Veteran Corner Says He’s Ready
May 16th, 2018
Given green light.
For Bucs fans who rest comfortably at night, confident in the belief Bucs defensive coaches have set the NFL standard for developing rookie corners, you may not want to click “read more.”
Joe will start this on a positive note: In the past two seasons, Bucs defensive coaches have shown a strong ability to get the most out of veteran cornerbacks. Many around the NFL thought Brent Grimes was washed up. Yet Grimes had a rebirth of sorts with the Bucs and returned to his former Pro Bowl self.
Robert McClain? Who thought he would be anything more than a bit piece? But when forced into duty when young Bucs corners all regressed, McClain did a commendable job, including three interceptions. Why the Bucs have not chosen to bring him back is still a mystery.
Yeah, no one else in the NFL has signed him either. Joe will wager no other NFL team is as thin at corner as the Bucs.
But there is another veteran corner who has significant playoff experience under his belt that is looking for work. And when a team desperately needs a corner, one cannot quibble 10 weeks before training camp if said veteran may be on a first-name basis with officers of the law.
That man’s name is Pacman Jones.
Yesterday, Pacman made an appearance on “Movin’ the Chains” with co-hosts Vic Carucci and Jim Miller, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Pacman, who had surgery a few months ago, said he is ready to rock and roll and has been cleared to resume football activities by doctors.
“I had groin surgery the week after the Super Bowl,” Pacman said. “I’m finally 100 percent from that, just got cleared by the doctors. Running full speed. Have been in contact with several teams, I expect it to pick up in the coming weeks.
“I know teams will want to see me run before I sign and I’m cool with that.”
Joe would hope at the very least, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht explores this option.
For those who recoil at the thought of Pacman playing for the Bucs, Joe understands your initial horror.
But if you really want to be so scared as to wet your pants, consider who you would rather have guard Ted Ginn, Alshon Jeffery and JuJu Smith-Schuster to open the season, Ryan Smith, a rookie or Pacman?
May 16th, 2018 at 7:17 am
No thanks…he can play corner in the next Longest Yard sequel…
May 16th, 2018 at 7:18 am
I don’t know why anyone would think the Bucs would even consider this. Like it or not (and I do), the Bucs have a mold.
Players must be great in the locker room.
Players must be 100 percenters.
Players must be good in the community.
Players must be clean from drugs, crime and such.
Players must have real fire.
Players must have talent and potential.
Jones does not fit the mold, and after Chris Baker blew up in their faces, I doubt they would risk it.
May 16th, 2018 at 7:22 am
As to the starting role, whoever earns the spot will start. If that’s VHIII, Ryan Smith or a rookie, who cares so long as they earn it?
May 16th, 2018 at 7:24 am
Carlton Davis will be starting opposite Brent Grimes week 1.
May 16th, 2018 at 7:24 am
I would rather we use a traffic cone!
May 16th, 2018 at 7:25 am
I’m sure he could find a place between Mons Venus,One Buc and the RayJay to live
May 16th, 2018 at 7:29 am
He just be rebellion.
May 16th, 2018 at 7:31 am
Yeah, nice locker room cancer to add….another swaggy
May 16th, 2018 at 7:37 am
I love that “wacky” joe all offseason states that he does not trust the Bucs coaching to develop CB, but then likes the 2 veterans that came up thru Coach Smitty systems and developed!!!!! Wacky joe logic!!!!!!!!!
The answer is no, to a 34 year old CB coming off surgery who will be 35 in sept!!!!! Throw in the fact that he is a high penalty guy, which is not what the Bucs are looking for!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 16th, 2018 at 7:46 am
Not a “Buccaneer Man”
May 16th, 2018 at 7:51 am
Don’t want him.
May 16th, 2018 at 7:56 am
I would sincerely prefer to lose games. All 16 of them. That guy is walking human trash. He is lucky I’m writing these words about him. He doesn’t deserve them.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:00 am
No, no, no. Total idiot.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:02 am
Rather have DRC. Only 32 in April. Pacman 35 in September. DRC had 6 INTs in 2016. From Bradenton.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:23 am
He could ride with Winston in uber and take all the heat
May 16th, 2018 at 8:26 am
Nooooooooooooooooooope
May 16th, 2018 at 8:28 am
Joe is just trolling at this point.
