Kellen Winslow Claims Bucs Blindsided Him
May 21st, 2012
Kellen Winslow’s stunning revelation that he has played his last snap with the Bucs was shocking enough heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio this morning.
But add to that Winslow inferred that the Bucs double-crossed him, in particular new Bucs coach Greg Schiano.
Winslow, appearing on “The Opening Drive” with co-hosts Ross Tucker and Andrew Bogusch, claimed he was blindsided when the Bucs informed him Saturday he would not be with the Bucs.
Winslow said Schiano told him he was “his guy” and that the Bucs did not have a problem with him being in away from last week’s OTAs.
In fact, Winslow said, he was at minicamp last month and clearly was in town preparing to participate in this week’s OTAs.
Winslow said the problems with the Bucs arose because he was not working out with the team full-time in the offseason, per Bogusch’s Twitter feed.
After the interview, Tucker wasn’t buying totally what Winslow was selling. Tucker pointed out that Winslow admitted the Bucs tried to trade him in the offseason.
“It can’t be just about not working out with the team in the offseason if he was there twice and the Bucs tried to trade him back in February,” Tucker said. “There’s got to be another reason than just the offseason workouts missed.”
Tucker speculated that Winslow’s gimpy knees were likely the reason Winslow’s days as a Bucs tight end are over.
May 21st, 2012 at 10:43 am
“Winslow said that new Bucs coach Greg Schiano told him he was “his guy” and that the Bucs did not have a problem with him being in away from last week’s OTAs.”
This is what bothers me the most Joe. TBA is the Schiano philosophy and he crapped on it today. This is the first big fat LOSS in the Schiano Era.
May 21st, 2012 at 10:44 am
“We can’t have anything happen to Raheem Morris it would ruin the team.” – Kellen Winslow
May 21st, 2012 at 10:48 am
Peace and chicken grease to the soulja! Probably won’t get squat in a trade compared to the production we’d get from him this year. Darnit.
May 21st, 2012 at 10:50 am
I’m not a “I told you so” kinda guy, But if anybody should run into Cap’n Tim, tell him we need to talk!
May 21st, 2012 at 10:51 am
@Sensible so you are going to go off without getting the other side of the story? I’m not fully believing K2’s side of things.
I agree with Ross Tucker on this, if they tried to trade him in February it’s more than not showing up recently
May 21st, 2012 at 10:53 am
@Joe… What is the trade market for Winslow??? Looks to me a mid round draft pick at best
May 21st, 2012 at 10:54 am
Winslow was a fine TE, but really he wasn’t around or in practice enough for me to think he was a great team player. And 2 TDs all year is not enough production out of a guy who should be a better red zone threat. Also his knees make him play like a much older player than 28 would suggest.
I don’t think this is a big loss at all for the Schiano Era, I want to hear the other side before I’d agree to that. Also lets get real, Dallas is a fine receiving tight end who can still play when not injured.
May 21st, 2012 at 10:58 am
T.Bass:
Limited. Not much of a market for a “me” guy with terrible knees who can’t block.
May 21st, 2012 at 10:58 am
Why would anyone trade for a guy we are obviously going to release?
Everybody knows that Winslow has a gimpy knee and thus trains differently.
Naturally, i don’t know all the sides, but the whole thing smells bad to me.
Doesn’t make us better IMO. and likely worse.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:01 am
If it’s true he was trade bait since February, why did the Bucs trade him during the draft? Looks like he will ultimately be released
May 21st, 2012 at 11:02 am
Sensible:
What does “TBA” stand for?
May 21st, 2012 at 11:03 am
@BucWild007 & BigBear
I can’t really think of a way that this wouldn’t be true. What incentive does K2 have to misrepresent what he was told?
May 21st, 2012 at 11:05 am
Trust, Belief & Accountability
May 21st, 2012 at 11:11 am
@SensibleBuc: Because it would be hard to find a job if he said he was cut because his knees are shot and he wanted no part of OTA’s?
May 21st, 2012 at 11:12 am
Perhaps running his mouth about wanting a different coach was not wise?
I gotta give Greg credit, right or wrong its a gutsy move.
But shame on rock star. Maybe Butch is our defacto GM and they have Dom cleaning up and making coffee.
Cutting K2 and signing even older “fools gold” is so far afield to the stated philosophy that the star may have changed galaxies.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:13 am
It’s as simple as this. TBA sure, but where was that from Winslow this past season, when he was chewing out Freeman for not throwing him the ball?
We have all seen how the tempo at practices has been jacked up now, and there’s no way Winslow could keep up every day all season if there are no exceptions made for participation, as has been preached.
What else is Schiano supposed to say on the first day, other than yea you’re still my guy? “Hey its the 1st day of mine on the job, and I think i might like you off the team, but we will deal with this in a month mmk?”
Everyone on these boards has been calling for Winslow to be dismissed. This hasn’t been handled any poorly/differently than it would at any other business or area of employment. You work there, they tell you to do your job until you are no longer welcome. This is no different.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:13 am
Good riddance…time for Freeman and V.Jax show to begin!
May 21st, 2012 at 11:14 am
“We can’t have anything happen to Raheem Morris it would ruin the team.”
–Kellen Winslow
Indeed……….smart move, goodbye.
I do not see how any rational Buccaneer fan could take his side over Schiano’s on this. He had to go.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:15 am
Schiano wants someone who actively practices. Those knees simply can’t do it. No more “me” players.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:20 am
One thing i think is wrong, on the days I watched bucs practices K2 always seemed to be working extremely hard.
And his offseason work out regimine is quite vigorous.
