2005-06-22

The Rumor Mill

Katherine Smith at the Tribune confirms what I wrote yesterday, the rumors have been flying about Kenyatta Walker being cut from the team.

A fair point is raised that the same rumors where out there at this point last season, but (as I mentioned in my previous post) the cap numbers dictate that the Bucs cut someone else besides Stinchcomb, Stuessie and Garner.
"I'm still standing,'' [Walker] said. "I think last year I proved a lot to myself. Everything was against me. Everyone had turned their backs on me. I just had to go deep inside and learn to fight. There's a lot of things from last year that I don't want to be. It angered me a lot, which keeps me going. "

To his credit Walker's play did pick up last season, and he was one of the most consistent guys on the o-line. Of course, that has more to with the poor quality of play on the o-line, than it does with Walker's ability. If the Bucs can't restructure his contract then Walker will most likely be cut.

Additionally, both Garner and Stuessie where excused from practice on Tuesday. Garner is still rehabbing from a knee injury and Stuessie was excused for personal reasons. Now I don't know the details behind these situations, but Clayton, Galloway and Brackins all showed up for practice although they where recovering from injury. Contact is banned from these practices and neither of these three guys went full speed. Maybe Garner's knee injury is worse than the injuries Clayton, Galloway and Brackins suffered or maybe Garner was already filling his unemployment papers out, either way I don't see Garner sticking around for another week.

As for Steussie, Mike Alstott was also excused for personal reasons from the morning practice, but he showed up for the afternoon practice. Once again, I don't know the details behind Steussie's situation, but I wouldn't be surprised if his agent was already shopping his client around to other teams.

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