So if one is to believe Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network and Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of BSPN.com, one of the Glazers, or someone representing the Glazers, have talked to Bill Cowher or one of Bill Cowher’s people trying to gauge his interest in taking over the Bucs next year.

Sure, it could have happened. Joe suspects possibly not.

Roughly a week ago, Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, in a TBO.com question-and-answer column, stated that Bryan and Joel like to have checks and balances in their football operations, which would rule out a football czar who is also a coach, such as Cowher.

Late Sunday, Cummings posted a story from a source close to the Glazer family that flat out denied any communication with Cowher concerning the Bucs coaching gig.

To Joe, this Bucs-talked-to-Cowher story smells like a plant.

It seems clear Cowher is starting to gather a team of assistants and front office types to make a move, perhaps for the 2010 season. The best way to get the best deal possible is to have options. If only one team is going after Cowher, it’s a buyer’s market. Cowher is pretty much at the mercy of one owner’s checkbook.

However, if there are more than a few teams going after Cowher, it turns into a bidding war. Major advantage: Cowher.

The fact La Canfora broke this story tipped Joe off that this was a plant.

Cowher’s agent, or someone working with his agent, calls La Canfora over the weekend with this info. To make sure La Canfora gets a major scoop, La Canfora gets assurance from his tipster that no one else has it. La Canfora then goes live Sunday on the NFL Network’s pregame show, which starts a full two hours before BSPN’s pregame show; three hours before CBS or Fox, nearly 10 hours before NBC.

So La Canfora breaks the story early and then the other four outlets are going to chase after the same story.

In other words, the best way for Cowher’s camp to get the biggest splash was to make sure La Canfora broke this early Sunday, which would ensure maximum exposure over five seperate national news outlets.

It worked.

Now, whether this “leak” is true or not, other teams possibly interested in Cowher have been jump-started into talking to Cowher’s agent. Again, more teams interested in Cowher means a bidding war.

That’s why Joe is convinced this leak came from Cowher. There’s no reason for the Glazers to leak this. Again, if Bryan and Joel were interested, why ignite a bidding war by tipping off La Canfora? There’s no benefit for Bryan and Joel tipping off La Canfora.

Mortensen claims the Glazers are smitten with Cowher. As Archie Bunker would say, “Whoop-tee-do!” Owners and coaches — both past and present — talk with and amongst each other all the time. If Bryan and Joel have told other owners they like Cowher, that doesn’t mean they are trying to hire him.

Joe is confident Bryan and Joel have told their NFL owner brethren they also like other coaches.

Could Bryan and Joel have spoken with Cowher? Well, remember eight days ago the Bucs were 1-12. Joe would suspect any serious owner(s) of a team with one win would begin to put out feelers if not start brainstorming about what coach may be available should they decide to hire a new coach. Hiring a new coach in the NFL is not something often done on the spur of the moment.

Joe believes Raheem the Dream punched his ticket yesterday for another season with the Bucs. But Cowher coming to the Bucs, Joe believes this was a well-orchestrated plant that worked perfectly.