Looming Lockout Is Good For Raheem
April 6th, 2010
A lot of Joe’s readers are sick of Joe writing that one reason the Bucs — and other NFL teams — aren’t doing a whole lot in the offseason is the looming lockout of 2011.
Joe is convinced teams, granted, not all, are preparing to go to the mattresses and as a result are counting their nickels.
Seems as though former Bucs beat writer and current SI.com NFL columnist Don Banks is on the same wavelength as Joe. Banks cites Raheem the Dream, among a handful of other coaches, who are still employed thanks to the CBA dispute with the NFLPA.
Coaching trend —What have Carolina’s John Fox, Oakland’s Cable, Chicago’s Lovie Smith, Cleveland’s Eric Mangini, Houston’s Gary Kubiak, Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio and Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris all accomplished so far this offseason? They’ve held on to their jobs despite things looking a little bleak on that front at times late in 2009.
Some folks around the NFL believe it’s hardly a coincidence that so many head coaches survived to work another season. With the looming uncertainty of 2011’s labor situation, team owners came to the incredibly shrewd decision to stand pat rather than risk the chance of having to pay two entire coaching staffs for not working next year.
Joe believes this was not a trivial factor when the Bill Cowher rumors heated up last year.
April 6th, 2010 at 7:14 am
Not saying that there isn’t validity to the CBA playing a role in the current state of affairs with the Bucs, but I tend to believe things would have been this way with the Bucs anyway if you believe the Glazers have cash flow challenges due to their English kickball team. This pattern of spending has been going on for several years with the Bucs, not just this current non CBA year.
April 6th, 2010 at 7:42 am
it does not matter who the coach or gm of the bucs is when you have the glazers as owners your not gonna be able to spend the amount of money you need to spend to be good in the nfl, right now we are a nfl development team that will take 3-4 years to become a legit nfl team again due to 7 straight years of bad drafting and no money put into the team from the owners
April 6th, 2010 at 8:45 am
They say that you never know what you had until you’ve lost it! That must really be true because I never really thought about old Malcomb Glazer until his 3 greedy Sons took over the Bucs. I never gave it a second thought when he paid the money to bring in Meshawn, or when he paid the money (and the picks) to bring Gruden here. We just all took it for granite when the old Man laid out whatever it took to win. But now that Malcomb is gone and the 3 scrooges are here, it certainly makes me miss Malcomb. I wonder what he’d do if he suddenly woke up to the current state of affairs his 3 scrooge Sons have created with the Bucs, not to mention other Countries. Something tells me that he would not appreciate amatuers running the Bucs, while his 3 Scrooge Sons were ruining his Family name on both Continents.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:46 am
If the Glazers want to wait until after the lock-out to spend money on thier team , then guess what ???
So will us fans.
Enjoy paying off your billion dollar debt with an empty stadium , Glazerhouses.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:48 am
They are already going to pay Raheem not to coach in the upcoming season.
I did read a couple of articles which stated many NFL teams, about two years ago, started putting clauses in coaches contracts that they would be paid 50% or even less of their salary in the event of a strike/lockout. Also, they are trying to phase out the 401(k) retirement plan for coaches causing some to look to the college ranks.
Sounds like the economic noose is getting a bit tight, even for these super rich dudes.
Thankfully, the Glazers soothed all question or concern on this topic by stating “money will never be an issue”.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Money is definitetly never an issue when you don’t plan to spend any….
April 6th, 2010 at 9:02 am
@Radio, Like you, I believe that we fans should not spend one sent on this current replica of an NFL team. We should simply wait them out. How it makes sense not to spend money and have an empty stadium is beyond my mediocre comprehension. They would make many more millions by fielding a decent team and selling tickets. I guess it is just the greed in them! I’ve never heard what Morris made as a coach. But I’d bet it isn’t a decent coaches wages. Hell, he may be working for nothing just so he can claim to be a coach!
April 6th, 2010 at 9:36 am
They could have just given “rah” a different assignment at One Buc Place for which he is qualified, such as bringing Mr. Cowher his morning coffee and a Krispy Kreme.
Problem solved.
April 6th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Does anyone REALLY believe there will be a lock-out next season?
The owners will call the players “bluff” they’re already tightening the purse strings.
While this isn’t a popular view I think that players/owners are all making way too much money.
$8 beers at the stadium? $25 parking?
Just imagine what September 2011 will be like with no football…………
I bet the college teams will get a whole lot more popular!!!!