well new Rumor today is Tampa is interested in Jason Taylor. Great news. So let me get this straight we cut Brooks, Dunn and company to get younger than want to sign a 35 year old D-end. I guess this is how they plan on getting up to the cap minimum. By signing old expensive free agents. This team needs to pick a direction they want to go in and head that way.
This blog from across the pond makes a compelling case for why the Buccaneers will be conserving cash for a while:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/may/12/tampa-bay-buccaneers-glazers-manchester-united
Tampa Bay troubles raise questions about Glazers' finances
Manchester United fans have millions of reasons to follow the fortunes of the Glazers' other team
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner, Malcolm Glazer, right, and his son Joel Glazer are refusing to 'throw money at a situation' Photograph: J Scott/AP
Are the Glazers, the enigmatic family that owns Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, strapped for cash? While most of the financial manoeuvrings of the Glazers are hidden from public view, circumstantial evidence suggests that problems may exist. Not the least of which is their decision not to pay down their Manchester United debt, which has a double-digit interest rate.
Questions about their ongoing viability are openly discussed in Tampa Bay, where fans of the gridiron team fume as they feel the Glazers did not spend to make the team competitive for next season. While Manchester United chase four trophies, Tampa Bay's parallel universe is bleak. Las Vegas bookmakers reckon they will have a losing 7–9 season this autumn, and no play-off prospects, after two mediocre campaigns of 9–7.
The family rarely discuss finances but Joel Glazer was forced to explain their rationale regarding Tampa and new players. "Sometimes you can throw money at a situation and it can get you in trouble. We are big believers in building a sustainable franchise that is going to be in competition for many years for the ultimate prize," he said.
Those words are not sitting well with Tampa fans. There is a salary cap in the NFL, which is in place to try to ensure that all 32 teams can be competitive and have the same chance of reaching the Super Bowl. This year's salary cap is $127m (£83m) and at the start of the annual free-agency signing period in late February the Buccaneers organisation had nearly $62m of cap space, the most of any team in the country.
The Glazers had made some stunning decisions in the few weeks between season's end and the start of the free-agency period. They fired the general manager Bruce Allen, the Super Bowl-winning head coach John Gruden and five high-salaried veterans, including arguably the franchise's best ever player, the linebacker Derrick Brooks. Brooks's career in truth is winding down but his supposed replacement, Cato June, was released. The household-name receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard together with the popular running back Warren Dunn, all of whom are near the end of top-notch careers, were also let go as the management went for lower-priced younger players.
High anticipation of new players rapidly turned to frustration as the Buccaneers were outbid for the signatures of several big names and an analysis by ESPN is that the Bucs have taken a step or two backwards in the quality of the team. The recent signing of several rookies via the annual draft has done little to appease the naysayers. With the best players in free agency now elsewhere the Buccaneers still have approximately $30m in salary cap sitting unspent, the most in the entire league.
Salary-cap space and actual cash are of course completely different and internet message boards in Tampa and beyond are full of speculation about the Glazers' finances. According to Jim Flynn, the editor of Pewter Report, which claims to be the largest independent site following the team, there is no hard evidence although the signs certainly indicate they might be hurting.
"I can tell you there are a lot of frustrated fans," said Flynn. "Once the rumours started to leak and pick up some momentum – that there were cash-flow issues – I think a lot of fans started to buy in, and now it has gotten to the point where some fans are making more of it than should be made of it."
Flynn said Tampa fans realise the purchase of Manchester United was a huge deal for the Glazers but only now with the lack of free-agency action and the structuring of contracts that have low up-front payments are they linking the events.
Fans are voting with their wallets. The team had a 145,000 waiting list for season tickets in 2007. That list has disappeared and the Bucs now say anyone who wants a season ticket can buy one. There is even talk that Tampa games will not sell out, something that has not happened for years. Indeed, the team will travel to London for one of their eight "home" games to play the New England Patriots at Wembley.
In the UK, the Guardian recently reported that Manchester United's massive debt was being sold at a 30% discount by its holders because they believe that they may not be paid. While the intrinsic value of the Manchester United and Tampa Bay Buccaneer franchises are holding up during this recession the same cannot be said for the Glazers' holding company, First Allied Corp, which owns and manages nearly 7m sq ft of community and neighbourhood shopping centres located throughout the US.
