After deciding they had seen enough of Keyshawn's antics, the Bucs bid farewell to their talented receiver. Donald Miralle/Getty Images

In the final analysis, here's what the defending Super Bowl champion Bucs lost Tuesday when they shelved three-time Pro Bowl receiver Keyshawn Johnson for the rest of this season, in effect ending his at times tempestuous Tampa Bay tenure:

• They lost a player who as recently as Monday morning put himself into final-straw territory by blowing off the team's mandatory day-after-the-game routine of weightlifting, running and meeting with his receivers coach. That despite Bucs head coach Jon Gruden repeatedly reminding his players of those duties amid the gloom of Sunday's losing locker room, after Tampa Bay's potentially season-killing game against Green Bay.

• They lost the sometimes imperial figure who decided on his own to stay in California after a recent game in San Francisco, missing the team flight home in order to log some extra time at his offseason home near Los Angeles. Johnson, who asked his position coach for permission to stay in California, but apparently never approached Gruden with the request, returned to Tampa on his own Tuesday night.

• They lost the one-time go-to receiver who, with the Bucs leading by 21 points and five minutes remaining in last month's Monday night meltdown against Indianapolis, removed himself from the game with a thigh bruise and headed for the locker room. By the time Tampa Bay players finished their historic collapse in overtime and entered the locker room, there sat the somewhat chagrined Johnson, dressed and showered. He, like several other Bucs players on the sideline, assumed the Colts were finished when he called it a night with an injury he admittedly would have played through if the score had been closer.

• And they lost a veteran player who has been known to dog it at times during practices and walk-throughs, and give something less than his full undivided attention (feet propped up, head drooping) in team meetings. And that doesn't even address Johnson's disturbing penchant for lining up in the wrong spots during a game from time to time.

In short, what the Bucs decided they could live without on Tuesday was a player who never really bought into Gruden's program in Tampa Bay, and showed every indication that he didn't really want to be there. While no one disputes that Johnson played hard when he was on the field on game day, his dedication to both his craft and his team were found sorely lacking among members of the Bucs organization.

Are the Bucs a better team without Johnson? Certainly not. But the consensus within the front office and the locker room seems to be that they're better off. At least chemistry-wise. Call it your basic addition by subtraction.

Let's examine the deterioration of the relationship between Jon Gruden and Keyshawn Johnson. Surely, for a standout player to be deactivated with six games remaining, there had to be an incendiary incident that served as the last straw. Did they engage in a screaming match, or cuss one another out in front of the team? What really went down to make Johnson's status such an urgent matter? Click here for full story.

In some ways, Gruden never really had a chance with Johnson. First and foremost because he wasn't Bill Parcells. When the Bucs were in the midst of their very messy and transparent courtship of Parcells in January 2002, it was Johnson, the former Parcells favorite as a Jet, leading the cheers and leaking the news that the Tuna was on the way.

When the Parcells hiring fell through, and the Bucs eventually hired Gruden away from Oakland, Johnson, team sources say, reacted as if Tampa Bay had received nothing more than a consolation prize.

And despite Gruden's best attempts to work with his mercurial and outspoken receiver, and make use of his talents in the game plan, there was mutual distaste between the two men. Gruden is a huge fan of Bucs receivers Keenan McCardell and Joe Jurevicius, who play a gritty, tough style of game that reflects their head coach's fiery temperament.

Johnson? He was never on the same page as Gruden, and their personal relationship was combustible to say the least. Johnson's actions repeatedly showed a lack of respect for Gruden -- from the two's sideline shouting match against the Rams last season to Johnson's near-constant lobbying for more passes his way. And on Tuesday, the frustrated head coach decided enough was enough.

"In the end, Gruden did what he had to do,'' said one member of the Bucs organization. "He's not taking it from anybody. If one guy runs though you, they all run through you. That said, he wasn't just trying to send a message. The season means too much to him to just do this to send a message.''

Maybe so. But let's not kid ourselves. Gruden's decision to do without Johnson for the season's final six games, despite Tampa Bay needing to win at least five of those to have any prayer of making the playoffs, will send a resounding message throughout the Bucs' locker room.

It'll be interpreted along these lines: "There's the door, gentlemen. Now, is there anyone else itching to leave? Just let me know and it can be arranged.''

In other words, if you and the head coach can't get along, you better start preparing to move along. Because with that still shiny Super Bowl ring on his finger, he isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

No one should overreact to Johnson's departure. The timing of it was stunning, but not the fact that he's no longer in the team's plans after four years in town. It was clear that he intended to force the issue this offseason, and find his way out of Tampa Bay come hell or high water.

The Bucs just expedited the process for him six games early. A trade obviously will be their first option of parting ways with Johnson, and there should be teams interested in bartering. Those that come quickly to mind are Dallas (where a certain Mr. Parcells is now the head coach), Oakland (where Johnson has always said he'd like to play at some point in his career), New England (where former Jets assistant Bill Belichick wins without a marquee receiver) and San Francisco (which figures to be in the market for free-agent-to-be Terrell Owens' replacement).

The worst thing you can say from the Bucs end of things is that Tuesday's move was mighty curious for a 4-6 team that still dreams of sneaking into the playoffs. With Jurevicius just having returned to the field Sunday and still not 100 percent, and McCardell having his own minor health issues, Tampa Bay could be leaving itself quite thin down the stretch at a key position. They need the likes of Charles Lee and Karl Williams to step up and help replace Johnson's production.

But give Gruden credit for this much: He figured he had little to lose at this point, given Johnson seemed as if he checked out on this season a while back. Maybe, just maybe, this is the jolt that Gruden's wildly schizophrenic Bucs needed weeks ago.

Tampa Bay hasn't won much with Johnson this season, it might as well try to win without him.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.