Speaker 1: Welcome into Buccaneers Insider Live, presented by Miller. Like Casey
Speaker 1: Phillips here it was senior writer and editor Scott Smith.
Speaker 1: It is great to be doing this in person. We're
Speaker 1: back and we are back in Indie. We are in
Speaker 1: the convention center right now. Actually right behind the cameras
Speaker 1: what's called Radio Row. There a whole bunch of different
Speaker 1: teams and reporters set up there. But as you can tell,
Speaker 1: right behind us, that is the official bench press. Now, no,
Speaker 1: those are not actual Combine participants. These are high schoolers
Speaker 1: that they have allowed to come in and try some
Speaker 1: of the drills. In case you're like me and thinking
Speaker 1: these prospects get younger and younger, we were a little
Speaker 1: worried we were getting very old. So we got which
Speaker 1: is also tu these are not usually exclusive. So yeah,
Speaker 1: we got the bench press right behind us. And then
Speaker 1: on the other side of those curtains over there is
Speaker 1: where we had guys like Bruce arians Jason like doing
Speaker 1: their media appearances yesterday. So first I want to talk
Speaker 1: about that. What do you feel like you learned, because
Speaker 1: man's we haven't heard from them in a little bit,
Speaker 1: and there's there's been some developments since we've gotten to
Speaker 1: talk to them, So what were some of the biggest
Speaker 1: things that they were getting asked about and that you
Speaker 1: felt like you learned? And they talked to us up
Speaker 1: to this I too, with like a little local contingency.
Speaker 1: So we got a good half hour with each guy
Speaker 1: yesterday and I guess maybe learned isn't the right word,
Speaker 1: but reconfirmed that this team does not feel like it's
Speaker 1: in the rebuild mode, even with a couple of Pro
Speaker 1: bowlers retiring on us. Uh, this is a team that
Speaker 1: I think it was Bruce, I mean Jason light who said,
Speaker 1: we think we're in position to make another very strong
Speaker 1: run at the at the division championship, and you know
Speaker 1: that's the first goal. Obviously, the biggest goal is the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl of the year, but the best way to
Speaker 1: get there is to win your division first, like the
Speaker 1: Bucks did last year. So uh, there, they think that
Speaker 1: the roster is talented enough even without Tom Brady, that
Speaker 1: this team, especially with the defense that we have going
Speaker 1: and some things they think they can do on offense,
Speaker 1: will be competitive again next year. So there's no tear
Speaker 1: down going on here. Yeah, and you mentioned the couple
Speaker 1: of Pro bowlers retiring on us. We've all heard about
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, we know that what happened there, But the
Speaker 1: Ali Marpette one has happened since we had our last show,
Speaker 1: and that one I think was very much less expected
Speaker 1: than the Brady one potentially. So what have you seen
Speaker 1: from the reaction from the team and fans and everybody
Speaker 1: about Hey, what he meant to this organization? But be
Speaker 1: what this now means in terms of the priorities in
Speaker 1: the draft, priorities in the free agency, and how you
Speaker 1: try to replace a guy like him who has been
Speaker 1: just such a huge part of this team in this
Speaker 1: offensive line. It was definitely a shock. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was a three pm on Saturday on Sunday, I think,
Speaker 1: and I know I wasn't expecting. And Alan mar Pet's
Speaker 1: been in the league seven years, He's twenty eight years old.
Speaker 1: You could easily say he's in the prime of his
Speaker 1: career or he was first Pro Bowl just made his
Speaker 1: first Pro Bowl. Although when that happened, I think the
Speaker 1: general since was finally right. Probably been three or four
Speaker 1: seasons where he could have been easily been a Pro Bowler.
Speaker 1: But the only thing, the only reaction you can really
Speaker 1: have in this situation is to be happy for Ali
Speaker 1: because obviously he had his reasons for doing so, and
Speaker 1: doing this is what's going to make him happy now
Speaker 1: and going forward. So you just look back and you
Speaker 1: you're you're thankful for what he did for the franchise,
Speaker 1: which was a lot and helped us win that Super
Speaker 1: Bowl championship, and uh, it was a great, great career
Speaker 1: for him, even just seven years, you'd have to say
Speaker 1: he's one of the best offensive lineman in team history.