First Allied is a private company so there is no access to its financial information but there is no doubt that shopping centre owners are being badly affected by the economic downturn, with retailers shutting down in droves. New stats show the vacancy rate at neighbourhood and community shopping centres rose to 9.5% in the first quarter of 2009 from 8.9% the previous quarter and 7.7% a year ago, according to the research company Reis. Victor Calanog, director of research at Reis, believes the situation will get worse before it gets better. He is projecting a continued increase in vacancy for neighbourhood and community centres into 2011.
Shedding a little light on their empire, the Glazers also own a small publicly listed company called Zapata, which invests in other companies. Those investments went south in late 2008 and have continued in that direction. The company reported a fourth-quarter 2008 loss of $456,000 as opposed to a net profit of $909,000 the previous year. And for the first quarter of this year Zapata reported a consolidated net loss of $727,000 compared with a net profit of $320,000 in 2008.
Neither the Glazers nor Manchester United responded to interview requests and the Buccaneers' director of public relations, Jeff Kamis, said: "We are not going to speculate on cash-flow problems based on what a couple of fans wrote on message boards."
Certainly fans of Manchester United and the Buccaneers care little or nothing about the Glazers and any cash-flow woes. They want only to be assured that their teams will be contenders in the coming season. While Manchester United could wrap up the Premier League title this weekend and have a Champions League final to look forward to, there is no such assurance for Tampa fans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/may/12/tampa-bay-buccaneers-glazers-manchester-united
Tampa Bay troubles raise questions about Glazers' finances
Manchester United fans have millions of reasons to follow the fortunes of the Glazers' other team
Are the Glazers, the enigmatic family that owns Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, strapped for cash? While most of the financial manoeuvrings of the Glazers are hidden from public view, circumstantial evidence suggests that problems may exist. Not the least of which is their decision not to pay down their Manchester United debt, which has a double-digit interest rate.
Questions about their ongoing viability are openly discussed in Tampa Bay, where fans of the gridiron team fume as they feel the Glazers did not spend to make the team competitive for next season. While Manchester United chase four trophies, Tampa Bay's parallel universe is bleak. Las Vegas bookmakers reckon they will have a losing 7–9 season this autumn, and no play-off prospects, after two mediocre campaigns of 9–7.
The family rarely discuss finances but Joel Glazer was forced to explain their rationale regarding Tampa and new players. "Sometimes you can throw money at a situation and it can get you in trouble. We are big believers in building a sustainable franchise that is going to be in competition for many years for the ultimate prize," he said.
Those words are not sitting well with Tampa fans. There is a salary cap in the NFL, which is in place to try to ensure that all 32 teams can be competitive and have the same chance of reaching the Super Bowl. This year's salary cap is $127m (£83m) and at the start of the annual free-agency signing period in late February the Buccaneers organisation had nearly $62m of cap space, the most of any team in the country.
The Glazers had made some stunning decisions in the few weeks between season's end and the start of the free-agency period. They fired the general manager Bruce Allen, the Super Bowl-winning head coach John Gruden and five high-salaried veterans, including arguably the franchise's best ever player, the linebacker Derrick Brooks. Brooks's career in truth is winding down but his supposed replacement, Cato June, was released. The household-name receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard together with the popular running back Warren Dunn, all of whom are near the end of top-notch careers, were also let go as the management went for lower-priced younger players.
High anticipation of new players rapidly turned to frustration as the Buccaneers were outbid for the signatures of several big names and an analysis by ESPN is that the Bucs have taken a step or two backwards in the quality of the team. The recent signing of several rookies via the annual draft has done little to appease the naysayers. With the best players in free agency now elsewhere the Buccaneers still have approximately $30m in salary cap sitting unspent, the most in the entire league.
Salary-cap space and actual cash are of course completely different and internet message boards in Tampa and beyond are full of speculation about the Glazers' finances. According to Jim Flynn, the editor of Pewter Report, which claims to be the largest independent site following the team, there is no hard evidence although the signs certainly indicate they might be hurting.
"I can tell you there are a lot of frustrated fans," said Flynn. "Once the rumours started to leak and pick up some momentum – that there were cash-flow issues – I think a lot of fans started to buy in, and now it has gotten to the point where some fans are making more of it than should be made of it."
Flynn said Tampa fans realise the purchase of Manchester United was a huge deal for the Glazers but only now with the lack of free-agency action and the structuring of contracts that have low up-front payments are they linking the events.
