Rumor Mill: Simeon Rice cut

[(Jae)]

No link yet (Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com.)
, but if it turns out true.................for a cheap price, would you take him?


Rice was due to earn a base salary of $7.25 million in 2007, the final year of his contract. Per Glazer, the Bucs asked Rice to take a pay cut, and Rice refused.

Look for Rice to be courted by the Detroit Lions, who are coached by former Bucs defensive line coach Rod Marinelli. Other possibilities (as we see it) are the Bears, Steelers, and Vikings.

[Orange_Beard]

Hell Yes, I would take him. He will not be cheap.

[broncs2bowl]

OH HELL YES!!!!! Bring him in...think about how good he would be for the likes of Dumervil, Moss and Crowder. Hes still easily much better than Ekuban or Lang even with his age

[MechanicalBull]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7064530

As training camps begin, a surprise name has suddenly been added to the open market.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday released Pro Bowl defensive end Simeon Rice, FOXSports.com has learned. In a meeting between Rice and Tampa management, the team asked the 12th-year player out of Illinois to take a pay cut. When Rice refused, the team released him.

The timing is odd, to say the least, as Rice showed up and checked in to Bucs training camp before being called in to the meeting.
The Bucs left open the option for Rice to return, though that does not seem likely at this point.
Rice began his career in Arizona, before moving to Tampa Bay prior to the 2001 season. Rice has recorded double-digit tackles in eight of his 11 pro seasons, including every year from 2001-05. The 32-year-old Rice has also consistently been among the league leaders in forced fumbles. The No. 3 overall pick in the 1996 draft, Rice was a two-time Pro Bowler for the Bucs, making the team in 2003 and 2004.

[eddie mac]

After adding Adams and Kennedy and signing our 3 draft picks I dont think there'll be enough cap room to compete with other teams chasing his signature. He just lost $7m plus for this season and will be looking to get back a lot more than that in a 2-3 yr deal.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Do we really have room for another DL?

[HEAV]

Do we really have room for another DL?

Room for a another average Cleveland Brown ...No. Room for an everydown DE with serious pass rushing abilities... Oh hell yes!

Cut a few guys re-work a deal or three. Rookie cap is set in stone. Give Rice a two to three year deal.

Bates should be screaming for Shanny to get him Rice!

[MechanicalBull]

He is going to be asking for a boat load of money and it's pretty much a pipe dream. I'm not even going to get my hopes up with thoughts of him potentially going to Denver.

[HEAV]

You got yo "Pay" to win, when your playing to win!

[Los Broncos]

I don't think we have enough cap room to sign him.

Even if we did id say pass on him.

Bad teammate.

[MileHighMagic]

I called this in the prediction thread. !Booya!

[scttgrd]

Rumor is he failed a physical, a shoulder injury from last year got him.

Rice Reacts To Cut
Posted July 26, 2007 by Ira Kaufman
Updated Jul 26, 2007 at 07:48 PM

As usual, Simeon Rice was at no loss for words when asked about his release from the Bucs.

“The next step is to let my body heal up and then I’m gonna come back like a maniac,” said Rice, who was on his way to Chicago Thursday evening. “I’m an ageless wonder, and I want to play for someone who will respect me.

“I’m the most consistent thing they ever had over there in Tampa. I played two games more than I had to with one arm. I’m not right yet, but I’ll be right in three or four weeks.

“I know one thing: they got a lot of big shoes to fill right now in Tampa.”

[Broncos_OTM]

those shoes will be filled by there number one.

[broncsyanks]

i will defineately take him. is it a stretch? yes. i dont think we can afford him. but i love the idea of him and dumervill and then sam adams and kennedy on 3rd down pass rushing. pass rush solved

[Victor]

He is a jackass...leave him alone. No thank you.

[DBroncos4life]

Hes 33 years old. Pretty sure hes damn close to being washed up. I'd take Lang and EE at this point. Both younger and cheaper. I think Hugh Douglas when I think about this move.

[Atlas]

Here is a good article on the Rice release.
SoCals link: http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGBGFR15M4F.html

One Thing Is For Sure: Bucs Better Be Right
By JOE HENDERSON

Did the Bucs do right by cutting Simeon Rice?

Well, let's see. They promised all winter that improving the pass rush was their top priority, so the Bucs opened training camp by releasing Simeon Rice.

Come now, you're not really surprised, are you? Remember, this is Buc Think.

Jon Gruden threw 50 times into a hurricane last season at Giants Stadium, so taking the first step on the return to defensive greatness by releasing one of the league's most feared pass rushers isn't really such a stretch now, is it?

Don't tell Gruden I said this, but you can actually make a case for this being a reasonable move. Simeon admits he isn't ready to play and probably would have been a distraction (I know, hard to believe) throughout training camp with hourly updates on his shoulder.

But I'll also say this: Better be right this time, boys.

Better hope he doesn't knock out 15 sacks for some other team.

Let us remember (as if we could forget) that the same people who made this move also said John Lynch was washed up. That's Pro Bowl safety John Lynch, now of the Denver Broncos.

Yes, for those of you sprinting to the e-mail icon on your laptop, we actually do plan to continue reminding Gruden and Bruce Allen of that little miscalculation until eternity expires or Lindsay Lohan orders a ginger ale.

