Report: Bucs Pursued Sproles, Bush
September 23rd, 2011
Wait a minute.
What was rockstar Bucs general manager Mark Dominik doing sniffing around speedy, expensive outsiders this offseason when he had Kregg Lumpkin and Earnest Graham locked and loaded in the backfield?
Per an intriguing take from NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com during a live chat today, the Bucs went after Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles “a little bit” but didn’t like the cost.
Nick (Melbourne FL)
Any reason you can think of that the Bucs did not pursue Darren Sproles? Their 3rd down back situation has 200 year old Earnest Graham there with Kreg Lumpkin a relative no name and surely the Bucs could have outbid the Saints. Please don’t talk about their youth movement. Us fans are sick of the Glazers penny pinching ways.
Pat Yasinskas: From what I know, the Bucs at least did pursue Sproles (and Reggie Bush) a little bit. But they didn’t like the price tag on either.
Now the Dolphins traded for Reggie Bush, and Joe’s no big fan of him anyway. But Sproles? He signed with New Orleans as a free agent for just a few million bucks a year, and he had a reputation for being an outstanding blocker in San Diego, in addition to his other talents. Joe would have loved to see that guy wearing pewter.
Joe assumes at least part of Yasinskas’ report is accurate. And if Dominik saw a need for that kind of player, why didn’t he fill it?
September 23rd, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Sproles’ cousin and best friend Courtney Roby (WR) plays for the Saints.
As well, he stands a better chance to shine and win a championship with the Saints.
This is what got him to New Orleans.
He apparently had higher offers from other teams, too.
September 23rd, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Cheap dates…
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Hmm. While Mark Dominick has been great in the draft and Rookie Free agents so far, He seems rather Talentless at Apraising or aquiring Veteran FAs. If you make a list of who he’s acquired,and who he’s resigned, in the Three years he’s been in charge- there is a lot more misses than there are hits. Add to that all the People he’s allegedly pursued and missed on, and it’s an area of real concern. I said something similar the other day, and some posters kept to his defense. But they listed transaction before Mark was the man- we don’t know If he had anything to do with that!
If you look at the three years he’s been the man- it’s kinda scary how poorly we’ve done on The Vet front!
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:19 pm
What about Jason Snelling? Jerious Norwood? Ahmad Bradshaw? Even Cadillac Williams?
No excuses…
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Sproles is worth 3-4 million a year, not sure what they were looking for. Oh well…. did hear from JOE that he wanted to go to the Saints anyway
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Caddy looked great on Monday Night!!
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:28 pm
This means no offer was actually made. They probably did nothing more than inquire out of curiousity.
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:28 pm
You know…I wanted us to cut Caddy loose…but I sure do miss his personality.
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:29 pm
BTW…I foresee us taking a RB by the third round in the next draft…or a really good fullback.
I would love to get hold of the number one fullback.
September 23rd, 2011 at 2:51 pm
@Pete Dutcher – It’s too bad that the Bucs didn’t pick up a FB this year in the best FB free agency class in NFL history (Vontae Leach, Le’Ron McClain, Lawrence Vickers). You won’t find another FB like that in the draft next year.
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Duminick is a horrible GM that current Buc fans completely overrate. But you will see. Even his drafts are starting to look like Allen ones with busts aplenty.
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:09 pm
I thought that $ would never be an issue.
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:10 pm
Are we missing Caddie or what , that 3rd bown back that can block and catch balls out of the back feild ?? and he loved to play here !
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Robert- yeah, funny ain’t it. We had a great third down back, let him go over peanuts- and then had no plan to replace Him!?!?
I love this young team, and like the direction we are headed.
But that move was a major screw up! As I’ve said before- everyone has a draft class- everyone. Take that out of play, and this team got worse this off season- not better!! And that wasn’t part of anyone’s plan that I’ve read! I still don’t get it.
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:38 pm
@Thomas 2.2 – Money is the biggest issue. Anyone that has inside knowledge on the Bucs knows that.
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Pete, john, thomas….
I agree. Watching sproles in the 1st game of the season made me cringe, because we could have had him. IF money wasn’t an issue.
Management is waiting to be near the top before spending to “go over the top”. If the Bucs aren’t near the top right now, then they never will be
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:40 pm
i have never heard so much bitching over a 2nd string rb in my whole life. you dont need to have a rb on your roster that runs a 4.3 40 to succeed in the nfl. besides that, i haven’t seen graham blow many 3rd down assignments yet.
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:51 pm
i thought this was funny..
“Good thing the game doesn’t start until [4:15 p.m. ET],” Buccaneers Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn said. “We usually don’t get started ’til about 3:30, anyway.”
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/chris_harry/09/22/legarrette.blount/index.html#ixzz1Yo5tuuwr
September 23rd, 2011 at 3:51 pm
I don’t buy what Pat Yakysack has to say. This is the same guy who said Derrick Ward looked good in a pre-season game when that was clearly not the case.
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Tim caddy sucked so lets be real with that, still there is no reason we couldnt get sprolles, hes making less than our punter. Sprolles would be nice, with graham backing up him and the fullback
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:25 pm
this isnt news right? i heard about this when it happened from profootball talk i think… we were an afterthought, but definitely in the bidding
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:26 pm
@ Capt. Tim
Some of these vet non-moves (specifically RB, CB, & LB) won’t/can’t be made without upsetting the chemistry/hierarchy of the team. Rah & Dom have tied their present and near future to their ability to develop in-house talent first, and to win second. On one hand, it’s a money thing. On the other hand, it’s a timing issue.