Fans are voting with their wallets. The team had a 145,000 waiting list for season tickets in 2007. That list has disappeared and the Bucs now say anyone who wants a season ticket can buy one. There is even talk that Tampa games will not sell out, something that has not happened for years. Indeed, the team will travel to London for one of their eight "home" games to play the New England Patriots at Wembley.
In the UK, the Guardian recently reported that Manchester United's massive debt was being sold at a 30% discount by its holders because they believe that they may not be paid. While the intrinsic value of the Manchester United and Tampa Bay Buccaneer franchises are holding up during this recession the same cannot be said for the Glazers' holding company, First Allied Corp, which owns and manages nearly 7m sq ft of community and neighbourhood shopping centres located throughout the US.
First Allied is a private company so there is no access to its financial information but there is no doubt that shopping centre owners are being badly affected by the economic downturn, with retailers shutting down in droves. New stats show the vacancy rate at neighbourhood and community shopping centres rose to 9.5% in the first quarter of 2009 from 8.9% the previous quarter and 7.7% a year ago, according to the research company Reis. Victor Calanog, director of research at Reis, believes the situation will get worse before it gets better. He is projecting a continued increase in vacancy for neighbourhood and community centres into 2011.
Shedding a little light on their empire, the Glazers also own a small publicly listed company called Zapata, which invests in other companies. Those investments went south in late 2008 and have continued in that direction. The company reported a fourth-quarter 2008 loss of $456,000 as opposed to a net profit of $909,000 the previous year. And for the first quarter of this year Zapata reported a consolidated net loss of $727,000 compared with a net profit of $320,000 in 2008.
Neither the Glazers nor Manchester United responded to interview requests and the Buccaneers' director of public relations, Jeff Kamis, said: "We are not going to speculate on cash-flow problems based on what a couple of fans wrote on message boards."
Certainly fans of Manchester United and the Buccaneers care little or nothing about the Glazers and any cash-flow woes. They want only to be assured that their teams will be contenders in the coming season. While Manchester United could wrap up the Premier League title this weekend and have a Champions League final to look forward to, there is no such assurance for Tampa fans.
Just wanted add to this list of how bright this guy is........
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>
Josh Freeman - QB - Buccaneers </TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=bodyCopy>The Bucs have practiced for just 2 1/2 hours since their loss to the Patriots on Oct. 25.</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink>Even though they are 0-7 and ready to trot out a rookie quarterback, the Bucs didn't feel the need to practice during the bye week. Josh Freeman went back to his hometown of Kansas City last Thursday and the team will meet again on Tuesday. That doesn't seem like ideal preparation for his first NFL start against the Packers on Sunday.
Nov. 2 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink>Source: St. Petersburg Times</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>
Nov. 2 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink>
Just wanted add to this list of how bright this guy is........
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Josh Freeman - QB - Buccaneers </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=bodyCopy>The Bucs have practiced for just 2 1/2 hours since their loss to the Patriots on Oct. 25.</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink>Even though they are 0-7 and ready to trot out a rookie quarterback, the Bucs didn't feel the need to practice during the bye week. Josh Freeman went back to his hometown of Kansas City last Thursday and the team will meet again on Tuesday. That doesn't seem like ideal preparation for his first NFL start against the Packers on Sunday.
Nov. 2
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink></TD></TR><TR><TD class=vaLink>Source: St. Petersburg Times</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The media always trys to start shit when they are ignorant on the situation. About half the team had been suffering from the flu ever since their flight back from London therefore they've been better off getting better and studying film during the bye week as apposed to practiceing with sick/missing players. Teams usually only have 2 real practices in a bye week anyway....Beat writers and fans in Tampa are on a witch hunt looking for everything they can to berate the ownership/coaches and players about. The reality is the team is just extremely young and in transition as well as implementing a brand new scheme on defense which is about as oppoisite from the 'tampa 2' as you can get.. Players are playing hard, it just hasnt shown on the scoreboard.
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/foot...-josh-freeman-shows-hes-coming-of-age/1122723
Bucs fan here, wasn't a huge freemna fan from the get go and the teams direction, but they seem to playing smart and I WILL TAKE 2-0!!!!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman shows he's coming of age
By Gary Shelton, Times Sports Columnist
In Print: Monday, September 20, 2010
Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman runs 12 yards for a first down as Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, left, and defensive tackle Ed Johnson try to corral him during the third quarter.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
He is older now, wiser, more self-assured.
He has gained a sense of calm, a dose of perspective. He carries himself better. His voice sounds firmer. His eyes seem to see more clearly.
Josh Freeman, it appears, is growing up.
From the looks of it, the guy might be the size of a mountain before he is through.
Freeman, the Bucs' 22-year-old passer, is a kid no longer. He has been transformed into a player now, into a quarterback who should be graded on his production instead of his potential. He is no longer just about tomorrow. As of Sunday, Freeman is about today.
And, when it comes to the 2-0 Bucs, today looks about as good as it has looked for a very, very long time.
In the growth of a quarterback, this is how you measure. Does he win, and where? Does he make plays, and when? Does he give his team hope, and how?
On Sunday, on the field that felt something like a torture chamber when he last walked off it, Freeman did all of that. He threw. He ran. Most of all, he thought. He looked years older, and miles better, than the potential he had shown a year ago.
To sum up, what he looked like was hope.
If you think the Bucs have looked better this season — and they have — it is because the improvement of the franchise is parallel to that of the quarterback. After the 20-7 win over Carolina, Freeman looks like more of a load than his critics might have admitted. The Bucs, too.
"He's two or three times better than he was," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "He's much more mature. How many times (Sunday) did he throw the ball away? Or take off running and try to get what he could out of the play? I said to someone on the sideline that last year, he would have tried to fit the ball in there with his arm strength."
This was Freeman at his best. Do not get fooled by the final statistics. True, he threw for more yardage six times in his previous 10 starts than he did Sunday. Yes, he has had a higher completion rate seven times. Granted, he has even had a higher rating than the 102.4 he finished with.
Never, however, has Freeman been this complete, this controlled, this convincing. Never has he made this many plays.
Third and 10? He hit Kellen Winslow for 24. Third and 11? He ran for 17. Third and 9? He ran for 11.
And so it went. The Bucs were 6-for-14 on third down, and all six times, Freeman made a play. Five of those times, the Bucs had at least 8 yards to go.
The play to remember came halfway through the second quarter, after two straight runs lost a total of 7 yards. On third and 17, Freeman rolled to his right. He shrugged off Carolina defensive end Charles Johnson. He ran a few more yards then pulled away from defensive end Eric Norwood. Then he threw deep down the sideline, hitting Winslow for a 40-yard gain.
On the next play, Freeman hit Mike Williams for a 35-yard touchdown, and the Bucs never trailed again.
That all of this happened in Bank of America Stadium, and that it came against the Panthers, had to be satisfying for Freeman. It was at this stadium, remember, that Freeman threw five interceptions in last year's 16-6 loss to the Panthers. That day, he was a scatter-armed rookie throwing wild.
Sunday, as Freeman entered the stadium, he admitted he remembered the way it felt to leave it last year. "It was frustrating, putting up the yardage we did and getting in the red zone and not doing anything with it."
And so, for much of the offseason, Freeman studied films of that game as if he were trying to break down a horror film. Sunday, that paid off. He averaged 10.8 yards per run, lumbering forward like a wild bear on the attack. He averaged 7.4 yards per passing attempt, sharp and safe with most of his throws. His stats suffered some in the fourth quarter — when he hit only 1 of 6 passes — but by then he was in that protect-the-lead portion of the programming. And when have the Bucs ever had to worry about that?
How much better has Freeman been in his two starts? His rating is 95.0, a staggering improvement over last year's 59.8. He has thrown only one interception in two games, Sunday only the second start in his career he hasn't thrown an interception. As for Barber, he said Freeman looked like a quarterback "with four or five years of experience."
"With his talent alone, he could be good," Barber said, "but if he gets it above the neck, and he's getting it, he can be very, very special."
Of course, there will be rough games to come. The NFL is like that. There is still improvement to be made. Even Freeman kept talking about opportunities wasted and points unclaimed.
Still, Freeman is going to be the best argument for buying a ticket. His ability to run the ball himself will leave defensive coordinators with nightmares. His improved ball security will keep the Bucs in games. His ability to make big plays will speed up his team's improvement.
In other words, Freeman has a chance.
Even better, he gives his team one, too
Bucs fan here, wasn't a huge freemna fan from the get go and the teams direction, but they seem to playing smart and I WILL TAKE 2-0!!!!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman shows he's coming of age
In Print: Monday, September 20, 2010
Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman runs 12 yards for a first down as Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, left, and defensive tackle Ed Johnson try to corral him during the third quarter.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
He is older now, wiser, more self-assured.
