Bucs Sign Fulton

Xavier Fulton was the first rookie to sign with the Bucs yesterday. His deal is for four years and $1.9-million with a $181,000 bonus check. I guess that number is figured out as a percentage of something else because that’s kind of a weird amount. Fulton was smart here because he doesn’t have a lot of negotiating leverage with his shoulder still recovering from surgery. So he grabbed his bonus and looks like the good soldier for signing so early.

Meanwhile, Stephen Holder of the Times thinks it’s time for the Bucs to start negotiations with Josh Freeman. His argument is that first-round quarterback contracts are usually complicated and have extra incentives built in. He compares Freeman’s position to that of Joe Flacco and Brady Quinn, both of whom were mid-first rounders.

Quinn, who was projected as a top-10 pick, fell to Cleveland at No. 22 but still was the second quarterback chosen. His representatives’ tough bargaining stance resulted in an 11-day holdout. That hampered Quinn in his effort to win the starting job in his battle with Derek Anderson.

Oh no! Not a holdout! Why, Freeman could fall two or three weeks behind in his bench-sitting development. How will he know how to hold a clipboard at exactly the right angle if he isn’t in camp? Please. The Bucs have all the power in this situation and it’s likely the reason they haven’t released Brian Griese yet. There’s absolutely no reason to break the bank on this kid or to rush through a financially suspicious contract just to make sure he gets into camp happy. Some incentives in case he winds up with a lot of playing time are fine, so put them in there as long as they aren’t stupid. If only the Bucs had someone on staff who was really good at managing the financial aspect of player contracts that could hammer this thing out quickly and smartly.

The Bucs fired their General Manager, Bruce Allen, who was responsible for salary cap management and contract negotiations; the tremendous work that Allen did in Tampa Bay wasn’t enough to save his job. … If you’re a club looking for a front office executive, given the job he did in Tampa Bay, Bruce Allen is a name you’d have to seriously consider. The metric that stands out about the Bucs is the fact that they rolled over a whopping $25 million of 2008 cap space; this rollover credit put their 2009 cap in excess of $153 million.

Yeah, a guy like that would be really helpful right about now.

Oh, and congratulations, Xavier. The donate button is at the bottom of the page.