You can’t bring in vets who are paid higher than your young starters and expect those young starters to get the playing time, attention, reps, and leadership experience that they are currently getting. It undermines the entire development process. For example, Darren Sproles is making $1 million base this year and Reggie is making $2.5 million while Blount is making $450K. It doesn’t make any sense to pay those guys like starters but play them in a gadget role or, in the alternative, play them in a starters role when Blount, clearly, stirs the drink for the Bucs offense.
Do I agree with this strategy? Not entirely. Ruud, if he wanted it, shouldve been kept on. We needed to add veteran competition at Sam, RB #2, RT, & LG. However, they strategy overall at least makes sense when you stop and think about it.
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:38 pm
For god sakes, as one of the first comments said, darren sproles had no interest in going to the Bucs, zero, zip, nada, nilch. It wasn’t going to happen. We could have offered him double the Saints and he wouldnt have come. Caddy is past it, Graham and Lumpkin can replace his production and blocking (hopefully Graham holds onto the ball.)
2nd, why are people going so crazy over FB? The difference between Lorig and Leach, Vickers and McClain isn’t even that big of a gap. Lorig is a capable blocking FB who is only in his 2nd year at the position, give him time and he will be our version of Jim Kleinsasser.
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:47 pm
I think Sproles would have been a better addition than Bush, but neither are every down backs.
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:59 pm
I dont know what game some of you are wating , but i have seen people comming clean off the conner and get shots at freeman ! and if i rember caddie helped us win a big game last year with catching the ball out of the back feild . witch graham or blunt do well , my point that, we let a ok player that made the TEAM better go , WHY ?
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
too late for everything now, draft LaMicheal James next year nuff said!
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:24 pm
but i miss them tho(ruud and caddy)
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:44 pm
There has been a couple of moves recently that have me wondering, not worrying, about what’s going on at One Buc. This was probably meaningless, but it did catch my attention. They hired and fired 2 long snappers (Yount and Albritton) and added and deleted 2 LBs (Smith and Homan) from the PS, then reversed the transactions all in the same week. I assume Dominik is still on top of his game!
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Any news on t-jack?
September 23rd, 2011 at 9:35 pm
I think Dom’s rock star image is fading fast. It made no sense letting caddy go if he wasn’t going to sign a Sproles type player. What happened to it being all about 5. Dominic inability to obtain some FA’s is going to hurt this team especially when you let two key players leave your team without replacing them. His stubbornness is as aggravating as watching Dungy trot the same offense out year after year.
September 23rd, 2011 at 9:39 pm
@kh
Money talks buddy…..Sproles would be wearing Pewter & Red if the offer was right
September 23rd, 2011 at 10:07 pm
It’s so very easy to knock decisions or lack there of, after the fact, hindsight 20/20. It’s also blatantly obvious that too many posters among this board will foolishly, attempt to back up silly offseason predictions with, Ohhhhh, we didn’t sign namdi “as my sources assured me” so talib sux or we disagree with not doin this or that and now our linebackers suck and my personal favorite, we let caddy go, wow Dom just went from hero to zero. I just hope Dom and rah live by the mantra “if you listen to the fans you end up sitting with em”
September 24th, 2011 at 4:57 am
No one wants to play for Tampa because no one really thinks this team is any good. There is zero chance of the Bucs winning the Super Bowl this year and probably not for quite some time. They only beat 1 winning team last year and the year before they were 3-13. There is also no pro-bowlers and is the only team with all its home games blacked out. The media also hates the Bucs.
Not to mention ownership is cheap and doesnt do signing bonuses anymore.
Yet you all expect free agents to want to come here? Why would they?
September 24th, 2011 at 5:40 am
If a FA cost money the Glazers are out! THat being said, they let Ruud go and paid Black the money. Now Black is benched (sans hurt) and Watson is getting his shot, which should end up with Watson having the job after seeing how bad Black plays. Starting with McCoy, Dominick’s “rock star” status seems to be falling fast.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:33 am
By the way, if Lorig plays like he did the first two weeks- he’s going to get ProBowl votes ! He has been tremendous- totally unexpected
Word On T-jax?? He will never get ProBowl votes. He’s smoking dope somewhere, same as the last four times he played here . FOUR TIMES !! FOUR!! Some of you slow learners??
September 24th, 2011 at 9:16 am
What a bunch of cry babies. Sproles is in NO, and they have the same recird as the Bucs right now. Get over it, and the GM’s star is not falling. I have yet to hear an NFL player or coach say the Bucs are not for real, which they did in one of Gruden’s play-off appearance. As for 0 chance, there is always a chance, no one picked the Pack last year. get to the play offs and it is anybody’s game. Of course Thomas and Tampa 2 have some new people to share their negative views. What happens if the team wins this weekend, are you guys going to make more excuses for winning? Morons.
September 24th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Capt. Tim, so far I like what I see from Crowder, Bennete, Jones, and Okam. Thank GOD they picked up the punter/kicker, if you do not think he has made an impact you must not being watching special teams…
Speaking of ST, what happened Thomas, I thought without Rich B they would be clueless and awefull…I gues your all knowing arse was wrong yet again.
September 24th, 2011 at 11:20 am
I’m on the Chris Rainey 2012′ bandwagon. He would look good in a Buc uniform. We can’t change history so I’m over the free agent thing, but we can always look to the future. Demps is pretty good too and fast fast. The Bucs need a smaller speedy back and I wish they’d give Mossis Madu another look.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
We pursue everyone , we are only willing to offer them league minimum is the problem…