That’s really not nice. Joe has mentioned Pacman multiple times. And understand that Joe wants the Bucs to consider him. Also, Joe is not fearful of cutting Jones if he’s signed and is not a fit. It doesn’t have to be a Swaggy situation. Swaggy never should have played as much as he did, and certainly should have been gone at the trade deadline. –Joe
May 16th, 2018 at 8:34 am
I’d rather bring back Rod “Toast” Jones than have PacMan here! Selfish players won’t mix well here.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:37 am
id rather have corey graham off of eagles than pacman or drc, both of whom i feel are better than a cpl bucs secondary options.graham is the perfect mentor for mj
May 16th, 2018 at 8:40 am
Pass.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:40 am
Bonzi,
Bucs have a mold…. for once you are correct bucs have a mold alright, it’s the lose quietly and enjoy being last in the division year in and year out type of player. A true Buccaneers man is a career loser who accepts it with a smile shares his joy of losing with teammates. that’s why GMC is so popular with glazers, he has no dedire to win or be great mow that is a true buccaneer man.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:45 am
An there you have it JOE. Nobody in Tampa wants him.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:49 am
The only question is, has wacky joe already written the article for when one of the younger CB gets beat, so he can post the ” I told you Pacman should have been a buc” story!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 16th, 2018 at 8:50 am
Pretty funny! One NEVER sees all the posters in agreement. But here they are…
May 16th, 2018 at 8:51 am
Pass pass pass hard no !!! I believe a pass rush will change so much for our secondary I still think VH3 can bounce back
May 16th, 2018 at 9:07 am
I don’t have a problem with looking at him, actually. It’s been a few years since he’s gotten in trouble. Never heard much in the way of being a pain in the locker room. He can return punts and cover. People pointing out he’s another Swaggy Baker forget he came with a slacker’s reputation. Jones can play. I remember hearing a lot of “bring Talib back” and he has some similar bs in his resume. If the Bucs kick the tires, and they are satisfied he’s over his crap, then sign him. PR and Cover man until he new kids show what they have. Push Hargreaves.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:09 am
Again with this corner garbage takes? Seriously. A big reason why I’ve laid off the site for a while. Love the site but this cornerback take is wearing me thin. They have two day two rookies with big upside and Hargreaves as a nickel. To think they should sign the trashiest guy of all time and not let a corner play is preposterous. But then again the bucs were better off taking a punter. We all know who wrote this one
May 16th, 2018 at 9:12 am
Joe,
Have read Pacman’s rap sheet? He really is not a nice person.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:18 am
Joe,
I understand the want your want for a a veteran CB back there, but winning teams like the Green Bay Packers will be having 2 rookies and a 1 year CB starting for them this season. I believe we should wait to see how training camp goes before bringing in anyone. We don’t want to take away reps from this young secondary, because they will need it.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:24 am
Well, he is short enough!
Smart quarterbacks will take advantage of his height, except for J-miss that is. (See the Cincinnati preseason game last year; TWO consecutive plays from inside the 5 covering Mike Evans, J-miss CANNOT hit Evans over the shortest DB in Pac-Man!?!?)
May 16th, 2018 at 9:28 am
All the Tampa “scrip” clubs are in favor of the Bucs signing Pacman….
May 16th, 2018 at 9:30 am
Yes, I am the poster disagreeing with most on this one.
Grimes is a silent leader, we need that vocal leader on the back end and Adam would be that guy. Obviously, still calling him Pac man you are still stuck on his past, He will tell you he was immature, but I if you heard the interview yesterday, which I did, he has matured and the host believed that as well, they also believed he still has a lot of game left as well. One year deal to transition these young guys, I believe he would be a stronger teacher to the young Bucs than Grimes.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:31 am
I truly believe this team will be just fine if the coaches just play the players who earn their time on the field and not just gift playing time. I am looking directly at you Koetter for Doug Martin and you Mike Smith for Chris Baker. Let the cream rise to the top and if its rookies playing corner so be it but if it is J. Elliott, or someone else so be it as well. It doesn’t matter to me how or why they are here but if they are showing the ability and desire to play the right way in this offensive and defensive scheme then they should play, period. That alone will make this team better.
BUT THE QUESTION IS WILL THAT HAPPEN? THAT IS THE KEY TO THIS SEASON.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:38 am
Sign him!!! He would be a great short term signing. It’s not like he’ll be here longer than a year or two.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:41 am
You must be joking or just a joke. All the guys out there to pay they would wait all this time by passing on everyone in free agency just to settle for this guy. Really hope Licht doesn’t read this article. Not in favor of having two corners 34 and over.
Writers say things like this because they think they know the team isn’t sold on vh3 or because they don’t trust him. I’d prefer to anyone on out roster even Ryan Smith to this guy.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:43 am
Reality-is-a-Beotch Says
“Bucs have a mold…. for once you are correct bucs have a mold alright, it’s the lose quietly and enjoy being last in the division year in and year out type of player. A true Buccaneers man is a career loser who accepts it with a smile shares his joy of losing with teammates. that’s why GMC is so popular with glazers, he has no dedire to win or be great mow that is a true buccaneer man.”
