Giants vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross is rumored to be on the Bucs’ radar as a GM candidate.

A couple of media outlets in the frozen northeast — hey, Joe is typing this from an empty bar in frozen Illinois, where earlier today he saw rare creatures called “snowplows” — seem to think the Bucs are looking at Giants vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross to fill Tampa Bay’s general manager job.

Both Newsday and the Newark Star-Ledger cite the ever dangerous” source familiar with the situation,” who claims the Bucs asked and received permission from the Giants to speak with Ross.

The Giants the past two seasons have been a shell of their former perennial playoff/Super Bowl selves. A lot of it has to do with how much and often the Giants have swung and missed not only in the draft, but also in free agency.

The offensive line for Big Blue is woefully thin, which has directly led to Eli Manning becoming an interception machine.

Now the ever popular “word on the street,” first cousin to “source,” is the Bucs are interested in Dixie Chicks player personnel director Lionel Vital. Now this guy gets Joe excited because of his employer. The Falcons don’t seem to have a problem obtaining talent, and if Vital has absorbed anything from Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff, that’s a good get in Joe’s yes.