And the dream is over. The Bucs missed out on Nnamdi Asomugha, stud corner formerly of the Oakland Raiders, and now of the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Jay Glazer. The Bucs were long shots to pull in the talented, trouble free cornerback but garnered some headlines with what was an apparently large offer to lure his services to the Bay area. Bucs fans had hoped Asomugha and Talib could team up to form arguably the best secondary in football, but that honor will no doubt go to the Eagles, who now have a playmate for Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
This miss follows the miss on Jonathan Joseph (now a Texan) and Doug Free (still a Cowboy). While some will use this to point towards supposed failures of Mark Dominik and the Buccaneers, lets be clear. Dom and crew offered on Free and on Asomugha and supposedly JJ too (though I can't confirm). This was not the Bucs standing idly by sitting on their thumb but rather each player choosing to go elsewhere. While the Bucs are a good up and coming team, the Texans are in the same boat, the Jets have been to the AFC Championship game twice with a talented roster and the Eagles have a lot of quality on their roster. This probably wasn't a case of money, but rather a combination of things.
Personally? Give me the beaches, lower cost of living and no state income tax which magically makes each dollar brought home worth more.
No doubt disappointment is sure to be found, but all Dom can do is make the pitch and hope players show up. Strike 1 (Free), Strike 2 (JJ), and now Strike 3 (Asomugha). Time to start looking at second tier options.