He has gained a sense of calm, a dose of perspective. He carries himself better. His voice sounds firmer. His eyes seem to see more clearly.
Josh Freeman, it appears, is growing up.
From the looks of it, the guy might be the size of a mountain before he is through.
Freeman, the Bucs' 22-year-old passer, is a kid no longer. He has been transformed into a player now, into a quarterback who should be graded on his production instead of his potential. He is no longer just about tomorrow. As of Sunday, Freeman is about today.
And, when it comes to the 2-0 Bucs, today looks about as good as it has looked for a very, very long time.
In the growth of a quarterback, this is how you measure. Does he win, and where? Does he make plays, and when? Does he give his team hope, and how?
On Sunday, on the field that felt something like a torture chamber when he last walked off it, Freeman did all of that. He threw. He ran. Most of all, he thought. He looked years older, and miles better, than the potential he had shown a year ago.
To sum up, what he looked like was hope.
If you think the Bucs have looked better this season — and they have — it is because the improvement of the franchise is parallel to that of the quarterback. After the 20-7 win over Carolina, Freeman looks like more of a load than his critics might have admitted. The Bucs, too.
"He's two or three times better than he was," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "He's much more mature. How many times (Sunday) did he throw the ball away? Or take off running and try to get what he could out of the play? I said to someone on the sideline that last year, he would have tried to fit the ball in there with his arm strength."
This was Freeman at his best. Do not get fooled by the final statistics. True, he threw for more yardage six times in his previous 10 starts than he did Sunday. Yes, he has had a higher completion rate seven times. Granted, he has even had a higher rating than the 102.4 he finished with.
Never, however, has Freeman been this complete, this controlled, this convincing. Never has he made this many plays.
Third and 10? He hit Kellen Winslow for 24. Third and 11? He ran for 17. Third and 9? He ran for 11.
And so it went. The Bucs were 6-for-14 on third down, and all six times, Freeman made a play. Five of those times, the Bucs had at least 8 yards to go.
The play to remember came halfway through the second quarter, after two straight runs lost a total of 7 yards. On third and 17, Freeman rolled to his right. He shrugged off Carolina defensive end Charles Johnson. He ran a few more yards then pulled away from defensive end Eric Norwood. Then he threw deep down the sideline, hitting Winslow for a 40-yard gain.
On the next play, Freeman hit Mike Williams for a 35-yard touchdown, and the Bucs never trailed again.
That all of this happened in Bank of America Stadium, and that it came against the Panthers, had to be satisfying for Freeman. It was at this stadium, remember, that Freeman threw five interceptions in last year's 16-6 loss to the Panthers. That day, he was a scatter-armed rookie throwing wild.
Sunday, as Freeman entered the stadium, he admitted he remembered the way it felt to leave it last year. "It was frustrating, putting up the yardage we did and getting in the red zone and not doing anything with it."
And so, for much of the offseason, Freeman studied films of that game as if he were trying to break down a horror film. Sunday, that paid off. He averaged 10.8 yards per run, lumbering forward like a wild bear on the attack. He averaged 7.4 yards per passing attempt, sharp and safe with most of his throws. His stats suffered some in the fourth quarter — when he hit only 1 of 6 passes — but by then he was in that protect-the-lead portion of the programming. And when have the Bucs ever had to worry about that?
How much better has Freeman been in his two starts? His rating is 95.0, a staggering improvement over last year's 59.8. He has thrown only one interception in two games, Sunday only the second start in his career he hasn't thrown an interception. As for Barber, he said Freeman looked like a quarterback "with four or five years of experience."
"With his talent alone, he could be good," Barber said, "but if he gets it above the neck, and he's getting it, he can be very, very special."
Of course, there will be rough games to come. The NFL is like that. There is still improvement to be made. Even Freeman kept talking about opportunities wasted and points unclaimed.
Still, Freeman is going to be the best argument for buying a ticket. His ability to run the ball himself will leave defensive coordinators with nightmares. His improved ball security will keep the Bucs in games. His ability to make big plays will speed up his team's improvement.
In other words, Freeman has a chance.
Even better, he gives his team one, too
20-7 BUCS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3:40
Tampa Bay Buccaneers TBTDJosh Freeman passed to Preston Parker down the middle for 19 yard gain (Connor Barth made PAT)
3:40
Tampa Bay Buccaneers TBTDJosh Freeman passed to Preston Parker down the middle for 19 yard gain (Connor Barth made PAT)
