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Bucs, Cardinals Complete Bruce Arians Trade

By | at January 8, 2019 7:21 pm

When the Buccaneers agreed to hire Bruce Arians, the NFL informed them that they would not need to send compensation to the Cardinals. Later, the Cardinals told the league office that they believed they still had a claim to his rights. In order to avoid a protracted argument, the Bucs have agreed to trade a sixth-round pick to the Cardinals in exchange for Arians’ rights and a seventh-round pick. 

Ultimately, the Bucs probably could have avoided giving up compensation, particularly since they previously got the green light from the league office. However, they want to hit the ground running with Arians, so they made a small concession enabling them to keep things simple.

The Bucs lured Arians out of retirement with a four-year deal that includes a team option for a fifth season. Already, much of Arians’ staff appears to be in place with Todd Bowles serving as the as the defensive coordinator, Byron Leftwich as the passing-game coordinator, and Harold Goodwin as the run-game overseer.

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Bowles, Leftwich, Goodwin To Join Bucs’ Staff

By | at January 8, 2019 5:54 pm

Bruce Arians is moving fast on his way to Tampa Bay. And Cardinals fans will recognize much of the Buccaneers’ new coaching staff.

Todd Bowles will join Arians in Tampa and serve as the Bucs’ defensive coordinator, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. Byron Leftwich and Harold Goodwin have pledged to follow Arians to south Florida as well.

Leftwich will serve as Tampa Bay’s passing-game coordinator, and Goodwin will come aboard as the run-game overseer, Breer notes. Like Bowles, both worked under Arians in Arizona. Leftwich received his full-time coaching start under Arians and moved up to Cardinals OC under Steve Wilks. The Cardinals, following a season that ended with No. 32 rankings in points and yards, fired him at season’s end, however, paving a path to Tampa.

Bowles met with Washington about an unspecified role Tuesday, but he will rejoin Arians. The former NFL defensive back-turned-Jets HC made his best case for that New York job by leading the Cardinals’ defense in 2013-14. They were a top-seven unit in each season, helping the Cards to back-to-back 10-win campaigns. Matters did not go too well for Bowles in New York (with a less talented roster), but he will be tasked with repairing a Bucs defense that has been among the league’s worst in recent years.

Tampa Bay has ranked in the bottom fourth of the NFL in total defense in each of the past four years, its low point coming with a last-place finish in 2017. It will be interesting to see if Bowles implements the 3-4 scheme he used in Arizona and New York. The Bucs have used a 4-3 base set for years. Though, these changes are less significant than they were in years past, with teams in sub sets more often than base looks.

Goodwin did not coach in 2018. He served as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator during Arians’ five-year tenure, though Arians was the point man running that attack. The Cards in that time coaxed an All-Pro emergence from Division I-FCS-produced third-rounder David Johnson. He will take over a Bucs rushing attack that lagged behind its explosive pass offense in 2018.

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Buccaneers Zeroing In On Bruce Arians

By | at January 8, 2019 11:30 am

The Buccaneers are focusing on hiring Bruce Arians as their new coach and there is strong mutual interest, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Rapoport adds that negotiations between the two sides are likely to begin soon. 

In recent days, talk of Arians coaching the Bucs has picked up serious steam. However, the club did ask Arians to take a physical as a part of their evaluation process, a step to ensure that the cancer survivor has the ability to take on the role and the stress that comes with it. Fortunately, it appears that Arians has the medical green light, which should allow him to accept the job if the two sides can reach agreement on terms.

In November, Arians indicated that the Browns were the “only” team that he would consider if he were to come out of retirement. But, so far, the Bucs have been the only team to engage him in talks. Arians’ itch to get back on the sidelines has likely outweighed his preference to coach in Cleveland and the opportunity to get former No. 1 pick Jameis Winston on track probably holds appeal for him.

