Deese among cuts; Gooch on IR

Injured offensive lineman Derrick Deese is out as the Bucs trim their roster to 53.

By RICK STROUD
Published September 4, 2005

TAMPA - The oldest team in the NFL last season has had a facelift and many of the wrinkles are gone.

Trading graybeards for peach fuzz, the Bucs looked considerably younger when their 53-man roster was announced Saturday.

Tampa Bay kept 11 of 12 players from the 2005 draft class while releasing tackle Derrick Deese and placing linebacker Jeff Gooch on injured reserve with a torn calf muscle he suffered Aug. 27 in a preseason game at Miami.

"Our goal has been to make sure we could have a team we could build around, to be around these coaches and learn Day 1 from them," general manager Bruce Allen said Saturday. "That's been the objective. And I think we have the same amount of second-year players on this team as we do first-year players. The process will continue and the nice part of it is there's still the core of those champions here that these young guys can play with."

More than a fifth of Tampa Bay's players are rookies, and 21 have two years or less of NFL experience. But Allen warned the Bucs are likely to pluck a few players off the waiver wire before the Sept. 11 opener at Minnesota. One player the Bucs might target is receiver/punt returner Mark Jones, who was released Saturday by the Giants and was a seventh-round pick of the Bucs in '04.

"We feel good we have 46 guys we know we would dress to play the Vikings," Allen said. "We just have to see what else is out there. We've gotten about 18 of the teams' cuts right now. We're going to work (Saturday) night making sure we know everybody who's on the wire."

The personnel decisions revealed by Allen include:

The Bucs kept seven receivers, including three rookies - former Gaither High star J.R. Russell, Paris Warren and Larry Brackins.

Veteran Matt Bryant won the place-kicking job over Todd France on the strength of his kickoffs.

The only draft pick released was safety Hamza Abdullah, a seventh-round choice from Washington State.

For the second straight season, the Bucs kept three fullbacks, including seventh-round pick Rick Razzano.

Deese, 35, missed nearly all of training camp and four preseason games with a recurring left foot injury. The Bucs have cleared him to play and Allen indicated Deese might file a grievance claiming he is injured and should've received a settlement or been placed on injured reserve.

"Really, what took place is he missed so much of training camp," Allen said. "He got so far behind that it was too late to probably try and come back at this point. There's a discrepancy between the two parties on the injury, maybe. But we feel he's cleared to play right now.

"Anthony Davis did a very good job and Todd Steussie is playing his more natural position. That's why we made the move."

Deese's release came four days after the Bucs cut running back Charlie Garner and added to the team's salary cap woes. Allen said Tampa Bay has about $9-million in "dead money" on the salary cap for '05, somewhere near the middle among NFL teams. The Bucs are slightly less than $20-million over the cap for '06.

It also means the Bucs haven't gotten much in return for the $10.246-million they spent in bonus money on their three highest-paid free agents in '04: Deese ($2.546-million signing bonus), Garner ($3.7-million) and Steussie ($4-million), who was released at the start of training camp but re-signed for the veteran minimum of $765,000.

"Steussie is here, so that is working out," Allen said. "Charlie's injury is Charlie's injury. Jeff Gooch being injured, that's a shame. It's disappointing for him and us. But that's the nature of the game."

Bryant, 30, who hit a 52-yard field goal Thursday against the Texans, went 4-of-5 in the preseason. His only miss was a 53-yarder against Jacksonville. But he might have won the job based on the depth of his kickoffs.

"Let me first say we liked them both and Todd (France) did a very good job for us," Allen said. "Matt showed a lot, not only on kicking field goals, but on kickoffs. His kickoffs measured out considerably better and his power gave us great comfort. They're both in a very good groove right now and we just felt we ought to go with Matt."

The Bucs select an eight-man practice squad after players clear waivers at noon today. Safety Claudius Osei, an international player, will remain as the ninth practice squad player and ineligible to play.

Allen seemed pleased about the youth movement.

"We're happy; I think it's a credit to those players who worked so hard," Allen said. "I discussed it before. They stayed here during the off-season when people were gone trying to improve themselves and in different ways, each of them showed up whether it was in training camp or the preseason games. And they've earned their right to be here right now."

[Last modified September 4, 2005, 01:21:27]