 |
 |
 |
|
SAN DIEGO -- We've heard all week leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl XXXVII that the Buccaneers have gotten their money's worth now in the trade with Oakland to get Jon Gruden.
That was our sentiment last week when the Bucs upset the Eagles to get to the championship game.
But what happens if they lose? If Tampa Bay doesn't beat the Raiders on Sunday, is it still a good deal to give away four premium draft picks and $8 million to get a coach?
The Glazer family can handle the money. It's the draft picks that might come back to bite this team in the rump. Like the Raiders, the Bucs are getting old. Unlike the Raiders, they don't have the picks to replenish.
"They better win it now because that thing can go bad in a hurry," said one NFL executive. "That isn't a young team anymore."
Neither is, in fact. And both have some key decisions to make involving the cap in the offseason.
Oakland is scheduled to be roughly $45 million over the projected cap -- although $30 million will be easy to wipe away with the release of some players. The Bucs are scheduled to be right at the cap, with some decisions lurking that could make the number go higher.
One such decision will be whether to pay receiver Keyshawn Johnson a $2 million roster bonus on April 1, which they almost certainly will do. Trading Johnson, as some have speculated, will accelerate too much prorated signing bonus money to make it worthwhile.
At any rate, both Super Bowl teams are staring at a window that happens to be closing. It's not shut yet, but it's getting there.
The Raiders are loaded with 30-somethings. But the Bucs have their fair share, too. Key players such as Derrick Brooks, Keyshawn Johnson, Brad Johnson, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Keenan McCardell and Jeff Christy (really not that key, but he starts) are all at least 30. They make up the core of this team, and some, such as Lynch, have already started to see their level of play slip.
So it looks like whichever team loses Sunday will have face the reality that it might not return with the team that's in place. There probably won't be total reconstruction on either side, but the foundations will start to crumble.
Oakland will be better able to handle the rebuilding with the draft bounty they took from the Bucs. Tampa Bay will face a much tougher task, even with a good scouting department.
So I ask again: Is Gruden worth the treasure chest Tampa Bay gave away to get him?
If they win, he is.
If they don't, he might never be.
Around the league
- There have been reports that the Bengals actually wanted to hire Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, not Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis, the man who got the job. The reports are true. But, according to a league source, the reason Mularkey didn't get the job isn't because he wanted to wait until he interviewed with the Jaguars, missing a deadline imposed by the Bengals, which has been reported. The reason a two-year option clause in the five-year contract, which gave the Bengals an out, the source said. That meant if Mularkey didn't win in two years, he'd be gone, and the Bengals would be off the hook for the remaining three years. Mularkey, according to the source, took this as a sign the Bengals weren't entirely convinced he was the right guy. So he told them that before he'd sign the deal, he would talk to the Jaguars. Bengals president Mike Brown gave him a now-or-never ultimatum, and Mularkey passed. Cincinnati hired Lewis, a move praised in some league circles since Lewis is a minority but one that almost never came about. If Mularkey had taken the job, and Jack Del Rio had been hired in Jacksonville, as he was, Lewis might have been left without a top job. That could have led to some serious troubles for the NFL, especially with the Johnnie Cochran-led group threatening possible legal trouble if the minority issue wasn't addressed. As for Mularkey, he will stay in Pittsburgh and wait until next year to get another chance. As a bright, innovative offensive mind, it will come. When it does, he may look back fondly on the day the Bengals insisted on that two-year option.
- Former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, now a consultant to the team, has denied that he orchestrated the Steve Mariucci firing in hopes that he would again take over as coach. A league source said that's indeed what happened. The story goes like this: Walsh placed a call to the Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver last Monday to talk about the possibility of Mariucci coaching the Jaguars. That same night, he called 49ers owner John York and told him Mariucci was nosing around about the Jaguars job, even though Mariucci told him he wasn't interested. That infuriated York, who called Mariucci and let him know it. The next day, York flew to San Francisco to meet with Mariucci, a meeting that ended with Mariucci on the street. Walsh was ready to step in as coach. The 49ers, though, had different plans. They will interview several candidates and then decide on a coach, with the thinking being they will go with somebody cheap to help keep costs down. So Walsh won't be coming back to the 49ers sidelines.
- The Jaguars botched the Phil Savage situation, losing out on the guy they wanted to take over running their personnel department. Savage, the Ravens director of college scouting, was all set to take over running the Jaguars personnel department until the team low-balled him on a contract, offering slightly more than the $400,000 Savage makes in Baltimore. That's far lower than the league's average pay for that position. Savage was in Jacksonville to accept the offer when Weaver gave him the offer. Savage turned it down, choosing to stay with the Ravens. The Seahawks are interested, but no interview has been set. Weaver and the Jaguars are having cash-flow problems. The Jaguars must pay coach Tom Coughlin $2.5 million in the final year of his contract and also must pay fired director of player personnel Rick Reiprish $400,000 as well. With many season tickets up for renewal, fans can choose to apply their deposit money to the final year of their three-year commitment if they do not re-up for another three years. That will take much of the surplus money the Jaguars had been holding and mean it will be applied to the ticket sales. That's a big hit if fans don't renew. In addition, sponsors, ad sales and other promotional deals have been trimmed back the past couple of seasons because of lack of interest in the city. So Weaver might have had no choice on the Savage offer. But if that was truly the guy he wanted, he might have blown it by trying to save a $1 million or so on a five-year deal. The Jaguars have instead hired Ravens director of pro personnel James Harris. Harris has a good reputation and does have a good relationship with new coach Jack Del Rio. But so did Savage. Harris is more than capable, but he was interviewed before Savage, which means he's the second choice. Harris will be paid in the $500,000-per-year range.
