Playing charades?

Raiders say Bucs have yet to inquire about Gruden

Jon Gruden converses with officials during the Raiders' Week 17 loss to the Jets. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated

While reports surfaced Monday night and Tuesday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had begun their anticipated last-ditch attempt to acquire the rights to Oakland head coach Jon Gruden, there continues to be very little chance that the two sides will strike a deal -- and thus block the Bucs' expected hiring of Baltimore defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

In fact, Raiders senior assistant Bruce Allen on Tuesday said nobody from Tampa Bay has made contact with him or anyone in the Oakland organization regarding a trade involving Gruden.

"There have been no negotiations," Allen told CNNSI.com on Tuesday, shortly after arriving in Honolulu for Saturday's Pro Bowl. "There's nothing going on here involving Jon Gruden and Tampa Bay. I think this is a bit of a charade. I think they have the guy they want to hire in their sights.

"There was a league meeting on Saturday at the Super Bowl, and [Bucs general manager] Rich McKay and the Glazers [the Bucs owners] were there, as we were, but the subject of Jon Gruden never came up. People are talking trades within the league, but none of them involve Jon."

While reports say the Bucs have a number of potential packages to offer Oakland in exchange for Gruden, who is entering the final year of his five-year contract, Allen said he doesn't believe the Raiders are entertaining the notion of trading their lame-duck head coach.

When asked if he knew of any Wednesday deadline that the Bucs had set for either striking a deal for Gruden or moving on to hiring Lewis, Allen said: "What's today? Tuesday? That means tommorrow is the deadline and I haven't heard anything. You tell me."

Since late last week, McKay has been taking steps toward the hiring of Lewis as Tony Dungy's replacement. But Bryan and Joel Glazer, the sons of owner Malcolm Glazer, wanted McKay to exhaust all possibilities of acquiring Gruden before entering into the final stages of the Lewis hiring. While McKay decided as early as last Friday that he would recommend Lewis for the job, and this week has worked on issues regarding the composition of Lewis' coaching staff, the Glazers' desire for Gruden has remained a hurdle for McKay to overcome.

Gruden's agent, Bob LaMonte, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But he has been adamantly calling for the Raiders to strike a deal with Tampa Bay for Gruden, because he says his client has no intention of re-signing with Oakland after his contract lapses in early 2003.

"I was with Jon [on Monday] in the office, and we were talking about personnel issues for next season," Allen said. "That's the only topic that came up."

Left unsaid in anyone's timetable is how the Bucs and Gruden could be expected to come to a long-term contract agreement -- which would be part of any trade negotiation -- before Tampa Bay's reported Wednesday deadline.

The Bucs have a Wednesday deadline because several potential members of Lewis' proposed assistant coaching staff are under pressure to let their current employers know if a move to Tampa Bay is in their future.

Lewis's biggest decision regarding his staff is who to hire as offensive coordinator. His first choice, Cleveland receivers coach Terry Robiskie, was not met with enthusiasm by McKay and Bucs officials and is no longer under consideration. Potential candidates include former Carolina offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and Pittsburgh quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, who also is under consideration for the vacant Buffalo offensive coordinator post.

According to a Tampa Bay source, the Bucs' new offensive line coach also is expected to be Jets offensive line coach Bill Muir.

McKay also has made it clear to Lewis that he wants to keep as much of the Bucs incumbent defensive staff together as possible. Either defensive line coach Rod Marinelli or defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin might emerge as Lewis' defensive coordinator. It was previously thought that Kiffin would retain that role, but that is now in question.

The Indianapolis Colts have offered Marinelli their defensive coordinator position, under Dungy, the Bucs' former head coach. But Tampa Bay wants to retain Marinelli, and may elevate him in order to accomplish that.

Meanwhile, former San Diego offensive coordinator Norv Turner officially fell out of contention for the Bucs head coaching job Tuesday when, in an anticipated move, he accepted Miami's offensive coordinator position. The Bucs' other known interviewed candidate, Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, also is no longer a serious candidate for the Tampa Bay opening.

 

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