The Buccaneers have re-signed 27-year old OG Davin Joseph and 28-year old OT Jeremy Trueblood.  Joseph played in 11 games (all starts) for the Bucs last year.  He has now played in 68 games (67 starts) in his first five years with the Bucs.  Joseph is especially adept at run blocking as he has a nasty disposition.  Trueblood played in 14 games (7 starts) for the Bucs last year.  He has now played in 77 games (68 starts) in his first five years with the Bucs.  These were outstanding moves for the Bucs as Joseph and Trueblood will be able to protect Josh Freeman for the next few years.

The Buccaneers have signed 29-year old punter Michael Koenen to a 6-year, $19.5 million dollar deal.  Koenen played in 16 games for the Falcons last year and he punted the ball 74 times for 3,014 yards (40.7 avg).  He had only 5 touchbacks (6.8%) and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 29 times (39.2%) last year.  Koenen has now played in 96 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has punted the ball 440 times for 18,501 yards (42.0 avg).  He also has 32 touchbacks (7.3%) and 150 punts downed inside the opposing 20-yard line (34.1%).  The fact the Koenen has had six punts blocked and that he has 22 tackles in his career makes you wonder why the Bucs gave him such a nice contract.  Koenen has made 4 of 13 field goals (30.8%) and he has also made all four of his extra point attempts, good for 16 points.  He could help the Bucs out on long range field goals if the need it.

The Buccaneers have re-signed 27-year old linebacker Quincy Black to a 5-year, $29 million dollar deal.  Black played in 11 games for the Bucs last year and he had 62 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.  He has now played in 58 games in his first four years with the Buccaneers and he has 189 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 7 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The Buccaneers plan appears to be to re-sign their own free agents rather than bringing in new players.  I think they overpaid a little bit for Black.

James Wilder was a darn good RB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  He played in 113 games in his 9 years with the Bucs and he carried the ball 1,575 times for 5,957 yards (3.8 ypc) with 37 TD runs.  He also caught 430 passes for 3,492 yards (8.1 avg) with 9 TD grabs with the Bucs.  Wilder’s best season with the Buccaneers by far came back in 1984.  Wilder played in all 16 games for the Bucs in 1984 and he carried the ball 407 times for 1,544 yards (3.8 ypc) with 13 TD runs.  He also caught 85 passes for 685 yards (8.1 avg) that year.  Wilder only went to 1 Pro Bowl with the Bucs and he only rushed for over 1,000 yards two times, but he is still the team’s all time rushing leader and he has also caught the most passes in team history.  Wilder is also #2 in rushing TDs (behind Mike Alstott who had 58 of them) and he’s #6 in receiving yards in Bucs’ history.  James Wilder made his mark in team history as he gives Bucs’ RBs some numbers to shoot for.