Peeved Barrett Ruud Unloads
August 2nd, 2010
By any measure, Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud is a nice guy. But his contract situation with the Bucs has tested his normally cool demeanor.
In recent days, Ruud, never known to cooperate with the pen and mic club, has shunned reporters if not had a tepid response, saying, in so many words, he has nothing to say.
Cornered today after practice, Ruud let loose. Questioned about his reaction to Donald Penn getting his payday after sitting out offseason drills, a ploy Ruud tried last year which failed to move Team Glazer and/or general manager Mark Dominik, Ruud minced no words, Twitters Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.
Barrett Ruud on the Penn deal – “I’m happy for Donald but as for me, I feel how you would feel if it happened to you.”
Later, Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune got Ruud to open up a bit more and he was no less angered.
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed,” Ruud said. “I’m not real happy about it. I’m very happy for Donald. Very happy for Gerald (McCoy). Very happy for all the guys who signed the last couple of years, but definitely it’s pretty frustrating on my end.”
Whoa! Ruud is certainly peeved! While Joe feels for the guy, Joe hopes he can turn this rage into the best season he’s had on the field.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
“Joe hopes he can turn this rage into the best season he’s had on the field.Joe hopes he can turn this rage into the best season he’s had on the field.”
That’s all I care about too…. problem is, Rudd ain’t coming back either. Bucs will have to franchise him.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:16 pm
He deserves the money. He is above average at worst and we aren’t going to find a better LB that is available. To soften the sting, Dominik should go to his agent, tell him we’ll sign him to a new deal after we see what half a season brings. If he’s lighting it up, great and deserved, if not, he’ll understand.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
If I was Ruud’s representation I would be PISSED!!! I show the Organization respect last year by being a good soldier and not holding out then turn around and give Penn a contract before me? If I were Ruud I’d be yapping (in his own professional manner) to the media too.
Ruud will get his. He won’t/shouldn’t break the bank like Penn but he should be fairly compensated as one of the good but not great pieces on the defense.
Bucs payroll is on the rise!
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Looks as though Barrett Rudd was misrepresented by JimBuc!
HAR HAR HAR
🙂
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
@ Javier
Money cures all ills. He knows that staying and playing in a Tampa 2 style defense is what’s best for his career and the Org knows that, in order for the rebuild to be successful, they HAVE to lock up their core drafted players. I think they’ll negotiate throughout the year and get a deal done.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:27 pm
If Ruud shows he can stop the run AT the line of scrimmage this ear with better DT play in front of him…. then they will sign him to a long term deal. Otherwise, the MANY memers of the staff that really, really wanted Brandon Spikes are going to be looking at next years draft for middle LBs.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:29 pm
@Dave I think we need to look at the draft at MLB, OLB anyways.
We desparately need depth at LB.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Thats hardly pissed off i think he handled it well. He got his point accross and hopefully he gets what he wants. but…. thats not going to happen if he doesnt play well. So RUUD if you read these things play your heart out brother we are all rooting for you, and you will get what you deserve!!!
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Sensible fan,
You’ve made a good point when you said FAIRLY COMPENSATED! I think the problem lies where he and his agent feel he is a top 5 LB in this league and wants to be paid like one. Reality is he’s probably ranks somewhere in the middle and the Bucs would like to give him a deal closer to this range. At this point in his career I think most people would agree that he is not in the elite catagory. I’d hope that one day he is, but the middle of the Bucs defense has been a real problem the past couple of years and you can’t blame it all on the D lineman.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Ruud can STFU as far as I’m concerned…..
Yea great, the guy has 100 tackles…..problem is, 80 of ’em are 8 yards downfield….the guys been a starter for 3 years now….can you guys name a single big play he’s made? Me either……….
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Pay the man. Period.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I believe that Ruud will show the Glazers on Sundays why they need to pay him. Like JOE, I hope he takes all this anger and uses it to take some heads off on the field of battle.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I agree with Creamsicle and BucnJim. He’s an average linebacker at best.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Poor Rudd he’s been trying for a new contract for 2 years…LOL bet he wishes he had held out..But im sure he’ll be ok..If he does’nt get paid here he will somewhere else…
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Ruud is a “system” LB. He plays best in the Tampa 2. Watching highlights (lowlights???) of the season last year, specifically the first half of the season, I was looking specifically for big run plays. Each time I looked to see where Ruud was. Many times he was hard to find…. not because he was out of position, but because there was a huge 300+ lb. guy with a number in the 60s or 70s in his face. As the runner made his way past, you would eventually see Ruud reappear in the clip chasing him down. Other times, Ruud would be coming up from 15 to 20 yards downfield in a deep zone coverage to get in on the play. Either way, he didn’t have much say in whether or not he was making tackles behind the line or at the line. Part was scheme, part was coverage. Ruud is a Tampa 2 middle linebacker (much like some QBs are spread option QBs and some are Pro style QBs). When in the Tampa 2, he plays well. He’s pretty good in coverage, and he fills his gap pretty well in run support. He is above average in the Tampa 2, and below average in the Bates Experiment. I hope that the Bucs are at least talking to his agent, keeping the lines open, and if not working out a contract at least letting them know they’ll do the deal when he’s shown more on the field this year.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Money won’t make a man work any harder. It may ease his mind about his other troubles and security but $Money$ won’t make Barrett play better than he did last season. He has to do that by his own personal motivation and character. Penn had an awesome season last year and the one before that. If Ruud played as well as Penn, albeit different positions, he might have his deal now. Ruud needs to earn that big raise he wants and last year he and the rest of the defense didn’t earn much of anyone’s respect in the league. It is wrong to compare your own salary to that of someone else. You should base your salary on your own merits, strengths and weaknesses. At least Ruud has seen that Glazers will pony up the dough for the right player. Penn got paid, not over paid, and based on Penn’s salary and most of the other players, other than GMC, I’d say $3.2 Mill for Ruud is very fair. I don’t believe many teams would be beating down the Bucs door to aquire Ruud. In my eyes, he has to improve, and command a top 10 defense that can win games without a strong offense.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Unloads?
