Filed under: Buccaneers, NFC South
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers committed to a youth movement in 2009, but that does not include the veteran cornerback Ronde Barber. He is too good, too valuable, to be swept out the door, so far.Coach Raheem Morris told Rick Stroud of The St. Petersburg Times that Barber, 35, was going to return for his 15th season in 2011. It is not a gift to a player, who is about the same age as the head coach. There is no room for that in the NFL.
Rather, Barber is a better alternative that youngsters E.J. Biggers and Myron Lewis. Barber had three interceptions and played solid against the run. He was also a leader who knew where he fit and what was expected.
Now, just one problem. Barber needs to be signed. He is a free agent, but there are free agents all over the NFL with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire March 4.
Morris has been known to fire quick from the hip with his comments, but there had to be some cause for his comments.
"He's coming back," Morris told The Times. "He's playing. Now it's just a matter of what he's playing for. I'm really confident that he's playing, and I feel great about it."
Barber had played in 208 games. He is not only skilled; he is reliable. When starting cornerback Aqib Talib went down with a hip injury against the Falcons on Nov. 7, and other starts began dropping like flies, Barber picked up the pace of his play. He was not some doddering old man.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
ACCENTURE ACER ADOBE SYSTEMS ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS ALLTEL AMAZONCOM AMERICA MOVIL AMKOR TECHNOLOGY
No comments:
Post a Comment