While we're at it, we know this is the last thing Gaines Adams needs to hear right now, but we have to say it anyway.

Kid, congrats on the $46 million contract you signed Thursday but you just got handed a can of "gulp" no rookie should have to drink. So much for a gentle break-in period to adjust to life in the National Football League. Welcome to your new life.

Don't worry if you don't dominate right away. You've got until September before it really matters.

By then, you basically need to be Lee Roy Selmon.

Or at least be Simeon Rice.

Couldn't Get Healthy
Rice's 2006 season ended in November when he was placed on injured reserve, and it probably should have been over before that. A bum shoulder turned his once-ferocious pass rush into something feeble - he had just two sacks - and even extensive rehab this off-season didn't heal it enough for him to play.

At least not here.

He worked out mostly by himself, away from the team, during a minicamp last month. He wouldn't even talk to the media - an absolute first for him. Players and coaches talked about his dedication and how they needed him to come back, but no one actually came out and said he was healthy.

Still, this is Simeon Rice. You make allowances for players like that, if you can.

Most figured, though, that he would continue his rehab through training camp with the goal of being ready for the first regular-season game at Seattle. Absolutely no one thought it would end like this.

Then again, given that the ghost of Lynch forever will hover over this Bucs administration, maybe we should have seen this coming.

Reached by The Tampa Tribune after his release, Rice questioned the head coach's sincerity in graphic terms that only an underground newspaper could print. He vowed to play this season. He vowed …. oh, you know. It's Simeon. He would say anything, and usually did.

He led the league in hot air, but he backed a lot of it up. The Bucs wouldn't have won the Super Bowl without him. Remember his sack of Rich Gannon on Oakland's first drive of that game, right after the Raiders had intercepted Brad Johnson?

Oakland's offensive line was supposed to be adept at protecting Gannon, but that single sack set the tone for an assault on the passer that completely turned the game for the Bucs. He had 15.5 sacks that season. He was never below double-digits in sacks until last year.

Now he is gone.

Cruel Business
Rice takes a seat next to linebacker Shelton Quarles on the curb. That's the way it works in the NFL, especially coming off 4-12. Yesterday's icon is today's occupant of the injured reserve list, and maybe this was just Rice's time. Like I said, you can make a reasonable case for what the Bucs did.

But Allen and Gruden have earned the skepticism coming their way this morning because of the sins of the past, even in a notoriously cruel business like this one.

It sends a message to Brian Kelly, Ronde Barber, and maybe even Derrick Brooks, who was said to be visibly shaken at the news. The message is that your day is coming, guys, and when it does, we promise to say nice things and act real sorry.

Gruden and Allen aren't the only ones in the league who play that game, of course, and maybe there is no easy way to tell a player like Simeon Rice that his time is up.

If it is up.

Nothing stays the same in the NFL, of course, but this was a jolt even by those standards. If Gaines Adams is as good as they say, people will quickly forget this day, or if they speak of it at all they'll say it was the right way to go.

But if the kid struggles and Rice is knocking quarterbacks flat somewhere else, you can imagine what it will be like around here. So we wait. The choice is made. Simeon is gone. It might seem like an odd way to improve your defense, but it is done.

Now they just need to be right.

[cutthemdown]

I'd take him any way we could get him.

[OrangeShadow]

ever here the phrase the more the merrier?

[Dukes]

If Shanny and Ted could work it out, why the hell not?

[Popcorn Sutton]

Go get him Lynch! Tell him what a great place Denver is and what a great organization it is to play for and convince him to take a pay cut and help take the Broncos to the promised land.

Lock it up!

[Mediator12]

IF he is healthy, he would be the best FA pickup this offseason. He defines the one gap RDE that would immediately provide a pass rush every down for this front four. Better than Kearney would have been, better than any other DL available.

However, Getting a guy to put on the PUP until the season starts with a bad shoulder is a huge risk. What if his shoulder goes the Sam Brandon Route? I really do not have a lot of faith in DEN's medical staff and rehab.

Huge Risk/reward type of decision with several promising Rookies and Dumervil to develop at RDE.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Doesn't he have a reputation as a slacker and loose cannon? If he failed a physical, then his skills are likely very diminished. Until he proves he can get and stay healthy, he's just a name.

[dragondawg]

Go get him Lynch! Tell him what a great place Denver is and what a great organization it is to play for and convince him to take a pay cut and help take the Broncos to the promised land.

Lock it up!

yes, lynch is 0-2 in trying to recruit guys this off season like brad johnson and katrick kerney, thirds time the charm, sigh him for 1.5 million for a one year contract

[Victor]

Simeon Rice = IHOP v.2

[Atwater His Ass]

Too risky with the bum shoulder. I'd love to have him, but only with an incentive laden deal to cya incase he can't go. But I don't think that is the kind of deal he'll be looking for.

Although, I can't see many if any teams paying upwards of 10mil a season for a 33 year old DL with a bad shoulder, so maybe at the end of the day, he'll be on the cheap and we could get him.

[orinjkrush]

ask Lynch about his team value. if he's physically able and is affordable, why not?