You may as well call him Cancer93, TMax. We all know who you are.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:44 am
I compeltely disagree that Adam Jones would be a leader, lol. We’d better hope he wouldn’t be…since all he would do is lead players into trouble.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:51 am
Bonzi
Tmax is banned he is not the only one who realizes the true problem with bucs. Like tmax i also find your ignorance bordering delusional but hey every one is entitled to be stupid.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:52 am
Just develop what we got!!! Or may get new coaches!!
May 16th, 2018 at 9:52 am
Joe didn’t learn his lesson with Michael Bennett, so he doubles down with Pacman? SMH
I’m with Sneedy16. We’ve got lots of young talent who need snaps. Worse come to worse, there will be veteran talent released before opening day.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:54 am
100% go and see what is up with him….a guy that brings juice and a tough edge to the defense, bring him in, and go get kenny vaccaro….and stop with the he is not a “buccanneer man” what the hell is that a LOOOSER, the bucs have not done crap in 10 years, so if that is a bucs man, then take em all…..go talk to adam jones and see if he has some games left in him, people mature and he was playing at a level better than any DB on our team aside ftrom carlton davis
May 16th, 2018 at 9:57 am
To many quality strip clubs in Tampa
That would spell disaster for him
May 16th, 2018 at 10:18 am
It does not make any sense to build our secondary with youth(2 draft choices this year to pair with youngsters VHIII and Smith) only to turn around and sign an aging vet to start.
You wanna get serious about throwing away draft picks then lets sign Pacman to take all the practice reps and get all the playing time.
The fact is that this team believes they can develope young corners. Thats why they drafted them. If they go out and get an old guy to stsrt all it does is waste a year of developement. Signing a guy like McClain who wont command a starters role is a good backup plan. Singing Pacman is just a dumb idea all the way around.
May 16th, 2018 at 10:26 am
A 35 year old CB that was never quite starting CB material and was always more of a return guy? Not only is he small, but there’s no way he still has all that speed that at least made him special in the SPEED CATEGORY… he’s never been close to being a special CB. No way. A 35 year old, never great but still washed up CB taking away training camp and practice reps from four young CBs is a bad idea.
May 16th, 2018 at 10:26 am
sure he can help this team but I rather see what we have on the roster play and gain that experience…..
pacman hasn’t been in any trouble lately….since he’s been in cincy he’s been pretty clean….had 1 hiccup in the playoffs vs the steelers but off the field he’s been good…..
yall act like the bucs have a team full of angels…lol….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
May 16th, 2018 at 10:35 am
the Bucs have a mold.
Players must be great in the locker room.
Players must be 100 percenters.
Players must be good in the community.
Players must be clean from drugs, crime and such.
Players must have real fire.
Players must have talent and potential.
***************************************************************
lol…..BS….
if that’s the case, djax doesn’t fit that mold…..
-your not in the locker room so you don’t know who’s a great locker room presence or not…..
-some would say djax doesn’t give 100%…..
-what does djax do for the tampabay community?
-djax was just in the paper not too long ago regarding weed and a wreck vehicle…..you can throw Winston in that boat as well with his situation!!!!….wasn’t VHG in the paper for weed?….
-some would say GMC lacks that real fire…..
-according to some, this team still lacks talent
sounds like pacman would fit right in with the bucs……
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
May 16th, 2018 at 10:37 am
Pacman also sounds like an awful fit. The guy likely comes in and creates tension in the DB group. All our young guys right now feel like they can seriously compete for playing time. Add Pacman to the list and all the sudden our young playrrs basically have no chance to start or play much.
The Bucs are still being built woyh a young core and we need the young players to step up and lead. Thats how you build a winner.
May 16th, 2018 at 10:41 am
pacman hasn’t been in any trouble lately
—————————————————–
813,
On January 3, 2017 1:00 AM
Pacman Jones was arrested and charged with:
Obstructing official business.
Disorderly conduct.
Assault.
Felony charge of harassment with a bodily substance.
———————————————————
He got in trouble kind of recently.