The 66-year-old was relatively successful during his tenure in Arizona, leading the Cardinals to 49-30-1 record and a pair of playoff appearances, including an appearance in the 2015 NFC Championship Game. Off the field, he has managed to overcome a number of challenging obstacles. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, had cancerous cells removed from his nose in 2013, dealt with renal cell carcinoma in 2016, and had part of his kidney removed in 2017.

Arians retired from coaching in January of last year, saying that he “wasn’t enjoying the game as much” as he had in the past.

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Buccaneers Want To Retain WR Adam Humphries

By | at January 6, 2019 6:52 pm

The Buccaneers are focused on retaining one of their top wideouts. General manager Jason Licht told Greg Auman of The Athletic that Tampa Bay is “going to do everything [they] can to get Adam Humphries back in the mix” (Twitter link).

As Auman notes, the team previously tried to extend the impending free agent. However, Humphries decided to bet on himself, and it ultimately worked out in the 25-year-old’s favor. Humphries had his best professional season in 2018, finishing with 76 receptions, 816 yards, and five touchdowns. This performance earned him the 30th-best score among 122 eligible wideouts, per Pro Football Focus.

A former undrafted free agent out of Clemson, Humphries has spent his entire four-year career in Tampa Bay. He’s finished with at least 600 receiving yards in each of the past three years, and he’s also spent plenty of time on special teams. Humphries finished the 2018 season with 21 punt returns for 139 yards.

The organization is hoping Humphries will be back in Tampa Bay in 2019, but it sounds like one of his fellow wideouts probably won’t be sticking around. Veteran receiver DeSean Jackson has expressed a preference to move on from the Buccaneers this offseason.

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2019 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at January 6, 2019 5:00 pm

Several NFL teams are currently hunting for a new head coach, and amidst reports about interview requests and potential candidates, it’s easy to lose track of the latest updates in the shuffle. So we’ll use this space – which will be updated until every team has hired a new head coach – to keep track of the most recent news and rumors. It can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “PFR Features.”

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here’s the current breakdown:

[Updated: 2/5/19, 8:17am CT]

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Buccaneers Notes: Bowles, Armstrong

By | at January 6, 2019 4:20 pm

Former Jets head coach Todd Bowles has already been drawing interest as a potential defensive coordinator, and — perhaps unsurprisingly — Bowles’ most likely destination could the Buccaneers, provided that Bruce Arians (currently viewed as the favorite) lands the head coaching job in Tampa Bay, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). If Arians is hired by the Bucs, he’s expected to “get the band back together” by hiring a number of his ex-Cardinals assistants. Bowles served as Arians’ DC in Arizona from 2013-14, leading units which each ranked top-seven in defensive DVOA.

  • If Arians does end up with the Buccaneers, former Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong could take the same role in Tampa Bay, tweets Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Armstrong, who had been Atlanta’s ST coach since 2008, was fired last week as the Falcons cleared out each of their coordinator roles. Based purely on performance, Armstrong posted a strong effort in 2018, as Atlanta ranked 10th in special teams DVOA. The 55-year-old Armstrong took two interviews for the Cardinals’ head coaching job last season, and was one of two candidates Arians personally recommended as a successor (the other being incumbent DC James Bettcher).
  • Speaking of the Falcons, they have officially completed an interview with Darrell Bevell, whom they are considering for their offensive coordinator vacancy, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Bevell, who was out of the NFL in 2018 after being fired by the Seahawks, is one of three candidates known to have interviewed to replace Steve Sarkisian, joining former Titans head coach Mike Mularkey and former Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter. Ex-Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak was also on Atlanta’s list of candidates, but the Broncos reportedly denied permission for an interview.
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Buccaneers Interested In John Harbaugh?

By | at January 6, 2019 1:36 pm

The Buccaneers are the second NFL team — along with the previously-reported Dolphins — which has mulled a trade for Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

Harbaugh, whose contract expires after the 2019 campaign, hasn’t conduced any substantive extension discussions with Baltimore, but reports have indicated he’s still likely to return as the Ravens’ coach next season. However, La Canfora reports many around the NFL feel clubs are “slow-playing” their head coaching searches with the hope that Harbaugh will somehow become available.