Now whether he is poison I dunno. and two touchdowns is pretty pitiful. But 700 receiving yards is decent.
Kinda torn……
May 21st, 2012 at 11:23 am
Addition by Subtraction
May 21st, 2012 at 11:26 am
no room for a non blocking TE in the new offence, simple as that
May 21st, 2012 at 11:27 am
Was K2 at the U with Butch Davis
May 21st, 2012 at 11:31 am
I just don’t understand why we would turn to Dallas Clark though. He’s not a good blocker, and he’s 5 years older than Winslow (though his knees are 5 years younger, zing!) He also had a ton of drops and was injured rather often last year.
Other TE’s we could consider…Shockey? How was his relationship with Butch Davis back at Miami? John Gilmore was a decent blocking TE when he was here and is back on the market as well. Just can’t wrap my head around Dallas Clark, but I guess he’s the best option left.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:32 am
C’mon guys, this isn’t about practice! Even Winslow admitted in the interview that the Bucs tried to trade him in February. If somebody takes and shot at you and then says “I missed you”, you can be dang sure they aren’t saying they long for your company and can’t wait to see you again! This is no surprise!
May 21st, 2012 at 11:35 am
Clark can’t block either………
May 21st, 2012 at 11:46 am
@SensibleBuc He has every incentive to say that it was someone elses fault for this happening to him. If he got ‘screwed’ by this team then he has a better chance of finding s place to play next year that will pay him decently. Being cut for missing workouts and having a bad attitude usually spells Veteran Min.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:47 am
I’m with eric, although his blocking was below par, his production was the decent. One would think that is production would be better with vjax on the squad. I’m kind of torn cause, i still think he would help make the off explosive with the new pieces that were added
May 21st, 2012 at 11:51 am
@sensiblebuc I would like to hear what Schiano has to say about that. He has been pretty honest to the media so far.
I would like to see them go out and get an “in your face” blocking TE to replace WinSLOW. This would fit the system much better than another receiving TE.
I hope we can get a backup DE for Winslow. With Bowers going down it would be nice to add a decent backup to Clayborne and Bennet
May 21st, 2012 at 11:54 am
We’ll be lucky to even get a 5th or 6th round draft pick for WinSLOW. I am happy to see this guy being shown the door out of Tampa. His base salary for this year and the upcoming years is too high for someone that is almost 30 and has VERY bad knee or knee(s) and if he suffers a serious injury this offseason or the start of the next regular season and he is out for the year, his base salary is fully guaranteed. I also read an article on PFT about Dallas Clark visiting us last week, dont see that as un upgrade though so this winSLOW situation might have some pros and cons..
May 21st, 2012 at 11:58 am
Look if we had any semblance of an offense and/or good WRs, Kellen Win-slow would have never gotten that my passes/looks his way. Not a big loss! Actually, this helps our running game out tremendously!
May 21st, 2012 at 12:19 pm
only question i have is if this was the way we are going, why did we wait so long to make this move?… His salary will count against this years salary cap will it not?
May 21st, 2012 at 12:23 pm
According to PFT, he was asked not to come to OTA’s while the Bucs worked on a trade for him: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/21/bucs-tell-winslow-not-to-come-to-otas/
May 21st, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Good luck k2 go bucs
May 21st, 2012 at 12:47 pm
I am confused. I was under the impression that players could not be fired/punished for missing the voluntary OTAs. Was there something different stipulated in his contract that made some of them mandatory?
May 21st, 2012 at 12:48 pm
I just want to announce a big “I told you so” to Capt. Tim.
May 21st, 2012 at 12:57 pm
I also dont understand why we would just let go of our best passing catching TE. Some may not feel he’s very good but that production is hard to make up for regardless. We have no TE currently on our roster that has any production worth noting and very few free agents that arent washed up already available.
May 21st, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@ BigBear & sunrisejeff
He already has a reputation (undeservedly so) for being a malcontent and an anti-team guy. If he misrepresents what he was told he risks legitimizing that reputation and making it harder for him to sign with a team and harder to negotiate a higher salary. It doesn’t make good business sense to come out and say something completely off base.
May 21st, 2012 at 1:01 pm
@Gus
I agree. I hope I’m wrong and that Schiano didn’t mislead K2 but if not, there’s no question that he’s taken a hit in reputation with me.
May 21st, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Antonio B was partly released because Freeman felt pressure to throw him the ball and it resulted in many ints. Winslow was made the highest paid TE in the league and maybe is being released partly for the same reasons AB was.
May 21st, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Antonio B was partly released because Freeman felt pressure to throw him the ball and it resulted in many ints. Winslow was made the highest paid TE in the league and maybe is being released partly for the same reasons AB was.
May 21st, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Bad attitude is a disease in every working environment! This was the demise of the last regime. Give someone an inch and they’ll take a mile. Winslow took the team for everything he could get and more.
May 21st, 2012 at 5:00 pm
I’ve known this was coming and said it was coming. You don’t put someone out on the trade block unless you are done with their services. We will be a better team without Winslow if we are truly going to be run first.
May 21st, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Wow, can someone find the date I predicted this and was blasted for it by many of you, such as Hawaiian and Captain Tim.
Winslow is not only a no-blocking, no-practice, broke down player – the expanded stats show he is the worst starting tight end in the NFL, and behind a few backups.
Any team that reads the expanded stats showing targets, routes run per productive play are more likely to pay him not to play than to play
May 21st, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Good Luck K2!
I appreciate your time in TB… I hope you find a team that fits,
just not in the NFC South.
May 21st, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Why not the NFC South? According to most of these posters he is the worst TE in the league… so ATL or NO or even the kittys would be nice for our D.