.... Welp, it appears TJ Houshmandzadeh was wined and dined on the Vikes' dime this evening, but will delay his decision from tonight until tomorrow morning. Based on John Clayton's report, it appears he will decide sometime tomorrow between Cincy, Seattle, and Minnesota. Here's hoping Mark Dominik finds a way to keep the Bucs relevant in this race.
.... the Bucs are reportedly interested in FA LB Angelo Crowell, who's spent the past 6 years with the Bills. Since moving from special teams to the active roster in 2005, Crowell started all but 4 games from 2005-07, averaging about 75 tackles per season at OLB. Prior to the start of the 2008 season, Crowell needed season-ending knee surgery and was placed on IR. At 27, he would seem to fit the team's youth movement, but a knee injury is the most suspect kind of injury there is. Caveat emptor here for the Bucs.
.... Tom Curran of NBCSports has a great article up explaining the whole Denver/New England/Tampa Bay love triangle on the Jay Cutler/Matt Cassel fiasco. According to Curran, Tampa Bay and Detroit came to the party too late, after the Pats and Chiefs had basically already come to an agreement. Curran gives a pretty neat comparison likening the situation in terms of acquiring a house. Makes it easy for dummies like me. Check it out.
Remember gang.... we all have our hopes and doubts during this free agency period. While its maddening watching some of these solid UFA's sign elsewhere while we sit on a plethora of cap room, it's still early in the free agency process. We never know what happy ending to this bizarre start there could be for the Bucs. Could be something similar to this: