I've been seeing some discussion on a possible spending floor more and more often in recent weeks, so I thought it would be useful to put up a story about it. To clear things up: there will be a team-specific spending floor, but it won't go into effect until 2013, and even then it will be limited in its effectiveness. I'll go over the specifics quickly.

There is a leaguewide spending floor of 99% of the salary cap this year, and 95% in the coming years. This floor doesn't affect the Tampa Bay Buccaneers directly, as it only governs leaguewide cash spending. Because of the way contracts are structured in the NFL, with large signing bonuses paid out in the first year of contracts, reaching this cash spending floor for the league shouldn't be a problem. The Bucs will not be forced to spend money because of this rule.

There will be a team specific spending floor of 89% of the salary cap from 2013 onward, but it will be accounted for in two four-year periods: 2013-2016 and 2017-2020. Reaching 89% of the salary floor in cash spending won't force the Bucs to drastically increase their spending, mostly because it's a fairly weak floor. Not only is 89% of the salary cap not a huge threshold, but the fact that is accounted for as an average over a four-year span makes it less effective than if it had been a per-year minimum. The Bucs can still spend well below the cap in individual years, as long as they make up for it in later seasons.

So: the Bucs will not be forced to spend money until 2013, and even then the real spending can be delayed until later seasons.

Charlie Campbell of Walter Football and formerly of Pewter Report paints a bleak picture of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' willingness to spend money. According to him, the Buccaneers have been turned down by six or seven coaches either in interviews or in negotiations. One of the reasons that has happened, according to him, is that the Bucs are trying to slash severance packages of prospective coaches and that's hurting them. After firing large parts of the coaching staff twice in four years, that kind of reaction makes some sense.

While I don't doubt that the Bucs are indeed trying to slash severance packages, I sincerely doubt that it is hurting their recruiting efforts, however. They reportedly offered Chip Kelly a $6 million per year deal, which would have made him one of the best-paid coaches in the NFL. The Bucs haven't exactly skimped on head coaching salaries in the past, except in the case of Raheem Morris. While slashing severance packages would hurt, this is still one of the most attractive coaching jobs in football - if only because there are only 31 others like it.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers swung and missed with Chip Kelly, and now they're moving on to finding the next coach. Here's what they can't do, though: settle for a coach they're not fully behind because they're in a rush to find someone. Yes, the Bucs are at a disadvantage because good assistant coaches are disappearing off the market every day. That's a problem - but it's not as big of a problem as hiring a head coach you're not convinced about.

Hiring a head coach should be a long-term commitment for a franchise. When hiring a head coach you're not just selecting a figurehead, you're selecting a philosophy and a way of playing football. What you can't do in that case is pick the guy who happens to be available. You must find the right fit.

That's what the Bucs thought they had in Chip Kelly, until he pulled out. Now they must find someone else - but they can't just settle for someone. They must take the time they need to get a coach. As annoying as this wait is, the losses that come with selecting the wrong coach would be much more annoying.

Thank you Chip Kelly for becoming the latest "Yes he will, no he won't" contestant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For those who missed the last 12-16 hours, reports popped up during the NFC Championship Game that the Bucs and Oregon coach Chip Kelly had engaged in discussions to bring him aboard as the next head coach. Talks were supposeldy heating up after meetings the week prior with several people confirming it was to be finalized by Tuesday and a few places even saying it was a done deal.

The news sent waves rolling through the NFL landscape. Potential coordinators were being discussed, the draft become a hot topic and how he would adapt his offense to the NFL system were all items being talked about as people envisioned Kelly taking over the reigns.

But alas, it was not to be. Kelly supposedly had a last minute change of heart (which could be true, or he could have assurances he's getting more cash from Oregon). The rumor mill swept us all up and Kelly firmly hit the flush button to drown the dreams of a high powered attack in Tampa. It's worth noting that Kelly never said he would coach here and in fact, we have no idea what conversations took place. The talks sound like any other talks, due diligence followed by a "Let's see if we can work this out." Kelly may have gotten caught in the hype and as he had time to think about it, realized Eugene, Oregon was where he wanted to stay.

This shouldn't feel too unfamiliar for Bucs fans. Back in 2002, after Tony Dungy was canned we had a deal with Bill Parcells, or so we thought. Turns out he had a change of heart and left us standing at the altar. Of course, we would go on to get Gruden so there's hope in 2012, though I hope it doesn't include 4 draft picks this time around.

We can thank Twitter and other social media for letting this rumor mill get out of control. But the good news, at least as I see it, is people were excited to talk about the Bucs again. We were trending and being discussed in a positive light for the first time since October. Can't argue with that.

What's next? We sit and wait. There will be more interviews, talks of potential hirings, and finally, someone will sign on the dotted line. We'll move on and this whole Chip Kelly thing will be nothing more than a blip on the radar.

History does repeat itself and 2002 isn't a bad year to repeat for the Bucs. Let's see if this coaching fiasco has the same outcome.

The NFC and AFC Championship games will be played later today, and they'll feature a lot of good players - as well as good coaches. As the Bucs are still looking for coaches, there have been rumors that they may be interested in coaches who are still in the playoffs. If they are, they would be allowed to interview those coaches next week, regardless of whether or not those coaches make it to the Super Bowl.

