As much I love the football season, I love the offseason just that much more. I want to talk about free agency and the Draft. What do the Buccaneers need to do to be solid contenders next year? This is what I believe we need...

Team Free Agency

1) Re-sign Barrett Ruud. This guy is the anchor of our defense. Pay the man somewhere in the vicinity of 5 years/$30 million.

2) Re-sign Davin Joseph. This guy is good. No reason why he should go.

3) Do not re-sign Jeremy Trueblood. We can try to get a compensatory pick out of him. Maybe a 6th Round pick.

4) Give T-Jack a veteran minimum offer. We can still get a compensatory pick if he doen't sign it. He is still a very good Free Safety. 

5) Re-sign LaGerrette Blount. This guy is a beast! Enough said.

6) As good as he has been for Tampa, Ronde Barber needs to retire just like Tiki. Or become a DB coach.

Free Agent Pursuit

1) Grad Greenway, OLB. This guy has been quietly productive in a good Minnesota defense.

2) Alan Faneca, LG. This guy could come cheap if present the right situation.

3) Grab a couple of random special teamers and fill out the roster with some young players.

NFL Draft

1) The #1 Draft need is a DE but I don't believe that the best value for a DE will come at this spot. So, instead I think an OT is more probable. I believe that we fall somewhere in the 20-25 range. I think that we can get Gabe Carimi from Wisconsin. The Badgers have had an unbelievable ground game for the past four years and this guy is a big reason why.

2) We can address the DE need in Round #2. One guy whose stock has fallen is Cameron Heyward from Ohio State. He may be available in this round. Unless he has a great showing in the Michigan game and the BCS Bowl game that OSU goes to, we can get him.

3) OG will be need #3. We need to find a team in the college ranks that was good at running the ball off of the weak side. Again Wisconsin comes to mind. John Moffitt would be a good fit if we a re going to commit to a balanced offense. If Mark Dominick thinks that Jeremy Zuttah is a solid starter at LG then shore up the DE spot by getting Sam Acho from Texas or Christian Ballard from Iowa.

4) The rest of the picks need to be value picks starting with OLB, RB, CB, TE; in that order.