Bucs cut Petitgout; add FB Runnels

The Bucs have released offensive tackle Luke Petitgout from the Physically Unable to Perform list. Petitgout, a 10-year NFL veteran who signed with the Bucs in 2007, played in only four games for the team.

Petitgout was the Bucs' starting left tackle in 2007 before he suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Panthers in the fourth week of the season. Heading into this year, the Bucs expected Petitgout to compete with Donald Penn for the starting left tackle spot, but Petitgout was slow to recover from the injury.

His release adds another dubious chapter in the history of the Bucs' efforts to upgrade at left tackle, the line's most critical position. Petitgout signed a three-year, $15-million contract that included a $3-million signing bonus. In the past, the Bucs have had failed experiments with Todd Steussie, Derrick Deese and Torrin Tucker, each a free agent tackle who had a short tenure with the team.

The release of Petitgout means the Bucs will have to make do with their current crop of linemen, leaving them a bit thin at tackle. Anthony Davis has prior experience starting there and long-shot Dennis Roland now might have a better chance of making the final roster.

The Bucs signed J.D. Runnels, a third-year fullback out of Oklahoma, with Petitigout's open roster spot.

Runnels (5-foot-11, 237 pounds) was a sixth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 2006. He played sparingly in his first season there. Runnels spent last season on injured reserve with an injured knee and was released by the Bears this summer.

(Pictured - Luke Petitgout (Times photo - Brendan Fitterer) and J.D. Runnels, Getty Images.)

Comments

[Jay]

What's the scouting report on Runnels hands and speed?

[ben bolt fan]

Now the depth at left tackle is very week. The o-line could have been great if this guy tried to come back and play.

[Kevinmills]

All signs point to Donald Penn. I would guess this means the Bucs are Happy with him and he has won the job.

In addition there has been nothing but raves about Zuttah so I imagine he might be backing up Penn.

Interesting about Penn. His name didnt get called a lot, that is a good thing. According to Stats.com Penn only committed one holding in 12 games and gave up 6.5 sacks.

The sack number isnt that high. Elite tackles give up between 3-6 over the whole season (from what I can tell). He kind of came out of nowhere but hopefully a year of experience and training camp will only make him better.

[Matthew Cox]

The O-line could have been great if he tried to come back and play and was capable of playing at the level he previously had. I sincerely doubt that was the case, so he would have weakened the ability of the line. Penn acquitted himself well last year and I'm sure there will be players added for depth in the near future

[Jim]

I would venture to say that at least Part of this has to come from the play of Zuttah,... the bucs must really feel he could step in and play anywhere..

[jonh]

Thats a shame he really could have helped us if healthy.I wish we would have signed chris henry instead of the fb.

[Max]

I don't understand why Gruden didn't just pickup one-more-quarterback "with Petitigout's open roster spot."

[mike j]

Id think Davis will be the back-up at OLT. Zut is already learning three spots; hard to imagine his backing up the whole line.
Another FB?? I wonder why Gruden doesnt seriously cross-train a TE or 2 at the position. I think teams run better out of the four-wide/one-back set anyway.

[aaron]

once again gruden/allen has failed us. another waste free agent. in addition to this we drafted, in the 3rd round, someone we knew would not start. a back up. nothing against Zuttah, but we have gaurds and a damn good back up, Dan Beunning. why didnt we draft a LT in the 3rd? there were many good LT's in this draft. another nice couple of moves by Allen. Hey he is good with money but is piss poor at calling the final shot on personell.

[john]

Guys were fine at the o line we have plenty of depth there.Im just worried about wr.I still think we should sign chris henry.

[Stephen_Holder]

I don't want to speak for Jim, but I believe his reference to Zuttah might stem from a recent story we wrote in which Gruden mentioned the option of moving Sears or Joseph to tackle in a pinch. They have that option, he said, because Zuttah has figured things out so quickly. He can play guard and center proficiently, so if one of the interior guys moved outside, they'd be okay with it. Now, my concern about that would be that neither Sears nor Joseph has played outside since college. Seems like they'd be asking a lot of them to step in and play tackle at this level without ever having done it. But what do I know?

[The LastWalshPick]

15 Million? For four games? That's FUBR That is why N.Y. released Pettigout. Tampa Bay signed their sloppy seconds.
Here is Garcia taking the Bucs to the playoffs and he can't even get his 2 million bonus. Damn, you guys need Eddy DeBartolo and Carmen Policy to pick and choose good talent.

That's how they became a dynasty. Now that they're gone from that organization, it's turned very sour.

[The LastWalshPick]

We want Tampa Bay to win 4 more superbowls. Just like the Niners that have 5 superbowl wins.

We don't believe in the new Niners. So Tampa Bay is our only hope now.

GO BUCS!!!!

[mike j]

Runnels was the 2006 #4 FB prospect per ESPN's pre-draft mag. Strength, blocking;weakness, running. 4.65 speed. Said to have good hands & run well after the catch. Sounds like an Askew clone!"USA Today" had him 11th at FB before the draft.

[fAiLeD eXpErImEnT]

another blunder at LT ... these guys couldn't pick Walter Jones out of a lineup if he was standing next to Jorge Diaz & Jim Pyne!!!

[Kevinmills]

A minor rant for all the ‘sky is falling Gruden/Allen suck and are ruining the team’ers’

Although I’m sure it’s a collaboration between Gruden and Allen I think the last couple drafts and free agency has proven without a doubt that Allen has the last say and isn’t afraid to go against Gruden’s desires.

So this is to all the fans who constantly criticize the personnel moves made be Allen.

Look at the job the Bucs have done rebuilding the last 3 or 4 years. On Defense there are young studs like Rudd, T.Jackson, Adams, Talib, Piscitelli- really a ton of young talent and depth.

He has very patiently rebuilt the offensive line through the draft and adding Faine. We have quality and depth at TE, RB, and WR.

And we have TWO back up QB’s a lot of teams would love to have.

There are always going to be things to harp over and complain about- we should have signed such and such or we should have drafted this guy. You will here these same complaints from fans of every team in the NFL. The Fact is we have a very respectable roster, deep and talented. It’s not the best but we’ve come a long way from our aging roster four years ago and the talent just keeps getting better.

There is also plenty of cap room to re-sign our young players when their time comes and money to spend on a sure thing FA if one comes along, not some maybe good WR that you’ll regret two years down the line.

End Rant

[Aaron is a W@nker]

Woe is me!

[Matt]

Just because he signed a $15M contract doesn't mean we paid him $15M. Last year we paid him ~5.5M. He'll get nothing this year and obviously next year, so it was really just a 5M mistake instead of a 15M mistake.

Just sayin'...