So which of those coaches could and should the Bucs have an interest in?

New York Giants Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell

I already wrote a piece on Perry Fewell, who has a history as a decent defensive coordinator and served as the interim head coach of the Buffalo Bills for half a season. He seems competent, but is rather unspectacular.

New York Giants Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride

I love Gilbride's offense. He manages to consistently produce big plays to players who no one knows. Gilbride is an old Run and Shoot coach but has adjusted his offense to fit the modern NFL. He keeps an offense balanced and places a premium on running the ball. He's also helped Eli Manning flourish after a very poor start to his career. Could he do the same for Josh Freeman?

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There have been rumors that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are interested in New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell for weeks now. Fewell's reputation has soared in the past month, as he's gotten a pretty mediocre Giants defense to stifle some really good offenses in the past few weeks. His defense wasn't very good during the season, but it got hot when it counted, and it's gotten him some time in the spotlight.

Fewell has been in the league longer for these past few games, however. He has a solid reputation as a defensive coordinator, and produced a very good unit last year in New York (3rd in the league by Football Outsiders' numbers). He wasn't able to replicate that this season, in part because of injuries and a lack of talent in the back seven, but that doesn't diminish that performance. In his four seasons as defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills he also managed to produce some middle-of-the-pack defenses despite having very little talent to work with. His 2009 defense was pretty strong, ranking 8th in the league by Football Outsiders' numbers.

Fewell even has some experience as a head coach, taking over a 3-6 2009 Bills team that was getting blown out every other week, going 3-4 in the remaining games while keeping every loss but one within a single score. So, he has qualifications and a resume. The question is: will the Bucs wait until next week to bring him in? With the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game, they can't interview him until next week. Whether the Giants win or not, they will be allowed to interview him.

Previous experience:

Special assistant, North Carolina, 1985-1986
Assistant coach, Army, 1987
Defensive assistant, Kent State, 1998-1991
Defensive assistant, Army, 1992-1994
Assistant head coach & defensive backs coach, Vanderbilt, 1995-1997
Defensive backs coach, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1998-2002
Defensive backs coach, St. Louis Rams, 2003-2004
Defensive backs coach, Chicago Bears, 2005
Defensive coordinator, Buffalo Bills, 2006-2009
Interim head coach, Buffalo Bills, 2009
Defensive coordinator, New York Giants, 2010-present

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers reportedly interviewed Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements for their open head coaching position. The Bucs interviewed the Packers' offensive coordinator Joe Philbin as well, but Clements might actually have a better track record than Philbin.

Clements played in the Canadian Football League as a quarterback for 12 years, making it into the CFL Hall of Fame in 1994. He translated that experience as a quarterback into an excellent record as a quarterbacks coach. Kordell Stewart, Elvis Grbac, Tommy Maddox, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers all reached the Pro Bowl under his guidance.

Clements also has a reputation as a quiet but very good and critical coach, an excellent teacher and a real competitor. I've heard his name circulated as a potential head coach for months now, but that doesn't mean he would be a good one. Can he translate his skills as a QBs coach into being a good head coach?

Previous Experience
Quarterback, Canadian Football League, 1975-1987 (ex 1980) - won 2 championships, one MVP award
Quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs, 1980
Quarterbacks Coach, Notre Dame, 1992-1995
Quarterbacks Coach, New Orleans Saints, 1997-1999
Quarterbacks Coach, Kansas City Chiefs, 2000
Quarterbacks Coach, Pittsburgh Steelers, 2001-2003
Offensive Coordinator, Buffalo Bills, 2004-2005
Quarterbacks Coach, Green Bay Packers, 2006-Present

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers requested and received the Green Bay Packers' permission to interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin earlier this week. Whether the interview has taken place or will take place is unclear at this point. He's considered a finalist for the Miami Dolphins' coaching job, so the Bucs have some competition for his services if they are genuinely interested in him.

Raiding the coaching staff of successful teams is a tried and not-so-true way of finding new head coaches, and no team has been more successful in recent years than the Green Bay Packers. Teams have been doing that for years, but the success has been mixed. None of the New England Patriots' assistant coaches have gone on to successful as head coaches, for instance, despite ample opportunity. Similarly, when the Bucs were raided in the late '90s and early '00s their coaches had some success - but the result hasn't been a championship for any of the assistants to leave Tampa Bay.

Will the Bucs feel they have struck gold with Joe Philbin despite those results or will he be just another name added to the list and then discarded?

Previous Experience

Graduate Assistant, Tulane, 1984-1985
Offensive line coach, WPI, 1986-1987
Offensive line coach, USMMA, 1988-1989
Offensive line coach/coordinator, Allegheny Colege, 1990-1993
Offensive line coach, Ohio, 1994
Offensive line coach/coordinator, Northeastern, 1995-1996
Offensive line coach/coordinator, Harvard, 1997-1998
Offensive line coach, Iowa, 1999-2002
Assistant offensive line coach, Green Bay Packers, 2003
Tight ends coach/assistant offensive line coach, Green Bay Packers, 2004-2005
Offensive line coach, Green Bay Packers, 2007-Present

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