Welcome to the combine!

NFL teams, general managers, scouts, front office personnel, most head coaches, various assistant coaches, college prospects and agents aplenty piled into downtown Indianapolis yesterday as the combine starts today. The combine really is the NFL’s winter festival.

(Before you start tapping, “But Joe, the combine doesn’t start until later this week … “ please do not confuse the TV show of indoor track practice with the combine. The TV show is part of the combine. Not the combine.)

This morning, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht will take to the podium and speak before the hundreds of NFL media gathered at the gigantic Indiana Convention Center (which, in another life was the Hoosier Dome, home of the Colts). This afternoon, head coach Todd Bowles will do the same.

So around noon Joe will have a flood of fresh Bucs content for your dining and dancing pleasure.

The combine is also what Joe likes to refer to as the “illegal tampering period.” While that may be redundant, it is impossible for team shot-callers not to speak with agents. Most chats are above board. “We want to re-sign Player-X, give me some boundaries of what you are looking for.”

Of course, those conversations tend to stray.

Agents are all over downtown Indianapolis right now. They often host dinner parties for their high-end clients — players’ agents, coaches’ agents and front office agents, etc. And the agents prowl the convention center, the beehive of the combine. It’s common for Joe to cross paths with heavy hitter agents like Tom Condon or oily Drew Rosenhaus.

Joe is confident Licht will have some talks about Chris Godwin’s pending free agent status. The Bucs and Godwin’s camp agreed to extend their negotiation deadline last week to March 12, which is the first day free agent contracts can be made official. Joe took that move as a positive sign the Bucs and Godwin’s camp are in the same neighborhood on contract figures.

Over at BSPN, follicly-challenged Billy Barnwell of BSPN is of the mind the Bucs have advantages to re-sign Godwin that other teams do not, provided he hits the open market.

The Bucs, Billy believes, likely have better intel on Godwin’s banged up ankle than other teams will.

…It’s tough to draw much insight into his potential market without seeing how he’s healing from the injury.

Remember, Godwin is still technically employed by the Bucs and has been under care of team medical staff.  So while Godwin’s camp may or may not offer up medicals to prospective teams, the Bucs likely already have all that intel.

Advantage: Bucs.