At This Rate, Bucs Will Need To Look Within "Open for business." Those are words Jon Gruden used the morning after the Bucs had been eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Giants. They had all this salary cap room. The mind raced at the possibilities - game-breaking wide receivers, maybe a dominating running back. We're a week into free agency, though, and business is lousy. The Bucs have been the equivalent of underwear, socks and a sloppy kiss from Aunt Tilley on Christmas morning. After all that buildup, the best you've got is Jeff Faine and Brian Griese? Well, every team needs a center, and Faine is supposed to be a good one; he better be, for what the Bucs are paying for him. And after two seasons of angst over the thought of Bruce Gradkowski or Luke McCown just one snapped knee away from the huddle, it's difficult to be critical of signing Griese. Other than that, though, one potential game-breaker after another has signed elsewhere and there aren't many left. A lot of them have talked with the Bucs, but for whatever reason didn't sign. While we pondered this during a question-and-answer session Wednesday with General Manager Bruce Allen, we heard these two words: Chad Lucas. Don't know how others will interpret that, but to me it sounded an awful lot like the official announcement of Plan B. Paraphrasing, Allen basically said it would be a mistake to dismiss outright the current occupants of the receiving depth chart. He mentioned Maurice Stovall, Michael Clayton, Ike Hilliard. And he mentioned Chad Lucas. Lucas caught five passes last season for the Bucs. He is supposed to have some of the elements they're looking for in a receiver - speed, primarily. As best anyone can tell though, his primary value is running back kicks and stuff like that. Of course, we thought the same thing about Earnest Graham until fate left Gruden with no choice but to put him in the lineup, where he promptly ran for 898 yards and 10 touchdowns. Donald Penn was never supposed to play last year but was thrown in at left tackle because an injury knocked Luke Petitgout out for the season. Penn played just fine. Greg White was a no-name guy from the Arena League who became an impact player because Gruden's brother, Jay, bugged him into giving White a chance. It's worth asking how many other surprises are lurking at the bottom of the depth chart. A guy like Maurice Stovall can't seem to get on the field for Gruden, but why couldn't he be the receiving equivalent of Earnest Graham? We'll never know until we see him play more often. A lot more questions like this will need to be asked if the Bucs are unable to attract the kind of impact help they need either through free agency or the draft. Gruden will have to go against his nature and maybe give some unproven guys a chance. They won't all work out, but we do know that running the same group of receivers out there next season won't be good enough. Allen made a reasonable point. "Free agency will end when we go to training camp," he said. "I think you have to look at the next several weeks before you grade free agency." And, he added, "I think the big deals are yet to come." It's not too early to make contingency plans, though. If all this salary cap room can buy is a choice between boxers, briefs or Faine, it will fall back on Gruden to make some choices that go against his nature. It seems like every time the Bucs sign a Ken Darby, for instance, they tell us how talented he is but then he never seems to play. Kind of like Earnest Graham. It is worth remembering Jeff Garcia's words the morning after the playoff loss to the Giants. "There are players in this locker room that can make plays," he said. "It's about putting them in position and believing in them and giving them the confidence that they can go out there and make the plays. And some of those guys are young guys. I think Maurice Stovall and Michael Clayton have the potential and the means within themselves to really continue to grow and be contributors in a major way. But a lot of that has to do with being confident in those guys." You'd still like to see some actual game-breakers sign, but that hasn't happened and it may not. With the business climate at One Buc Place these days, wouldn't it be bizarre if the best additions to the offense turned out to be guys who were already there? Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune 10 March 2008