A little help from NFL fans please

[tallahassee blues fan]

I'm amazed at the number of moves the Tampa Bay Bucs have been making this off season, given Gruden's statement that McKay left the team in salary cap hell. Can somebody who knows the NFL more intimately than do I tell me how the Bucs have the money to do all of these signings, adn whether you think these linemen are good signings? My general thought is a sack of flour would be better than Kenyatta Walker, but what do I really know?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1760174

[Jack Sparrow]

Can't you get it here?

[tallahassee blues fan]

Did I miss something that happened between you and Dev? I'm having a hard time understanding why you are miffed that he has a website that people read and like.

[Jack Sparrow]

Originally posted by tallahassee blues fan@Mar 15 2004, 03:30 PM
Did I miss something that happened between you and Dev? I'm having a hard time understanding why you are miffed that he has a website that people read and like.

Its not about him. He seems to be a decent guy.

I just think its funny that people flock to him and his site.

The man, the myth, the dev

[CD]

They did by clearing cap space (Sapp is still unsigned and counted for $6 million last season; Lynch is gone) and by backloading contracts. Most of these guys won't see beyond the fourth year of the contract they signed. But the longer the contract, the more they can limit the cap hit this year and next. In s few years, they'll probably dump half the team and take a big cap hit in that one year before reloading again, much like the Ravens did in 2002.

[tallahassee blues fan]

Thanks. JS was right when he said I should have gone to you first.

So, was Gruden correct when he said that McKay left this team in the worst condition salary cap wise that he had ever seen? Because if getting rid of Lynch and Sapp was all it took to get a good offensive line, that doesn't sound to me like such a bad thing.

Also, what do you think of their O-line signings? That has clearly been their weakest link over the past two years, and how Gruden got them to the Super Bowl with the offensive line they had is amazing to me.

[CD]

I don't know how bad the Bucs cap situation was because I didn't follow it closely. I think Gruden is crazy to be complaining about it though because if McKay didn't sign all those guys to those contracts, chances are they wouldn't have won the Super Bowl in 2002. Having to go through cap hell is worth it if you got there by winning a Super Bowl.

I think their offensive line signings were good ones but I think their defense has taken a pretty good hit that's going to be hard to overcome. Gruden seems to be trying to change them from a defensive team to an offensive team, sacrificing guys like Sapp and Lynch for the offensive linemen and Garner. I'm not sure that's a good strategy but I'm hoping to be proven wrong--I'd love for offensive-minded teams to start winning Super Bowls again.

[tallahassee blues fan]

I'm not sure that they lose anything if they lose Sapp. Lynch will be a loss, but they have been developing defensive backs pretty well. I think Gruden has a lot of confidence in Monte Kiffin, and thinks Kiffin can win with anything.

I've heard that Gruden got really pissed at McKay because he wouldn't sign some of the character-issue players that Gruden wanted, particularly Kyle Turley. His comments might be related to that.