Speaker 1: But what do the Buccaneers do to move forward? I mean,
Speaker 1: you got to do something right now. You're looking at
Speaker 1: the situation. The Buccaneers had three Pro Bowl, three offensive
Speaker 1: linemen in the Pro Bowl, and by a lot of metrics,
Speaker 1: had maybe the best Pro Bowl breast offensive line in
Speaker 1: the NFL last year. But Ali's retired and center Ryan
Speaker 1: Jensen and left and right guard Alex Kappa are both
Speaker 1: potential unrestricted free agents. So that's a little bit worrisome, right,
Speaker 1: That's a lot to potentially have to replace. But Bruce
Speaker 1: Arian said, Ali's retirement definitely, uh, definitely changes how you
Speaker 1: approach free agency, and in particular those two offensive lineman
Speaker 1: there's more money to spend now the Bucaneers might go
Speaker 1: a little bit harder to try to keep Jensen and
Speaker 1: or Kappa right. And so, now, what are some of
Speaker 1: the other priorities that this could affect in terms of
Speaker 1: the cap space and looking at what else we need
Speaker 1: of are there going to be things now that you
Speaker 1: didn't think you needed an alignment where that's got to
Speaker 1: take precedent. And then also if regardless, what is this
Speaker 1: free up for some of those other areas that you're
Speaker 1: trying to look for. Well, I mean again, I think
Speaker 1: it probably just stays in that same category. Whatever you've
Speaker 1: freed up here with Ali in terms of the cap,
Speaker 1: you have more than you can allocate either to Jensen
Speaker 1: and or Kappa or somebody from the outside. But also
Speaker 1: I think it does sort of change your focus in
Speaker 1: this draft just a little bit. Uh Or Jason Light
Speaker 1: said yesterday that this is a draft where we we
Speaker 1: I think actually I think it's Bruce arians where we'll
Speaker 1: be going for best player available. It's not positional need.
Speaker 1: That's something that every team believes and says, but when
Speaker 1: it comes down to a generally, the positional need does
Speaker 1: factor in when it comes time when you're on the
Speaker 1: clock in the second round or something. Um, you may
Speaker 1: be picking best player available, or you maybe picking best
Speaker 1: player available at one of these couple of positions that
Speaker 1: we really need. UM, so I think you should. You
Speaker 1: could see the the solution for that three man interior
Speaker 1: line be a combination of more aggressively going after Jensen
Speaker 1: and Kappa something in the draft, and then these young
Speaker 1: guys that they like, like Robert Hanzi and Nick Leverette
Speaker 1: and Sidarius Hutcherson, a lot of guys that Bruce talked
Speaker 1: about yesterday, young guys he thinks are ready to potentially
Speaker 1: step up into bigger roles. And then there's been some
Speaker 1: other news that has come out this week. This has
Speaker 1: just been a crazy week all the way around. And
Speaker 1: the first bit I feel like people are going to
Speaker 1: hear about because I think you and I this might
Speaker 1: be the most common question we've been asked, at least
Speaker 1: in my seven years of being here, when are the
Speaker 1: throwback uniforms coming back? And you and I have never
Speaker 1: had an answer for that, and we finally have an
Speaker 1: answer for that. It's funny how much is going on
Speaker 1: because you said you were gonna talk about another topic
Speaker 1: that we haven't talked about yet. And that's not even
Speaker 1: the one I thought. Yeah, yeah, there are so many
Speaker 1: so we still have more, so don't worry. So the
Speaker 1: throwback uniforms are coming back in three It won't be
Speaker 1: this season, but it will be the one after that.
