TAMPA - Here's what is breaking up the Bucs. Since 2001, Tampa Bay has acquired just two starters from the NFL draft: Dwight Smith and Kenyatta Walker.
The best find of those draft classes might be Jermaine Phillips, a fifth-rounder from Georgia in '02 who will attempt to take over this season for safety John Lynch.
Meanwhile, Walker is headed to the bench or out of town, replaced by free-agent Todd Steussie.
Having traded two first-round picks and two second-rounders to the Raiders for coach Jon Gruden, the Bucs botched the '02 draft by selecting receiver Marquise Walker and running back Travis Stephens with their first picks in the third and fourth rounds. Neither played much. They were released after one season.
Of the 23 selections since '01, two were starters, 10 were backups for the Bucs last season, three were with other teams and eight were out of the NFL.
"A lot of first- and second-round draft choices aren't here," Gruden said.
"Regan Upshaw, Marcus Jones, Warrick Dunn, the four picks they gave up for me and two for Keyshawn (Johnson), the one (used to) trade up for Kenyatta Walker and trading up for Cosey Coleman. There's a lot of players who aren't in our media guide anymore.
"When you couple that with all the players we've lost to free agency - like Warrick Dunn and Donnie Abraham and (Jamie) Duncan and (Al) Singleton and Dexter Jackson, Nate Webster and (Warren) Sapp and losing John Lynch - hell, if you don't have those guys on the back end and you're losing these guys on this end, where exactly are your players coming from?"
Free agency, of course, where general manager Bruce Allen has signed 20 players and traded Johnson for Joey Galloway.
"I credit Bruce for bringing the number of players he has, given the salary-cap room that we did have," Gruden said.
But if the Bucs are going to retool, Allen will need a great draft in 2004.
Of course, since Allen didn't arrive until most of the advance scouting had been done, the blame will fall on scouting director Ruston Webster if things don't pan out. Webster's contract expires in June.
SECOND OPINION: Among the more interesting facets of Lynch's departure is how the Bucs informed the 11-year safety that he might not pass a physical.
Lynch had offseason surgery to remove bone fragments from his neck, the cause of recurring loss of strength and numbness in his arms. Dr. Robert Watkins, who performed the surgery, furnished a letter to the Bucs and other teams indicating Lynch was at no greater risk of a neck injury than any other player.
But when Lynch was injured, the Bucs had no problem clearing him medically to play nearly every Sunday.
"You would be accurate saying it was a bit of concern, from their standpoint," Lynch said at the time of his release.
According to ESPN.com, Lynch would not have passed the physical of at least one team he visited after his release.
"We obviously took a physical on him," Jets coach Herm Edwards said. "We felt good enough to say, hey, if the doctors passed him, and they did, that we should be okay. I think he's going to be okay because he played hurt all year."
Teams view medical information differently. But it's almost always the call of the person running the football operation whether a player passes or fails. In this case, that was Allen and Gruden, who only wanted Lynch as a backup to Phillips.
Denver felt confident enough in Lynch to sign him to a three-year, $9.26-million deal, including a $2.5-million bonus.
LAST WORD: Gruden on the leadership void with the loss of Lynch and Sapp: "It's not like we had our heart removed. We lost great players, but we've still got some very dynamic leaders there. And I think we'll see the emergence of others now."
