Tony Romo gets six year contract extension $108m, $55m Guaranteed

[Aso]

Romo had a clause in his contract saying that the Cowboys couldn't franchise him so that was never an option.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Leaf you are welcome on the bandwagon......... Plenty of space.... Like... PLENTY.
Besides now that Monte Kiffin is there... You'll just have to change the Tint setting of your TV and it'll look like an old Bucs game.

[MVPete]

You can use all the WTF gifs you want, but, fact of the matter is, I put a shit ton of money into that organization. Worked in the media during the Dungy/Gruden eras and had a number of contacts within the organization and as a fan, it would of made you sick the way they ran things with Gruden. You wanna talk about fighting with one hand behind your back...that's all Gruden did most of his time here. Then, when you find out how Morris got the job, you'd be completely blown away. Then, I could tell you the dozens of stories of Morris having to be dumped out of cabs all over the bay area because he was out getting wasted rather than at One Buc Place. You are going to have your opinion, and that is fine, but, talk to enough people from MM that are still on this site and you'll see I'm not bullshitting any of this.

I didn't stop supporting the Bucs and start looking for a new team. I just watched red-zone every week for three years, without a rooting interest other than FF. Over that time, I became a fan of Tony Romo and the Cowboys, likely due to my fantasy roster, but, once last season started, I realized I was rooting for them a lot and just started focusing on Dallas. Simple as that.

[Hasselbeck]

You can use all the WTF gifs you want, but, fact of the matter is, I put a shit ton of money into that organization. Worked in the media during the Dungy/Gruden eras and had a number of contacts within the organization and as a fan, it would of made you sick the way they ran things with Gruden. You wanna talk about fighting with one hand behind your back...that's all Gruden did most of his time here. Then, when you find out how Morris got the job, you'd be completely blown away. Then, I could tell you the dozens of stories of Morris having to be dumped out of cabs all over the bay area because he was out getting wasted rather than at One Buc Place. You are going to have your opinion, and that is fine, but, talk to enough people from MM that are still on this site and you'll see I'm not bullshitting any of this.

I didn't stop supporting the Bucs and start looking for a new team. I just watched red-zone every week for three years, without a rooting interest other than FF. Over that time, I became a fan of Tony Romo and the Cowboys, likely due to my fantasy roster, but, once last season started, I realized I was rooting for them a lot and just started focusing on Dallas. Simple as that.

Post these stories, I'd love to hear them. And it's VSN so you know only 15 people will see.

[RyanLeaf16]

Post these stories, I'd love to hear them. And it's VSN so you know only 15 people will see.

1. The Glazers held property at the old Tampa Bay Mall site when RJS was built. They promised that part of the CITS (Community Investment Tax Stadium) funds would go to building a new facility for the organization. This was in 1998. When Gruden was brought on in 2002, they still had not even begun preliminary planning of the site. They continued to use the site for parking till they finally started building in 2004 and finished in 2006. When they recruited Gruden to come to Tampa part of their sell-job was this new facility that would "ultimately help bring free-agents to the bay area in the wake of expected cap problems that the team projected." It wasn't until Gruden entered his 5th year as HC that the project was finally done. You don't think he complained about it, you don't think it hurt the recruiting of free-agents? It did.

2. The Glazers agreement with the city is unheard of. The city of Tampa owns that stadium outright. Yet, the Tampa Sports Authority must ask the Glazers for permission to use the stadium for any event other than a Buccaneer home game. This includes concerts, monster truck shows, equestrian events, USF football games, community events (i.e. HS all-star games), etc. On top of that, the Glazers get HALF all parking and concession revenues from these events. All of this from a stadium they don't even own. All of these revenues also go into Red Football Inc. The company that formally owns the Buccaneers and Manchester United. This money is liquid and readily available cash that the Glazers routinely used to fund football operations (i.e. signing bonuses)...and now even Man U operations. This fund was practically frozen after the Super Bowl win. Almost as if the Glazers were hoarding cash. Problem is, you don't tell a coach that he will always have the financial backing of the owners to keep the team competitive - if you plan to just keep those tools from him once you get what you want (i.e. Super Bowl win).

3. Drafting of Chris Simms was not Jon Gruden's idea. Rich McKay was shocked he was available with the last pick in the 3rd round and, in the war room, stated the Bucs were going to take him. Gruden asked to see his profile before they sent in the pick. McKay said one was not available because the Bucs did not homework on him for the sake that they did not think he would be available. Gruden said they weren't taking a kid they did not background work on. McKay pulled the trump card and said he was GM and it was his call. Then after the Bucs made the playoffs in 2005, the Glazers wanted to sign a "franchise QB," so they basically worked a 5-year deal for Simms and trotted him out as the future - against Gruden's wishes. He wanted to stick with Griese.

