The new management for the Buccaneers has officially made their first mistake.
Tampa Bay released five veteran players Wednesday afternoon, including LB Derrick Brooks --the greatest linebacker in the franchise's history. The Bucs are not planning on re-signing him at a discount either.
Derrick Brooks in a Tampa Bay uniform won't ever happen again. And his unceremonious exit might also mark the last time I wear a Bucs jersey as well.
Calling Brooks the best LB in team history is not an overstatement by any means. The second-best linebacker? Hardy Nickerson. And he tallied up all of his tackles on a horrible team that left their defense out there for 40 minutes a game.
New GM Mark Dominik said he let go of Brooks -- an 11-time Pro Bowler ? along with RB Warrick Dunn, WR Joey Galloway, WR Ike Hilliard and LB Cato June because the team is giving their younger players a chance to play.
Which younger players was Brooks holding back from developing? Tampa Bay hasn't drafted a linebacker as his successor in years. The only player that would have succeeded him was June ? and they cut him too! June was just 30 years old ? how much younger do they want to get?
The Bucs have drafted exactly TWO linebackers in the first four rounds of any draft, dating back to 2005.
- Barrett Ruud (2nd rd, '05) has been very solid in the past couple seasons, but it wasn't like he was in need of any playing time.
- And then the Bucs grabbed Quincy Black (3rd rd, '07) from New Mexico. Black had 32 total tackles last season and made little or no difference in the games he played in. Did he show enough to move out a future Hall of Famer? Please.
Did the Bucs do this to get an extra $9 million under the cap? They were already well ahead in that area, as they were expected to be one of the highest-spending teams this offseason (See Albert Haynesworth).
New defensive coordinator Jim Bates has been a proponent of the 3-4 defense in years past, but he indicated recently that he was going to mainly stick to Monte Kiffin's defensive philosophy because it has worked well with this squad. Why fix what isn't broken? Someone apparently forgot to tell the new the GM and head coach. There's no way Bates goes with the Cover-2 now.
Did they make this move because they wanted to spend more in 2010? This was Brooks' final year on his contract, so why not let him wrap up his career as the greatest Buccaneer ? on either side of the ball -- since Lee Roy Selmon suited up?
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