“We Are Going To Be Very, Very Careful”
January 4th, 2010
Bucs general manager Mark Dominik emerged yesterday from his apparent silence to say a few words to the dean of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers press box, former Tampa Tribune sports editor Tom McEwen.
McEwen, well into his 80s, still pens online columns for TBO.com. The old guy is sharp as a tack and as cordial as ever; Joe chatted with him a couple of months back.
Dominik resurrected his inner Elmer Fudd and talked to McEwen yesterday about the 2010 season.
After the game, talent man Mark Dominik stopped by and said to me, “We are going to get better quickly. We have 10 draft picks for next season and they are going to help us. We are going to be very, very careful.”
I got the impression that Dominik and the Glazer family have no intention of wholesale changes beyond the people rostered or in their grasp. They seem to believe that they have the nucleus for a title-run team and will get down to that business today, or did it last night. Knowing the Glazers, we also are aware that the family seeks nothing less than another Super Bowl contender as soon as possible.
Dominik sure sounds like a guy confident he’ll be running the Bucs draft room come April.
Joe hopes he indeed is very, very careful.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:58 am
another article that makes me sick to even read joe the glazers have been the cheapest spending team in the nfl for the past 7 years we now have the cheapest head coach and gm in the nfl and we never spend any money in free agency so we will still be 30 million under the cap for next year how can they sell any tickets next year ray jay will be half empty the first couple of games
January 4th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Glazers fire raheem and dominick and olson please!!!! Or there r going to be alott more empty seats.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:13 am
I’m not confident the Bucs will have a good draft with the current off the field personnel running things.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:21 am
“…they have the nucleus for a title run team.”
I just threw up. What a joke.
Joe, please talk sense into these owners.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Joe look if the glazer pass on cowher and we go 2-14 next year don’t be suprised if any big name coach would wanna coach hear. If the glazer don’t make a move. Now they don’t care about winning
January 4th, 2010 at 11:36 am
“…they have the nucleus for a title run team.”
Can someone please identify who those players might be? LOL
January 4th, 2010 at 11:40 am
That article has more spin than a White House press conference. How you can claim after watching this season that we have nucleus that can go to the Super Bowl is beyond me. You have to be a moron to believe that.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:51 am
They don’t have a nucleus at all to compete for a super bowl I predict 4-12 or 5-11 we still will suck and we still will get blown out if raheem doesn’t get fired!
January 4th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Get off the Cowher thing….not going to happen. They will and should keep the HC & GM , build thru the draft. Wholesale changes will not benefit #5’s development. Our guys are right up there with the rest of rookie HC. In case you missed it all 4 of the bey teams from last year did not make the playoffs. Stay the course.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
First let me start off by saying that I really can’t believe I’m saying this.
Anyway, when it comes to nucleus I think the Bucs are talking mainly about role players with the exception of a couple of standout players. Here are some guys that may be included in that “nucleus talk”.
Josh Freeman
Tanard Jackson
Aqib Talib
Davin Joseph
Barrett Ruud
Maurice Stovall
Jimmy Wilkerson
Stylez White
Carnell Williams
Kellen Winslow
Jermaine Phillips
Josh Johnson
Jeff Faine
Sammie Stroughter
Are all these guys going to be annual pro bowl players? Of course not, but you need quality football players on your team to complement any potential big name free agent signings or stud draft picks. The guys that I listed, and I probably forgot a few, are good football players. I didn’t list Ronde Barber because he’s at the tail end of his career and not what I would consider a “nucleus” player. I also didn’t include Antonio Bryant as I’m not sure of his status.
Ultimately even if you add a few more role players and pro bowlers this team’s future all hinges on Josh Freeman’s development. If he ends up not being as good as he’s billed to be then it’s going to be a major setback.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
We don’t need to stay the course cuz there isn’t a course to stay and if anyone think raheem can win here u need ur head exzamend cuz he can’t win the only thing he can do is coach defense that’s it
January 4th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
If the team had a good nucleas, why the 3-13 record? The truth is the Glazers bought into the players complaints about Gruden, and let the inmates run the prison. All you have to do is listen to Gruden on MNF, and compare it to Raheem’s press conferences………………nuff said………..get rid of the guy he gets out coached every week. Plus, I simply can’t take another year of the man talking in the third person. (what you want is blah, blah,……….thats what you like to see………..blah blah etc.) ENOUGH ALREADY!
January 4th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
If Morris is allowed to coach another season he will just continue damaging this team and it’s future.
Raheem turns the pewter and red to putrid and dread!!!
January 4th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I hope Ruud, Clayton and Piss aren’t in those plans, or the Nucleus has a big hole in it.
January 4th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
I agree with you Eric, in the fact that I preferred Gruden as the face of the franchise as opposed to Rah’s glaring lack of clue when speaking publicly. I’ve gotten to the point that I choose not to read any of his statements that are printed, or watch any of his press conferences.
And D-Rome, you do list some valid names, though I wouldn’t include Maurice Stovall, Jimmy Wilkerson, Stylez White, Jermaine Phillips or Josh Johnson as nucleus guys. I’d consider them more fringe players that can add depth, not guys that you can form a team around.
And for those (Joe) that say we shouldn’t change coaches because of the possibility of a 2011 lockout (which may or may not happen), that doesn’t seem to be an issue in Buffalo, Washington, Oakland, etc. You have to at least give those owners props for trying to improve their teams, regardless of what the 2011 financial ramifications may be.