The Bucc Stops Here

Can someone be so right and so wrong at the same time??

Keenan McCardell….a wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers…is holding out for more money. I know….those greedy athletes!! HONOR YOUR CONTRACT!! In every other sport, I fully agree. But in the NFL, it is part of the game. The NFL is made up of one-sided contracts. You must honor your end of the deal….but the team can break you off whenever they feel like it. So, when a player has a shot at getting a better pay day….you really cannot blame him for going for the gold. I mean, in the NFL, you could be the league MVP one year….then two years later fighting for a job in New York against the top overall pick.

And that is what McCardell is doing. McCardell was the #1 receiver last year….and made it to the Pro Bowl. This season, Keyshawn Johnson is in Dallas….leaving Joey Galloway as the new Buc. Joe Jurevicic is injured. So McCardell, surveying the situation, must think that he has some power….and is trying to up his salary from $2.5M to around $4.5M. Tampa’s not budging. They recently signed Tim Brown to essentially take McCardell’s spot on the field. They are prepared to move on without Keenan.

He’s also claiming that Tampa coach Jon Gruden told him that he would be “taken care of” in the off season. Well, as you may know, the Buccaneers changed their GM….and Gruden is backing off of such claims. Tampa let Warren Sapp walk and cut John Lynch….so it doesn’t look like they’ll be buckling over a 34-year old receiver’s demands.

So this is a huge gamble for McCardell. He wins if he gets his raise or he gets dealt. But, the Buccaneers really aren’t in any hurry to deal him….nor pay him. So, to save face….he may have to sit out this season. And, in effect, what was the point of holding out??? The little extra cheese you wanted on your pizza isn’t gonna do you any good if they won’t deliver to ya!

Sure, Tampa sure could use McCardell in the tough NFC South. But, just as McCardell has the right to hold out….Tampa has the right to leave him out to dry.

Or crawling back with his tail between his legs.