May 16th, 2018 at 11:04 am
Sign Adam Jones, the guy is better than anyone on our roster and will bring a winning mentality to the team with an edge, if he can’t play anymore then let him go no harm, the bucs were 5-11 last year with a historically worst NFL defense esp in the passing game, and aside from carloton davis not sure what the rookies are going to bring
May 16th, 2018 at 11:44 am
dave
he was suspended for 1 game…..last year!!!!…..lol…
and to my point, yall act like we don’t have current players in legal trouble….. lol….Winston ring a bell?….lol….
yall want a bunch of nice guys like GMC on the team huh….how’s that worked for us?…..we need a few bad a$$es on the team…..problem is we don’t have the coaching staff to control/support them…..dirk is as soft as they come…..
nice guys come in last……just ask dirk….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
May 16th, 2018 at 11:47 am
dusty
I agree
folks act like we’re 11-5 and get to choose from the cream of the crop….we need as much talent and depth as we can get…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
May 16th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
In my best Ronnie Reagan voice….
“Well…… There you go again….”
May 16th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Bringing the guy in for a workout and an interview doesn’t mean we have to sign the guy. I say work him out and talk to the guy and find out where his head’s at. Investigate him like you would a rookie you’re interested in that has a blemished history. If the guy has figured life out since his last encounter with the law, it would be a shame to pass up a potential asset. If we kick the tires and he doesn’t measure up, then don’t offer him a contract. But a responsible GM would do their due diligence. I would imagine that Licht has already taken a serious look at Jones, and he’s either already decided to pass or he’s waiting for Jones to get more desperate so he’ll be more motivated to sign on for less pay. It’ll be interesting to see if anything develops. Especially in the wake of the Swaggy debacle.
May 16th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Thin at corner ????
We have invested 3 picks in top 2 round on CB past 3 years. Not impossible to hit on one as saints did. Who says these rookies can’t shine in NFL first yea or the VH3 grows up and matures as player and skill.
No to pax man will be distraction in locker room and may not be best influence on rookie CB we have and are hoping to be here for long term
May 16th, 2018 at 12:18 pm
WE! WANT! MCCLAIN! Don’t know how the Bucs haven’t resigned him. Especially since it seems 99% they’re going to drop Sweezy to free up $6.5 mill. He’s older so we can probably get him with a cheap one year deal. It wasn’t just the three picks either. He was playing good football as the year went on. Great depth and will be very pissed if we don’t bring him back.
May 16th, 2018 at 12:29 pm
By are we discussing this turd? There’s a better, younger, more talented vet cb out there.
Quick poll, who would rather have DRC than Pacman?
May 16th, 2018 at 12:40 pm
Simple answer, NO thank you.
May 16th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Would also like to be one the first to jump on one of the many vet safeties that certainly shouldn’t still be out there in FA still. Eric Reid, Kenny Vacarro, Tre Boston, Mike Mitchell, etc. Vacarro could hook us up with some Saints info. He’s been talking to the Jets past couple days apparently.
May 16th, 2018 at 12:54 pm
Pacman? No dice. He is a complete and total —whole. He is niothing but trouble. Sometimes I wonder if artificial Joe’s have some sort of history with the law seeing as you love these ex-convicts.
May 16th, 2018 at 12:56 pm
I can’t imagine having Djax and Pacman in the same locker room. Their huge egos would clash and create animosity in the locker room. We have too many rookies to bring in that kind of drama. No thanks, let him destroy someone else’s locker room. Ours is too fragile.
May 16th, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Has Joe considered maybe it’s not that the coaches can’t develop a rookie db. Maybe the dbs aren’t that good to be developed. And still don’t cite our pass rush as a reason for poor play. Just look at the whole 2016 draft of the whole league pass pick 7 the majority draft sucked.
May 16th, 2018 at 1:10 pm
The Bengals don’t want him back.
That should really tell us something.
Because they will literally take ANYONE.
May 16th, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Eric Reid.
Fortify the safety position.
Let the 5 corners we currently have battle it out in front of them.
Get that interior guard and a backup swing tackle.
FIX THE TRENCHES, FIX THE BUCS!!
May 16th, 2018 at 2:14 pm
The Bengals would draft SATAN if he could run a 4.4 — and THEY didn’t want Pacman anymore.
May 16th, 2018 at 4:30 pm
I think the Joes’s issues are you don’t get the fact that the coaches want the young players in the field. Not sitting on the sidelines watching. If they feel the drafted corners will get better as the year goes on then you have to play them. If you don’t then next your complaining we have corners with no experience.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:36 pm
Bonzai nailed it with his 2nd post.
As much as the Bucs want to be tough, they won’t bring in Pacman.
Never. Gonna. Happen.
May 16th, 2018 at 8:39 pm
Sign him now. We can’t bank on a bunch of rookies and never have beens. I guess most of you would rather lose than take a chance with a good albeit wild child but the dude can play better than anyone we got not named Grimes. Seems to me the “loser” mentality has worked it’s way up the fan bases panties as well.
May 16th, 2018 at 9:43 pm
Ryan Smith > Adam Jones