The NFL draft begins tonight live from New York City. That means football junkies who've been in hibernation since the Baltimore Ravens outlasted the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl nearly three months ago can plan on camping in front of their television sets over the next three nights and nerd out.
However there won't be much going on for Tampa Bay Buc fans tonight – at least not as scheduled – after Tampa Bay traded their first-round choice on Sunday to the New York Jets (along with a 2014 pick) for the very desirable Darrelle Revis, the three-time All-Pro cornerback, who promptly signed a six-year contract with the team for $96 million. Seriously.
As you probably know, the Bucs were truly the only team who was ever in the mix for the disenchanted defensive star. That's because of his contract demands (the Bucs were severely under the salary cap and had tens of millions of dollars free to spend), and the fact that the need for a quality defensive back was paramount for coach Greg Schiano. Local sportswriters consider it one of the biggest deals in the history of the Buc franchise, but it could possibly blow up in the team's face. How so?
Two words. Nnamdi Asomugha. That was the Oakland Raider all-pro cornerback who was considered the game's best just a couple of years ago. As a free-agent, he was signed to a huge contract by the Philadelphia Eagles. Then after last season, the Eagles cut Asomugha.
Now, Revis is better than Asomugha. But he's also coming off ACL surgery. Sure, he says he'll make a complete comeback. But will he?
And by the way, just in case you've forgotten how violent pro football is, you should check out USA Today's story yesterday on Brad Johnson, the 44-year-old former quarterback when the Bucs won the Super Bowl a decade ago.
In other news: There was a discussion about getting Cuba off the terrorist list yesterday in Tampa. Hardliner Ralph Fernandez turned some heads when he said he wouldn't be opposed now to ending the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba.
Speaking of Cuba, Kathy Castor has penned a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry about why the U.S. government should change its current, well 51-year-old old policy towards the communist island.
Will the Florida Legislature seriously end their regular session next week without addressing Medicaid expansion? Pasco County GOP House member Mike Fasano has proposed an amendment to support state Senator Joe Negron's hybrid plan – nine Democrats are supporting the Fasano's amendment, which will come up for a vote either today or tomorrow.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2013.