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Buccaneers tried to sign Dan Connolly, for some unfathomable reason

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't sign a free agent lineman this offseason, but they apparently tried. Kind of. According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, the Bucs made a "strong pitch" to former Patriots guard Dan Connolly, but he passed because he'd be away from his family or would have to uproot them.

So hey, they tried to sign a lineman! Too bad that lineman was godawful last year, there's no reason to think he'd be at all useful this season, and really, why were they even trying to sign him instead of you know, actually useful players who could start, and contribute. I mean, Connolly was so bad last year that he arguably wouldn't even be an upgrade over Garrett Gilkey! Okay that's a bit much, but Pro Football Focus rated him -24.

The Bucs, of course, did bring in one other offensive lineman in Stefen Wisniewski, but they didn't sign him either. They could have signed Evan Mathis, but that's not happening. They could have claimed John Moffitt, and didn't. All of these players would have been safer bets than Dan Connolly. They do have Ali Marpetbut it's looking like he won't start the season.

If we look at the linemen the Bucs have actually signed over the past two years, they have one thing in common: they're universally terrible. I now have a theory as to why: I think offensive line coach George Warhop (for some reason listed at the bottom of the Bucs' coaching roster) is convinced he can get any player to play well, as long as he tries hard. That's the only reason I can think of why he'd want to have Dan Connolly, Garrett Gilkey or Oniel Cousins on his roster. I think history has proven that he's mistaken.

So. That's bad. And the Bucs are doing nothing to improve this situation.