- Rams coach Mike Martz took another shot at Kurt Warner this week by making quarterbacks coach John Ramsdell the new receivers coach and replacing him with Steve Fairchild. Ramsdell, a quiet coach, is said to be a favorite of Warner's. Since Martz and Warner are openly feuding, this was perceived in some Rams circles as a shot. At one point, Martz suggested Ramsdell might want to move into the personnel department. This is the same coach who earned high praise the past two seasons for his work with Warner. Martz signed a five-year contract extension last season, but the way things are moving, he'll be lucky to see anything after 2003, especially if the Warner situation is as bad as it sounds. Warner is due a roster bonus of $6 million on the last day of February. That will trigger the 2003-06 years of the deal. With Warner having health issues, the Rams might hesitate to make such a move. But Warner can pay back the organization for the way Martz has treated him by refusing to restructure his contract and push back the payment of that bonus. Even if the Rams pay him, then try to trade him, they will take too big a cap hit -- about $13 million -- to make it worth their while. So Warner holds the cards in his hands. Martz and the Rams might want to try and make nice with their quarterback.
- There was a report earlier this year that the NFL had taken an official who was involved in the botched ending of the Giants-49ers playoff game off the list of possible Super Bowl officials. The NFL denied that was the case, saying those officials weren't determined until a week after the report surfaced. But a league source confirmed that George Hayward, the official in question, was on the list of potential Super Bowl officials. After that game, however, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue demanded his name be taken off the list, the source said. Hayward will not work Sunday's game.
Odds and ends
- The Saints are in the process of negotiating with Rick Reiprish , who was fired as the Jaguars director of player personnel last week. Reiprish would likely join the Saints as the director of pro personnel, with Rick Mueller moving to vice president of player personnel. Mueller and Reiprish worked together in Seattle.
- It's a shame that we can't see a healthy Charles Woodson play Sunday. Woodson has had an injury-plagued season, including playing now with a rod in his leg. Woodson is one of the premier corners in the NFL when healthy. But the injuries have him about 70 percent of where he should be. The offseason will be good for him.
- The Bengals hired away Cincinnati defensive line coach Ricky Hunley last week, even though Hunley preferred to stay with the Redskins. But the Redskins would not meet the money the Bengals were paying him -- believe that? -- and were going to make him coach defensive tackles only next season. Hunley, a former NFL linebacker, preferred to coach the linebackers in Cincinnati over a reduced role in Washington. The Redskins supposedly balked at a pay increase after raising the pay for quarterback coach Noah Brindise to keep him from becoming the offensive coordinator at East Carolina.
- One of the more overrated players in the league is Tampa Bay safety John Lynch. He's good, but he isn't nearly as good as the hype. Lynch was never good in coverage, but he's even worse now. Even Tampa Bay officials have acknowledged that he has slowed. His reputation was made with his big hits, enhanced by John Madden's salivating commentary, but Lynch is one of the dying breed: Safeties who can't run. Those guys will soon go the way of the dinosaur.
- Oakland offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy, one of the best in the league, is talking about retiring. That has many thinking the Raiders could be in big trouble. Not so fast. Rookie Langston Walker is a player the Raiders love. He started two games this season for Kennedy and more than held his own. He's a huge player with better feet than most would think. If Kennedy walks, the Raiders are prepared to go on without him.
- If the Bears are really interested in upgrading their quarterback position, are they really serious about Shaun King? The guy has backup written all over him. The Bears need to find a way to get USC's Carson Palmer.
- Isn't it funny to see Lions president Matt Millen firing all the people around him? The latest was Kevin Warren, who handled the team's salary cap. This comes after Millen let go player personnel director Bill Tobin last month. Nothing like passing the buck for the Lions' past two seasons, right?
- The Titans have to find a way to get more talent around quarterback Steve McNair. They lack outside speed, and that showed up in the loss to the Raiders. Somewhere they have to find a playmaker outside, especially since Kevin Dyson is a free agent. They also have to be somewhat worried with their running game: Can Eddie George still play a high level?
- With so many teams looking for cornerback help in the new pass-happy NFL, Washington State's Marcus Trufant made himself a lot of money at the Senior Bowl last week. Trufant is a big, fluid cover corner who should be the second corner taken in the draft behind Kansas State's Terence Newman.
- After Willis McGahee tore up his knee, the Houston Texans started considering trading the No. 3 overall pick. They don't think any of the other backs are worth that pick. Penn State's Larry Johnson is viewed by some scouts as nothing more than a straight-line runner. There is no wiggle. The Texans might move down and take an offensive lineman, perhaps Jordan Gross of Utah or Kwame Harris of Stanford.
- The Seahawks will interview Kansas City scouting director Bill Kuharich for their personnel position this week. The Seahawks had been scheduled to interview Harris for the job before he was hired by the Jaguars. Savage is still a possibility in Seattle.
- The four-year contract the Falcons gave to linebacker Chris Draft this week was for $5.7 million with a $1.3 million signing bonus. It also has incentives worth another $460,000 and escalators worth $900,000. The Falcons will next focus on signing their best linebacker, Keith Brooking.