4. Drafting of Gaines Adams. Gruden and Bruce Allen had a deal in place to trade up from #4 to #2 to pick Calvin Johnson. Gruden & Allen needed the Glazers ok before making the deal due to signing bonus money. They were told "no." Instead it was "Monte's turn" to get a player he wanted: Gaines Adams.

5. Vetoing the trade of Jared Allen. When Jared Allen was making going to be traded, the Gruden wanted to deal for him, but, Allen contingent upon being traded Allen wanted a new deal. Glazers would not allow Gruden and Allen the money to get a new contract done. Related to that, the Bucs once brought Patrick Kerney in when he was leaving Atlanta. His response after his visit was that the Bucs were not even in the "ballpark" money-wise. All of this is cash, the organization had, but, was unwilling to spend. The Glazers saw RJS selling out regardless of what the team did on the field and saw no need to put money into the on-field product.

6. Kiffin checks out. Monte Kiffin announced he was leaving the Bucs after the 2008 season with 4 games left in the year. At that point the Bucs were 9-3. They went on to lose 4 games in a row. Kiffin was mentally checked out. He was wearing two-hats and even Derrick Brooks commented after the season that it seemed that Kiffin distanced himself after annoucing he was leaving.

7. Firing of Jon Gruden. After that collapse. Several weeks after, in fact - the Glazers had a lunch meeting with Jon Gruden and told him that he needed to get rid of several veteran players: Galloway, Brooks and Dunn to be specific. Gruden, had enough. He said absolutely not. He was the coach, he was hired to coach his team and he would not take any more personnel orders from the Glazers. The Glazers said fine, they respected his decision and Gruden went back to his office. The Glazers went to Bruce Allen's office and told him to fire Jon Gruden. Bruce Allen said absolutely not, so they fired him on the spot and walked down and told Gruden he was fired.

8. Raheem Morris is hired. Just so happens that Morris had just interviewed with Pat Bowlen of the Broncos for the HC gig and Bowlen told the media he was impressed. Morris played this card hard with his agent and lobbied for the job with the Bucs. Glazers hired him and he did everything they said. He was all talk. He released everyone the Bucs wanted him to. He hired the coaches he was told to hire (Jagodzinski and Bates). He slapped Bates in the face by saying he wanted to demote him to a position coach after hiring him as DC. He let his players run the asylum. He was found to be at the Blue Martini ALL THE FUCKING TIME during game week. Yet, the team was 3-13. He got into a fight with Aqib Talib in the team hotel. He had not offensive or defensive philosophy.

9. Fans stop showing up. People can call me a homer all they want, but, when Jon Gruden was fired, it split this town. When talk-radio and newspapers are asking the question of why the fans seems "disinterested" or have "mentally checked out," that's a statement. When Gruden was the coach, even in the 4-12, 5-11 season, stands were full, talk-radio was all about the Bucs. Post Gruden, people just didn't seem to care and people really didn't take Raheem Morris seriously. Nor did they take the Bucs seriously and it was not just because the team was losing. The fans of this area saw what the Glazers did to this organization and they showed their displeasure with the pocket book. The organization is still trying to win the fans back. Literally, the other day, they were asking on the radio "what do we need to do to get you to come back?" People call in and say "not interested." The Lightning and Rays garner more talk and interest throughout the year now than the Bucs do.

Hope that was enough for you. I'm sure you will have some sort of smart-ass response and discredit everything I have said. But, I have taken the time to respond and provide you with some details. If you want to piss on it, I am not going to go back and forth with you.

[Hasselbeck]

I think the Glazers showed how cheap they were a few years back, I think pre lockout when they were sitting on like 80M in cap room and only signed a punter. If memory serves they are a big reason (along with a few other terrible owners in the league) for a salary floor being implemented in the new CBA.

I love Gruden and always had a feeling he got a raw deal.. This shows a lot of that. Why do you think he hasn't gotten many looks to be HC since though? I think he enjoys ESPN but his heart will always be in coaching.. You see that with his QB Camps

[RyanLeaf16]

I think the Glazers showed how cheap they were a few years back, I think pre lockout when they were sitting on like 80M in cap room and only signed a punter. If memory serves they are a big reason (along with a few other terrible owners in the league) for a salary floor being implemented in the new CBA.

I love Gruden and always had a feeling he got a raw deal.. This shows a lot of that. Why do you think he hasn't gotten many looks to be HC since though? I think he enjoys ESPN but his heart will always be in coaching.. You see that with his QB Camps

I can't answer for him. I can only say what I have heard. Being that he still lives in Tampa and he volunteers at CDS, I think he enjoys the money he makes from ESPN with the reduced time commitment. I know that he does want to get back into coaching and he has had opportunities on the NFL and college level - that much I have all but confirmed from Gruden himself. Why it has not gone any further I don't know. It may very well be, that he says he wants to, but, when he considers what he has to give up (time with family, fishing, etc.) he may not want to do it.