SB Nation User Blog: TheUltimateBucFan

Promising FB Byron Storer waived as part of injury settlement agreement

TheUltimateBucFan — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:11:49 -0000

On Friday, the Bucs waived Byron Storer with an injury settlement, according to ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas, but the team did not announce the move.

Storer’s release leaves the team with just two fullbacks – starter B.J. Askew and reserve Jameel Cook. This will likely prompt the Buccaneers to add another fullback prior to training camp to compete with Cook and help the unit practice without Cook and Askew taking so many reps.

Storer, who made the team as an undrafted free agent from California in 2007 after a stint on the practice squad, was mostly a special teams player for Tampa Bay, finishing his Buccaneers career with 16. Last year, he saw some duty as a fullback, starting three games in place of the injured Askew (vs. Green Bay, at Denver and vs. Carolina), but did not record any statistics. During the 2007 season, Storer caught two passes for three yards.

Now buccaneers.com says Storer was put on IR, not waived. Here's the link to that story. http://www.buccaneers.com/news/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=7096 Time will tell if Storer was waived or put on IR but either way he won't be with us.

Joe Maddon says he's not "overly concerned" with Percival's performance after Wednesday's game against the Orioles....

TheUltimateBucFan — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:38:23 -0000

In other news, Maddon was caught in the Tropicana Field parking lot huffing paint. When team security approached him and asked what that silver stuff on his face and fingertips was he responded with, "It's nothin guys, just another day at the office." (Ya know I'm kidding Joe, but your killing me here)

Here's the source from today's St. Pete Times regarding Percy:

NO WORRIES: Maddon said he's not "overly concerned" about closer Troy Percival, who entered with the Rays up 8-2 in the ninth inning Wednesday and gave up two homers (and four runs). Maddon pointed to how Percival is healthy and he hit 93 mph, "which might be the high point for him in a while." He just didn't have the location.

The only location Percival needs to be at is California, the place he calls home. Our bullpen for the most part has failed us this year. I have lost almost as much hair as Wheels has on his head watching him pitch and Balfour is making me want to call him Ball Four, same with Nelson. Not all of our bullpen has tanked this year with Cormier, Shouse, and Howell having pitched well.

It's early and I know this, but for me Memorial Day in baseball is the first real point in the season that a team should re-evaluate their roster and make changes if changes are needed. If Maddon continues to stand pat and hope for the best then in my opinion we should prepare for the worst.

No K2? For me that's a problem, No Barrett Ruud? No problem at all....

TheUltimateBucFan — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:24:30 -0000

I'm not trying to set a double standard here. Kevin Winslow's situation and Barrett Ruud's are two totally different animals. First off, Winslow has a track record and carries with him a somewhat tenuous history coming from the Browns. He is on a new team and with a fresh start and a phat contract he just signed. I assummed he would make the most of it and be at the OTA's like I posted earlier.

Ruud, however, is the hard working cog that is pretty much the face of the defense. Besides that, he has no bad track record, is in his last year of his rookie contract that he signed in 2005 and pretty much just wants to be paid like he should be. Granted he is getting paid 1.6 million this year, but the first 3 years he got paid an avg of 350 K and didn't have a huge signing bonus. This is the last year of Ruud's contract. I know, I know, some people will say he needs to play out the remainder of his contract and quit whining, but if we do that he may never come back. Surely we could franchise him, but I say we should just show him the money!

Check out this article I read on tampabay.com: http://blogs.tampabay.com/pointafter/2009/05/ruud-skipping-workouts-in-may-is-no-big-deal.html

And if your interested, rotworld.com has a list of everyone who is team's current contract. If we can pay Mike Clayton what we pay him and Sean Mahan what we pay him then we can definitely pay Barrett Ruud. Here's the link: http://www.rotoworld.com/content/clubhouse_contracts.aspx?sport=NFL&majteam=TB

OK everybody, am I the only one who has a problem with Kellen Winslow missing for the beginning of OTA's?

TheUltimateBucFan — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:52:27 -0000

According to some of the other blogs, I am going to say I'm not the only one pissed off to see that K2 hasn't showed up for OTA's. For a guy with the history that he has and the money we have invested he should be out there Day 1 kissing Coach Morris and the rest of the coaches ass. The Bucs claim that they knew why he wouldn't be there, but for me there is NO excuse. Here's a link courtesy of profootballtalk.com: http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/05/12/team-anticipated-winslows-absence/. Time will tell if I am overreacting or if this is the beginning of something more.

I would like to break this up into 2 categories: Worst ever drafted in 1st round & Worst ever FA Signing by Bucs

TheUltimateBucFan — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:47:44 -0000

WOW!! So many players to choose from, I'm not sure where to start. But here's my choices......

Worst ever drafted in 1st round:

1. I say RB Bo Jackson simply because he never played a down for us and we were stupid enough to draft him when he said he wouldn't play for us.

2. LB Keith McCants -I knew there was an underlying reason why I hate Alabama!

3. OL Charles McRae - Nothing more needs to be said

4. DE Eric Curry - Did I say I hate Alabama?

5. OL Kenyatta Walker - Makes me embarrassed to say I'm a Gator Fan

I know he wasn't picked in the first round, but every time I here the name Booker Reese I want to wish I had Alzheimer's

Worst ever FA signee:

1. WR Alvin Harper - It's painful to think how much money we wasted on this guy. Granted it he signed a 4 year 10.6 million dollar deal, but back then that was ALOT.