Speaker 1: First time since I think two thousand and thirteen, the
Speaker 1: throwbacks stopped happening because the NFL changed their rules about
Speaker 1: how many sets of helmets that teams could use, and
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers couldn't really would have had to wear the
Speaker 1: Peter helmets, which wouldn't look good with the old Buck
Speaker 1: Bruce throwback. So they're coming back. We know the fans
Speaker 1: love them. We love them. Um, it's as soon as
Speaker 1: we could have possibly gotten them in terms of getting
Speaker 1: the uniforms. We just couldn't for supply side reasons. We
Speaker 1: just couldn't get it done for two But they're back
Speaker 1: in Okay. And then we also found out we're going
Speaker 1: to journey. Yeah, that we are finally found out we
Speaker 1: are definitely playing a game in Germany this year. So
Speaker 1: how exciting is that for for you and for the
Speaker 1: team at large. It's great. So there's four games coming
Speaker 1: in Germany and over the next four years, one each
Speaker 1: year Munich Frankfort, Munich, Frankfort, and the Buccaneers are the
Speaker 1: designated team for the very first one of those games.
Speaker 1: This is the first NFL game ever played in Germany. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't know how many of the people watching have
Speaker 1: been founding the NFL long enough to remember days of
Speaker 1: like NFL Europe. It's called World League of Football at
Speaker 1: one point. I think it's been called many things. Probably
Speaker 1: the place where NFL football was most popular during that
Speaker 1: time was Germany. Like four of the teams were in Germany,
Speaker 1: and there's millions of NFL fans in Germany already. And
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers recently got an international Home Marketing Agreement area
Speaker 1: UH granted to them for Germany. So the Buccaneers will
Speaker 1: be marketing themselves in Germany, trying to you know, create
Speaker 1: more fans there and create opportunities for fans to get
Speaker 1: merchandise and and other things, and and so getting to
Speaker 1: play a game there on top of that is just
Speaker 1: really really exciting to be the first team to do.
Speaker 1: So we don't we don't know our pony yet, but
Speaker 1: we're the designate team for that game, and yeah, it's
Speaker 1: really exciting. The Buccaneers will played games in London. They
Speaker 1: played a preseason game in Japan, but Germany is a
Speaker 1: new territory. It's gonna be incredible. And then we will
Speaker 1: close with this. Also, the team announced some new coaches
Speaker 1: on staff. Uh so overall some some shake up there.
Speaker 1: What do you see as that impacting the team? And
Speaker 1: some of the people brought in, some of the people leaving.
Speaker 1: But still how secure overall the coaching staff is these
Speaker 1: last few years of that continuity, there hasn't been much
Speaker 1: change in Bruce arians was actually said he was actually,
Speaker 1: I won't use the exact words, but he wasn't very
Speaker 1: happy that. I mean, he's happy that that Byron Leftwich
Speaker 1: and Todd Bowles are still around for selfish reasons, but
Speaker 1: he's not happy that those guys haven't gotten their opportunities yet.
Speaker 1: And so the Buccaneers over the last two years, despite
Speaker 1: all their success, haven't had to make too many changes
Speaker 1: to the coaching staff, which is great because that's a
Speaker 1: strength of the team and continuity is awesome. So each
Speaker 1: year there's just been a few changes. This year, uh,
Speaker 1: Mike Caldwell went to become the defensive coordinator for the
Speaker 1: jag Wires, and so the Buccaneers brought in a former
Speaker 1: coach that had worked with Bruce Arians as a linebackers
Speaker 1: coach back with Cardinals, and I have to admit that
Speaker 1: right now and blanking on the name, and now I
Speaker 1: am fair to him because he's a very well tinured
Speaker 1: coach and it's just that we've just had this new yas. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wasn't prepared for that question. My apologies on my
Speaker 1: end for not remembering right now. Um, but he's a
Speaker 1: he's a very well established coach coach that position under
Speaker 1: Bruce Arians. And then there's been a couple of their
Speaker 1: changes sort of at the quality control level. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: then Larry Foote moving over to the inside linebacker instead
Speaker 1: of outside. Also, um, uh Rick Christophel is now the
Speaker 1: assistant uh is An is a senior offensive assistant, which
Speaker 1: opens up the tight ends job for John Dan Dan
Speaker 1: who had been the quality i mean the assistant Titans coach,
Speaker 1: but now he's in charge of the tight ends. But
Speaker 1: it is incredible how much consistency there has been there
Speaker 1: and that is a huge factor for a team. All right, well,
Speaker 1: that is going to do it for us. On this
Speaker 1: edition of Buccaneers Insider Live presented by Miller White. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us, and stay tuned all
Speaker 1: the rest of our combine coverage on buccaneers dot com
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