Where are they now? A detailed look at the released Veterans from 2008

by Niko Houllis on Dec 1, 2009 5:00 AM EST

Jovan Haye appears to be the best player we let go from 2008; his half sack and 22 tackles, are they missed?

Smoke.

Mirrors.

Some say that is how Jon Gruden won 9 games with the 2008 Bucs team, that was a suscpicious 9-3 going into the last quarter of the season. The Bucs fell behind a 2-14 KC team 24-3, and fell behind an 0-16 team 17-0 before coming back. They beat a 6-10 Green Bay team at home, and a 4-12 Seattle team at home too.

It would seem the last 4 games are the ones that truely defined us as a team in 2008. Some say Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik took a playoff team and destroyed it. Lets take a look at that assessment, and look at the work the two guys did to Jon Gruden's final hurrah in Tampa.

Quarterback Jeff Garcia - OUT OF FOOTBALL

QB Brian Griese- OUT OF FOOTBALL

Linebacker Derrick Brooks- OUT OF FOOTBALL

See more player status reports after the jump...

DL Kevin Carter- OUT OF FOOTBALL

WR Ike Hilliard- OUT OF FOOTBALL

RB Warrick Dunn- OUT OF FOOTBALL

K Matt Bryant- OUT of NFL, Kicking for UFL

WR Joey Galloway- Signed with New England, cut- OUT OF FOOTBALL

LB Cato June- Signed by Houston; 2nd string, IR

TE Alex Smith- Traded to New England- Cut: Back up with Philadelphia; 2 catches 22 yards

Jovan Haye- Starting in Tennessee- 22 tackles and half sack.

Philip Buchanon- nickle corner, Detroit Lions; 32 tackles, 0 ints

Gaines Adams- Chicago via trade- 2 tackles, 1 Pass breakup, 0 sacks

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Comments

I'm not sure what this says

To me it verifies that Gruden is a hell of a coach, but the Allen/Gruden tandem were not asstrong in talent evaluation.

Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla

by FreeZorilla on Dec 1, 2009 9:40 AM EST reply actions

Everyone

But the idiots in Tampa know that Gruden is an amazing coach… We will eventually see this again when he goes to a team willing to spend money to lure free agents…

Gruden + McKay = great talent
Gruden + Allen = not so great talent

Gruden can make a Porterhouse steak out of ground round.

Go Magic/Bucs/Gators/Rays!

by chiefs_55 on Dec 1, 2009 12:27 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Seems to me the missing key was McKay.

by NewLogic on Dec 1, 2009 2:12 PM EST up reply actions

But Gruden couldnt work with McKay..

and McKays weakness was manipulating the Cap. That was Allen’s strength, where as talent picking was NOT.

Viva la Bucco Bruce 1976-1996 (reincarnated 2009)

by Niko Houllis on Dec 1, 2009 7:30 PM EST up reply actions

And we're 1-10

So I guess we’re not better without them.

by bucnut1 on Dec 1, 2009 12:13 PM EST reply actions

Or we're 1-10 because of him and allen.

by NewLogic on Dec 1, 2009 1:38 PM EST up reply actions

omg don't trip!

Look, we got Talib and Jackson in the secondary, once we get the monster Suh rushing the passer, forcing him to throw the ball away or throw it to Talib and Jackson. Plus we pick up a LBer or two we’re going to be good on D again….

by shadowchicken on Dec 1, 2009 2:02 PM EST reply actions

I like this

Ndamukong Suh is my most wanted prospect for us. The dude is a beast.

by captainfear88 on Dec 1, 2009 6:42 PM EST up reply actions

The Big 12 championship game is a must watch game for us Bucs fans...

to see how Suh does against a good offense.

Viva la Bucco Bruce 1976-1996 (reincarnated 2009)

by Niko Houllis on Dec 1, 2009 7:39 PM EST reply actions

Good call, I will have to add that to my DVR!

by RuudAwakening on Dec 1, 2009 9:07 PM EST up reply actions

One thing I think would be interesting is to see how last year's team would have done

with this year’s schedule. I am not sure I remember the last schedule we had that was this hard. I am sure someone will name one off the top of their head. My point is last year we were 9-7 suffering a huge year end collapse and played a lot of crap teams. We had an easy schedule last year no doubt. Lets not forget the teams we lost to last year, with a much “better” team plus the teams we had to pull some crazy comebacks to beat were pretty embarassing.

by RuudAwakening on Dec 1, 2009 9:13 PM EST reply actions

We had a pretty easy schedule last year

Chiefs, Lions, Raiders, Chicago, Green Bay (not good last year), Denver (ditto),

Signature space available for rent - Got to pay the bills somehow

by Buc Wild on Dec 2, 2009 10:20 AM EST up reply actions

Just on coaching alone we'd have a better record.

Gruden wouldn’t do stuff like kick field goals with 20 seconds left on third down or give the other team half the field to drive and beat us.

by bucnut1 on Dec 2, 2009 10:21 AM EST up reply actions

Kicker Matt Bryant has signed with the Atlanta Falcons, and the Chicago Bears added linebacker Cato June.

by McBuc on Dec 2, 2009 10:14 AM EST reply actions

Cato June

is an active Chicago Bear now, and will be playing sunday. just FYI guys.

"Hey, the offensive linemen are the biggest guys on the field, they're bigger than everybody else, and that's what make them the biggest guys on the field." -Madden

by BearNecessities on Dec 3, 2009 11:07 AM EST reply actions

but i'm an idiot and didnt pay attention to McBuc... who already covered it

"Hey, the offensive linemen are the biggest guys on the field, they're bigger than everybody else, and that's what make them the biggest guys on the field." -Madden

by BearNecessities on Dec 3, 2009 11:07 AM EST up reply actions