominik bio: His first NFL position came working as a scout with the Chiefs. I am unsure of the duration. He first arrived in Tampa Bay as a Pro Personnel Assistant in 1995. Dominik was promoted to pro scout in 1998. In 2000, he was promoted again, to the position of Pro Personnel Coordinator. In 2004, he was named the Bucs Pro Personnel Director. Beginning the 2009 season, he finds himself behind the helm, now piloting the mighty Buccaneer leviathan.

The following thoughts were taken from the Kansas City Chiefs NFL blog - Arrowheadpride.com. They were discussing the prospect of the Chiefs hiring Mark Dominik as GM after the 2008 season. The article suggests that he was not a strong GM candidate because he lacked the experience based on the other candidates interviewed.

It appears that the some of the Chiefs fans had some questions about Dominiks possible hiring as well. Some thought he would try to retain Herman Edwards because of their relationship in Tampa. In an unrelated note, Charlie Campbell of the PewterReport.com has reported that apparently, several months ago, Mark Dominik hired "accomplished" football man Bill Rees to serve as draft consultant in chief. Rees was a college coach and a key recruiter at UCLA during their glory days of the 1980s, and also a co-worker of Dominik when they were both with the Chiefs. He has also worked as an NFL personnel director, most recently with the Cleveland Browns in 2008. Yes, I said Cleveland. Sources working for NFL teams say that this is very rare occurance - for a team to hire an outside consultant to do team draft evaluations. If you have confidence in your own staff, you don't need an outside source. That is why you hire a Director of College Scouting. Hmmm...

Sources say Rees is protecting the team from getting "tunnel vision" regarding draft prospects. The Bucs seem to view Rees' hiring as a way to get another view on college talent from outside their own building. Of course, it’s unknown how much influence Rees has on the Bucs draft.

This discovery adds a peculiar twist for Tampa Bay fans to chew on. I'm just sayin...

Having been a Bucs fan from the very beginning, I have seen my share of blunders. Perhaps a few more than any one single team should have had. But I remain as steadfast a fan as I ever have. I wouldn't trade my early Bucs blooper reels for all the Cowboys Lombardi trophies combined. Why? I am not always sure...

Admittedly, they have been tough to love at times. Their early futility was almost comical. NFL Follies could have just basically let the cameras roll, except they would have created way too much useable footage for even the mighty NFL Films vaults to store. It was a very good thing that John McKay had such a great sense of humor. He most likely needed to draw on it daily.

Oh, and the agony of so many useless drafts. Which brings us to the reason for this post. Who or what could be considered Tampa Bays biggest 1st round drafting flub? Could it be QB Trent Dilfer? He was chosen 6th overall in the 1994 draft. Definitely not one of Sam Wyches greatest achievements. He did eventually win a Superbowl, albeit not with us. Possibly the savory one-two punch delivered in consecutive years (1990-91) by Richard Williamson - DE Keith McCants and OT Charles McRae. Not to be outdone, even by himself, he then traded our future 1991 1st round choice (which ended up being #2 overall) to IND, who used the choice on LB Quentin Coryatt. Disaster.

Let's not forget the dubious "Non Choices" we traded away for a handful of magic beans. Could it be Leemen Bennetts 1986 choice of Bo Jackson, the greatest outfielder never to play for the Bucs. What about John McKays 1979 trade of our 1st Round pick (#4 overall) to CHI for Wally Chambers? What about the 1983 trade with CIN that sent our 1st rounder (#25 overall) used on C Dave Rimington? Just a small footnote - 2 picks later, QB Dan Marino was selected by MIA. Aaargh, the irony! The indignity! The stupidity! Well, it's all water under the bridge now.

This list is beginning to make me light-headed, so let's vote on it, while I lie down for a while.

Based on the workouts I saw yesterday, the best position for Eric Berry may just be at CB. Running his 4.47 at 211 lbs. shows that he is already fast enough to be an effective CB, and losing a little weight (back to his playing weight at Tennessee) should make him even faster. His leaping and agility tests were also off the chart. A 43" vertical leap and his 10'10" broad jump, both combine bests for the safety position,  show all his tremendous explosiveness. I think my biggest reason for suggesting his move to CB would be the durability required for run support, and concerns about his smaller frame. Career longevity would likely be extended by avoiding most of the constant collisions the safety position demands. Plugging him in opposite Talib would solidify a position of great need for us, and could allow a little more development time for someone to step up (Jermaine Phillips?). There is always the possibility of adding a F/A as well.

Who to take at position No.3 is a hotbed of discussion around Buc 'Em right now, and my personal choice would be one of the two monster DTs out there, being Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh. The real possibility that they could both be gone by pick #3 is there, and if that scenario played out, we would be unable to fill our biggest need without reaching for a player.

There is also the option of trading down. Should both QBs Sam Bradford and Jimmy Claussen be available at #3, there would definitely be some interest from several QB hungry teams hoping to take the player they want away from the Redskins. The disappointing 40 times run by the top CB prospect Joe Haden, and the subsequent view of him, had muddled the top 10 selections a bit. Should he drop significantly, the discussion on who the top CB prospect actually is becomes inherently more debatable. This development may also add some value to Berry.

What to do, what to do?