Bruce Allen Said Some Things About Stuff

Bruce Allen spoke briefly with the media about various topics, one of which was Chris Simms.

General manager Bruce Allen indicated he has not talked to any teams about trading Simms at the NFL owners meeting, nor given Simms' agent permission to begin that dialogue.

He went on to say that Chris is healthy and that he isn't worried about him not showing up to the offseason program, and basically did the thing where he says a lot of words and then you leave and think, "Wait, did he really say anything?" and of course the answer is a resounding "maybe". To me, this is all draft day posturing to try and deal Simms in a trade and maybe recover that sixth rounder he gave up for Brian Griese. However...

But several general managers indicated that because Simms hasn't played a regular-season game in 17 months since a splenectomy, he has no trade value.

I happen to think that the general managers Rick Stroud spoke to are playing the same game Allen is playing. Allen indicates that Simms isn't going anywhere, all the general managers who need a quarterback say they didn't want him anyway, and on draft day they all come together and make something happen.

Speaking of quarterbacks in flux, there's a message board rumor that Jake Plummer is trying to work out a deal with the Texans for a trade. No one I know has any knowledge of this, and Houston already has three quarterbacks, although they are willing to deal Sage Rosenfels. The Buccaneers have already filed their grievance to reclaim the $7 million that Plummer would owe for breach of contract, so maybe he's finally deciding that he doesn't really want to write that check? Something to keep your eye on, anyway.

Allen said some other stuff, too, none of which was really that informative. Apparently there will be an open competition between Luke Petitgout and Donald Penn for the left tackle spot.

At the critical left tackle spot, which protects Garcia's blind side, Allen said Luke Petitgout is "doing well, very well in fact," after tearing his ACL in Week 4. "And Donald Penn is not going to shy away from competition."

But you kind of assumed that, right? For an undrafted free agent who was kind of put on the spot, Penn did very well. Petitgout is probably still better, but it's going to be one of the main competitions in training camp.

And finally...

Veteran RB Michael Pittman still hasn't signed a free-agent contract with another club. Although Allen didn't discount the possibility of Pittman rejoining the Bucs, he said, "I think we're comfortable with the group we have right now."

Sigh. Is Byron Storer really a better choice for a backup fullback than Pittman? I guess he's considerably cheaper, but I just can't believe there's not a role for Pittman somewhere on the team. I hope he lands with someone who will give him a good opportunity.