It’s no secret that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t spending much money. In January, former G.M. Bruce Allen talked about the huge salary cap bubble the team had created for 2009, and Allen vowed that the team would spend it all in 2009, the last year with a cap under the current labor deal.
“The reason we have cap room is we’ve been able to carry over cap room from the 2006 season to the 2007 season,” Allen said, “and from the 2007 season to the 2008 season, and we are going to that again this year for the 2009 season. We did that because our intention is to spend the cap room. We never want it to go to waste and we are allowed to do that according to the collective bargaining agreement.”
And, within a matter of days, Allen was fired.
Since then, the Bucs haven’t done much to spend money. Beyond running back Derrick Ward, who hardly received a jaw-dropping contract, and quarterback Josh McCown, who received a $2.5 million signing bonus only to be later traded, the Buccaneers’ new player contracts did not entail significant up-front money.
Off the field, rumors have persisted that the Bucs are trying hard to cut costs. Near the conclusion of the offseason workouts, we reported that there was no security presence for the sessions held at One Buc Place.
It wouldn’t bother us as much if the Bucs weren’t trotting out key team employees for a bumbling P.R. effort aimed at persuading folks that the franchise isn’t as cheap as it now seems to be.
Previously, G.M. Mark Dominik tried to make the case, inexplicably claiming that the team had spent $60 million in cap space.
In London for Sunday’s Cornell-Hofstra slaughter against the Patiots, coach Raheem Morris pulled the short straw.
"[L]ook at the money we spent,” Morris said. (Thanks to JoeBucsFan.com for pointing it out.) “Kevin Winslow has given us a boost. It’s all about smart spending. In football it’s really not about how much you can buy a person for, it’s about the best team you can put together. We like to think we’re spending smart. Fans never really understand it.”
[Editor’s note: Morris surely didn’t say “Kevin” Winslow. The U.K. reporter apparently screwed it up.]
Well, Coach, it becomes harder for the fans to understand that when the Bucs are riding a 10-game losing streak. But, hey, those six losses this year would have been a lot worst but for Winslow’s 47 yards receiving per game.
The Bucs can’t have it both ways on this one. Either spend the money and thump your chests that you’re spending money, or don’t spend money -- and don’t try to convince those of us with an IQ above 50 that you are.