2. WR Bert Emmanuel - He signed a 4 year 16.4 million dollar deal and was almost as as bad as Harper.

3. OL - Luke Petigout/Derrick Deese - What the hell were we thinking?

4. RB - Charlie Garner - Uhh...See above

5. C - Jeff Faine - I know I'm gonna catch some flack for this, but was he REALLY worth almost $40 million? After further review, maybe he was worth it because our current o-line is the best I have ever seen us have.

Also, I have to tip my hat to bucpower.com. Only they could come up with the worst 50 players to ever don a Buccaneer uniform. Wow, after reading some of these names you may want to hit the bottle. Here's the link:

http://www.bucpower.com/feature-worstever.html

Bucs sign 7 tryout players to contracts

TheUltimateBucFan — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:54:36 -0000

Thank you to Pewter Report for the news. Here's the link:

http://www.pewterreport.com/articles/view/5446

The Bucs signed seven try-out players to contracts Monday. The Bucs signed USF DE Jarriett Buie, OL Marc Dile, WR Amari Jackson (we did this last year with him), Louisville WR Pat Carter, Hofstra RB Kareem Huggins, James Madison CB Evan McCollough and Southern Miss T Demar Dotson. The team also released three players.

In order to make room for these seven players on their 80-man roster, the Bucs released wide receiver Paris Warren, T Andre Douglas and CB Greg Fassitt.

Butler improves record to FSL best 4-0 - Would any of you trade Gross back to the Brewers?

TheUltimateBucFan — Sun, 03 May 2009 22:55:14 -0000

Butler improves record to FSL best 4-0 - Would any of you trade Gross back to the Brewers?

Seriously. I mean, I know Gross plays some mean defense and as of right now has a mean OPB of .385 and decent OPS of .742. However, I would take Ruggiano/Sadler/Weber until Nando is back. And I know Josh Butler, who was the young pitcher traded for Gross was stuggling when we traded him, I still thought at the time it was too early too give up on him. To further state my case, I came across this article on milb.com that shows Butler pitching lights out for the ClassA Brevard County Manatees. I know he's 24 and playing with a bunch of younger kids, but he appears to have come around and surely will be moved up soon. Check out this article and tell me what you think.

At least we know - Bucs receive 5th round draft pick for TE Alex Smith

TheUltimateBucFan — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:30:33 -0000

Bucs Received Fifth-Round Pick For TE Smith courtesy of pewterreport.com

Just about everyone has been curious as to what the Bucs received for the Alex Smith trade.

PewterReport.com is reporting the Bucs received a 2010 fifth-round pick from New England in the Smith deal.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise since Bucs general manager Mark Dominik wanted to recover the fifth-round selection that he gave up to acquire TE Kellen Winslow in a trade with Cleveland earlier this offseason. So for me, all in all it was a good trade even though I disagreed with it initially. I am happy that we at least got a 5th rounder.

Bucs also sign 33 tryout players for rookie mini camp

TheUltimateBucFan — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:13:18 -0000

The following try-out players will participate in this weekend's rookie-mini-camp. I see alot of Floida ties. A few USF players. I like LB Maurice Crum out of ND. He'a a Tampa product too.

33 TRY-OUT PLAYERS WITH BUCS
LB Adetokunbo Abanikanda - Southern Miss
RB Gary Anderson Jr. - Rice
DE Jarrett Buie - South Florida
FB Michael Christen - North Carolina A&T
FB Conredge Collins - Pittsburgh
LB Maurice Crum - Notre Dame
G Calvin Darrity - North Carolina
OL Marc Dile - South Florida
T Demar Dotson - Southern Miss
P Matt Fodge - Oklahoma State
G Michael Gates - Mississippi State
TE Cedric Hill - South Florida
RB Kareem Huggins - Hofstra
S Jeffrey Jack - Grambling
WR Amari Jackson - South Florida
WR Dorrell Jalloh - West Virginia
S Merrill Johnson - Auburn
QB Rodney Landers - James Madison
RB Jay Lucas - Southern Louisiana
DT Melvin Matthew - Grambling
CB Evan McCullough - James Madison
RB Paul McKinnis - Murray State
DE Geneath Moffett - Florida State
LB Terrence Moore - Troy
CB Armando Murillo - Nebraska
WR Co-Eric Riley - Mississippi State
DT Nate Robinson - Akron
WR Tommy Saunders - Missouri
G Dion Small - Troy
LB Marcellus Speaks - Jackson State
WR Desmond Tardy - Purdue
LB Nathan Williams - Murray State
TE Chris Zellner - Miami

Bucs sign 8 undrafted rookie free agents

TheUltimateBucFan — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:54:47 -0000

Thanks to Peewter Report for for dish and more info on the picks. My favorite is CB Willingham even of he is from Tennessee....Here's the link:

http://pewterreport.com/articles/view/5428

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed eight undrafted free agents to their roster on Friday in time for the start of the team's three-day rookie mini-camp at One Buc Place.

The Bucs signed Iowa center Rob Bruggeman, Georgia safety C.J. Byrd, Temple tackle Andre Douglas, Ole Miss guard Maurice Miller, Pittsburgh defensive tackle Rashaad Duncan, Florida International cornerback Marshall McDuffie, Richmond running back Josh Vaughan and Tennessee cornerback DeAngelo Willingham.

All eight players will participate in Tampa Bay's rookie-mini-camp, which begins Friday and ends Sunday.

Although some considered it a pressing need heading into the 2009 NFL Draft, the Bucs waited until the seventh round to address the cornerback position. They drafted Western Michigan CB E.J. Biggers.

But the Bucs used undrafted free agency to land two cornerbacks they were high on heading into the draft in McDuffie and Willingham.