Didn’t see any unloading in those quotes, just real talk.
Ruud deserves to be pissed, all you clowns on here shatting on him would be going flippin crazy if in the same shoes.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Ruud should be a little job scared too. We have some seriously athletic linebackers with Hayes, Black and now Watson (though green) and Ruud surely isn’t the fastest or strongest LB on the field. I think this could be Barrett’s last year with the Bucs, and not by his choice. Just my opinion.
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Ruud will have the choice. The only choices the Bucs have are to Pay him what he wants, franchise him or watch him walk away. The Bucs’s choices come from a monetary end. The Glazers HAD to sign McCoy, they HAD to sign their only LT. But, they don’t really HAVE to sign Ruud considering the poor defensive play overall last season, BY EVERYONE on DEFENSE, even Ronde Barber getting burned continually.
Ruud will walk by his choice. There will be many teams lining up to pay a MLB who gets 200 tackles a season………. period. There should be no debate about that. Guarenteed, he will get a big contract, albeit by the Bucs or another team. But someone is going to have to pay the piper eventually.
See, the Bucs are in a conundrum now. As young players develop into NFL starters, so long as they are young, they can command large contracts. The NFL collectivelly pays young NFL starters very well. In fact more than veterans. The Glazers have choices, pay or watch them walk while being forced to develop another player living with the growing pains.
See developing young has it’s drawbacks too… for when it comes time to reward the players, it ain’t cheap. Young promising players command TOP dollar in the NFL.
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:16 pm
KOB:
It simply boils down to this:
The Bucs clearly feel Donald Penn is a more valuable cog to the team than Barrett Ruud.
Of course, if Ruud blows up opponents this season, he’s got the Bucs by the cajones.
In basketball terms, the ball is in Ruud’s court.
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Penn had more leverage because not even Dom could stand the thought of Freeman playing with a nobody at left tackle.
They can say what they want, but when you pay guys like Clayton but not Ruud it has got to cause some trouble in paradise, even for master motivator Raheem Morris.
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Eric said : “when you pay guys like Clayton but not Ruud it has got to cause some trouble in paradise”
It doesn’t get more factual than that.
August 2nd, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Hopefully Spaghetti Arms Ruud will have a better season not being with Bates, but he has a long way to go, and he really is slow. Ruud has never made 200 tackles in one season. They may count slapping Jonathan Stewart on the ass as he runs by a tackle or flying late into a pile that TJack made a tackle, but not in my eyes. I’m sure there is a hundred excuses or reasons, but last season was Ruud’s worst by far. He missed all OTA’s, he came to camp and looked weak, scraggly and more like a dope smokin hippie than an NFL MLB. Ruud was not a bright spot last season. I hope he will shine this year, but I’m not holding my breath, and wouldn’t be surprised if his play declined more. I don’t think any RB’s or QB’s fear Ruud. I haven’t seen a good slobber knocker out of him in at least 2 years. Time’s up, put up or shut up.
August 2nd, 2010 at 4:58 pm
“Hopefully Spaghetti Arms Ruud…”
BWahahahahahahah….
I have always thought that myself.
I’m like, just do some curls man. I mean, it’s not like he’s a pitcher or anything. And are bigger biceps really gonna slow him down?
I have always noticed that! Too funny.
He alos used to have that hillbilly mustach too. Like it was some sort of peach fuzz growing on his lip. Yet now he’s sporting the Matthew McConaughey.
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Its funny, two years ago I remember hearing people complaining how Ruud wasnt voted into the pro bowl for being a good Mike. Now everyone seems to want him gone and saying he is average. Last year was an aberration because of a change in scheme. He will rebound this year, get paid by the Bucs, and all will be well.
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:38 pm
It blows my mind to hear someone crying about only making 3 million. He should get on his knees and give thanks every night to be so lucky. I make $26 an hour. Some other employees make $35. I’m thankful for mine and not angry that I don’t receive the same. I know there are people out there busting their butts to make $7.
“I’m happy for Donald but as for me, I feel how you would feel if it happened to you.”
We will not ever know how it feels Barrett!
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:42 pm
The only leverage Rudd has is the threat of making tackles 17 yards down field , instead of the current 15 yards downfield that he provides now.
August 3rd, 2010 at 5:29 am
Kiffin would be pissd he of all people knows Ruud if Tampa doesnt know what a guy they have then they dont need him. He is a workhorse in the NFL