Buccaneers ranked middle of the pack in fines and suspensions

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have faced fines and suspensions in every season I can remember, but they really haven't been that bad compared to the NFL average. That's what Andrew Powell-Morse of Seat Smart figured out in a study on fines and suspensions since 2002.

Despite the fact that the Bucs don't stick out one way or the other on fines and suspension, they have had two of the most-fined and most-suspended players in the NFL on their roster. Dashon Goldson has been fined eight times for $247,500, which ranks fourth in the NFL. And then there's the infamous Tanard Jackson, who has missed a ridiculous 56 games solely because he can't keep his hands off weed.

Those outliers don't mean much, though. The Bucs have faced 25 times, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. And they've seen players suspended nine times, ranks 12th.

All of this happened through four different regimes. With Jon Gruden, who loved taking in older, tarnished players like Michael Pittman and Jerramy Stevens. With Raheem Morris, who protected young players who kept getting into trouble like Aqib Talib and Tanard Jackson. With disciplinarian Greg Schiano, who nonetheless signed Eric Wright and Dashon Goldson, both suspended and fined. And even under Lovie Smith we've seen a few PED suspensions.

Getting players fined and even suspended is basically a fact of life in the NFL these days. And despite the fact that the Bucs have had Tanard Jackson on the roster for years, they're just middle of the pack in terms of fines and suspensions since 2002. That's pretty solid, really.