Stecker staying put, too

On the same day the Saints retained receiver Devery Henderson, who the Bucs also were courting, New Orleans was able to hold on to another player who had garnered interest from Tampa Bay: running back Aaron Stecker.

The one-time Buccaneer was the only running back known to have generated serious interest from the Bucs. He accepted a one-year deal worth $1.4-million according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

It's not clear where the Bucs are going to turn to beef up their running back corps, but it's pretty much a forgone conclusion that they don't intend to enter the season with Earnest Graham and Michael Bennett being the only healthy backs with experience on the roster.

Comments

[Kurt]

Fine with me.

[Michael Singleton]

THe Bucs need to go after Julius Jones I think that he would be a great fit in the offense and there doesn't seem to be to much interest in him out there.

[Jay]

Any word on whether or not Warrick Dunn will be cut in Atlanta? I consider him a better candidate than Stecker.

[Skylar]

Jones will probably be too pricey for and not want a backup role. Graham is the starter. Dunn or someone of his caliber would be nice.

[John S.]

There's been a lot of complaining about the Bucs being seemingly inactive, but I like the way they're going about it. Stecker was simply going to be added depth that could be filled with Jesse Chatman, Maurice Hicks, Derrick Ward, etc. And Henderson does have speed, but is terribly inconsistent. The one year deal allows him to work in a system he's comfortable in, work on his game some more, and come out again next year. Not a big loss. Clayton seemed to be gaining his confidence again towards the end of the year, and I think he'll be a surprise next season. If they can't find the speed at WR they want in FA, there is plenty of it available in the draft.

[Joe Simmons (Slow Joe)]

Henderson drives Sean Payton mad with his drops. Who needs that here? I have no idea where Steck would have fit in here. I'm personally glad that neither of them were signed.

Julius Jones has questionable hands and doesn't run well between the tackles. He is explosive, but really no more of a threat than Michael Bennett.

Personally, I think a two-headed attack of Graham and Bennett (with a full training camp) will be good for the Bucs. If Caddy can come back to his rookie form, we'll be stacked at the position. If BJ Askew can come back 100% healthy at fullback, I'll really like our backfield.

Any further running back depth should be acquired in the draft, in my opinion.

[Jason]

I can't say I totally agree with everything said above.
I think we do need to go get another pro to battle for the starting position. Nothing against Graham he was awesome, but it never hurts have competition in camp.
I think every position should be won in camp, and never just handed to the highest paid guy. With that said I would really like to see the Bucs go after Micheal Turner and Lorenzo Neal. As we saw last year you can never have to many quality players. We should also draft a upper mid round RB.