The Ravens also need to determine how their new front office and coaching hierarchy will be structured, per La Canfora. Harbaugh has long reported to general manager Ozzie Newsome, but it’s unclear if that setup will continue once new GM Eric DeCosta formally takes over. Therefore, other teams could potentially lure Harbaugh with the idea that he’d report directly to a franchise owner, rather than a personnel executive.

Tampa Bay, for its part, has thus far interviewed four coaches for its vacancy: former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard, and Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards. Arians is currently viewed as the favorite for the position, but the potential availability of Harbaugh could shake up the Buccaneers’ search.

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Latest On Buccaneers’ Coaching Search

By | at January 6, 2019 9:00 am

The Buccaneers will interview Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard for their head coaching vacancy today, per Albert Breer of SI.com. We already heard that Richard would also be interviewing with the Dolphins and Jets today, so his Sunday will be pretty full.

But if Richard is going to land a head coaching gig in 2019, it does not appear that it will be with Tampa Bay. Just yesterday, the team interviewed former Colts and Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, and reports suggested that momentum was building towards a Arians-Bucs union.

Today, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) reports that Arians’ summit with the Buccaneers went very well, and that the 66-year-old could be announced as the team’s next head coach within the next few days. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times posits that no candidate for the Bucs’ job checks as many boxes as Arians, who has something of a reputation as a quarterback whisperer and who may be able to get the most out of Jameis Winston.

Arians stepped down from his Cardinals post after last season, having guided the club to two playoff berths and three 10-win campaigns. He spent the 2018 season working as a broadcaster with CBS.

If the Bucs do end up hiring Arians, they will not owe the Cardinals any compensation.

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Latest On Arians, Bucs

By | at January 5, 2019 6:54 pm

Ever since Bruce Arians stepped away from his job with the Cardinals, his name has been buzzed about as a potential head coaching candidate. He sat out the 2018 season while calling games for CBS, but appears set to return to the sidelines. He’s been publicly lobbying for the Browns’ job for a while now, but has seemingly now set his sights on the Buccaneers’ job. Because Arians retired with time still left on his contract with Arizona, the consensus was that whatever team would want to hire Arians would need to give some compensation to the Cardinals, but that’s apparently not the case, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.

Florio notes in a tweet that the Cardinals would’ve needed to exercise their option on Arians in order to have a claim on him, which they didn’t do. As such, Florio writes in his article that the Buccaneers didn’t even bother to notify the Cardinals they were interviewing him. As of now, Arians seems like a strong favorite to be Jameis Winston‘s next coach.

6 comments Arizona Cardinals Cleveland Browns Denver Broncos Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Packers To Interview Todd Monken

By | at January 5, 2019 2:07 pm

The Packers’ search to find Mike McCarthy‘s replacement has become quite extensive. Another candidate is now in the mix.

Todd Monken will interview for the job on Saturday night, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). This makes nine candidates (so far) on Green Bay’s interview list.

Recently the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, Monken’s docket is filling up fast. He has two interviews scheduled for next week, with the Bengals on Monday and Jets on Tuesday, Fowler adds.

While the Bucs again disappointed, their offense could be counted on for production. Tampa Bay ranked third in total yardage (and 12th in points) this season. No team in the franchise’s 43-season history had previously finished in the top three offensively.

The 2018 season was a critical one for Monken, as he took over play-calling duties for most of the campaign. Dirk Koetter had called plays previously, and did so again briefly this season, but Monken put himself on the map with his work in 2018.

The 52-year-old coach has spent most of his tenure on college staffs but did coach the Jaguars’ wide receivers from 2007-10. After serving as Oklahoma State’s OC for the following two years and then Southern Miss’ head coach over the next three, Monken became the Bucs’ OC. Though, he still served as Tampa Bay’s wideouts coach from 2016-17. Koetter rearranged Monken’s responsibilities in the 2018 offseason, allowing him to focus solely on his OC duties.

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