Buccaneers' Brian Price Pummels Mark Barron

Buccaneers' Brian Price Pummels Mark Barron

WalterFootball.com
By Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbell

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have wanted to use this offseason to reconstruct the culture at One Buc Place.

New head coach Greg Schiano has instituted a number of changes: the practice schedule; the offseason training regimen; the freedom of players and assistant coaches to speak with the media; and even the temperature on the thermostats. General Manager Mark Dominik and Director of Player Personnel Dennis Hickey survived the purge of the old coaching staff, despite the team going 17-31 over the past three seasons and having not drafted a Pro Bowler in the last six years.

Domink, Hickey and Schiano have added pieces to the roster and are instituting a new environment in the locker room, but the team has continued to have issues with discipline. WalterFootball.com has learned from multiple sources with the Buccaneers about a fight that took place following the 2012 NFL Draft.

Early in the morning at the start of an OTA day, the team was assembling for a meeting. Defensive tackle Brian Price told rookie safety Mark Barron that he was sitting in Price's seat. In short order, Barron was getting pummeled by Price. The third-year tackle was said to have gotten in a good number of punches before teammates pulled him off Barron. Both players were removed from the meeting as Barron's face was said to be bloodied.

With that fight as a contributing factor, Price has been held out of much of the offseason program. Sources with the team have said that Price has always been a good guy in the locker room and a supportive teammate. They said he is just going through an excruciating time personally, and that led to his outburst.

Neither agent for Price nor Barron responded to WalterFootball.com’s requests for comment on this story. The Buccaneers also declined to comment on the incident.

Emotions have been running high for Price, and understandably so. Unfortunately, the talented tackle has been dealing with another family tragedy. Earlier in the offseason, Price lost his sister in a fatal car accident. She had two young sons whom Price is adopting.

Price was close with his sister, and the grief has been a tremendous obstacle for him. This is the third time that Price has lost a sibling, and he is only 23 years old. Growing up in Los Angeles, Price had two brothers murdered. The Buccaneers have been trying to help him. He was hospitalized briefly this offseason as the grief and exhaustion made him ill.

Price missed most of his rookie season in 2010 with a pelvis and hamstring injuries dating back to his time at UCLA. In his second season, Price started 14 games and played through pain stemming from his surgically repaired pelvis and hamstrings, and an ankle injury down the stretch.

The 6-foot-1, 303-pounder improved in his second season recording three sacks and playing the run well. ESPN's NFC South expert Pat Yasinskas named Price to his all NFC South team over veterans like the Saints' Sedrick Ellis and Falcons' Jonathan Babineaux.

Tampa Bay was planning on Price being a starter in 2012, but if he needs more time to tend to his family, the team has a veteran in Amobi Okoye who could start in Price's place. Tampa Bay has a lot of depth at defensive tackle with other veterans like 2009 third-round pick Roy Miller, Frank Okam, Gary Gibson and undrafted rookie Jordan Nix. With that stable and a new coaching staff that has worked more with other players this offseason, Price will need a strong preseason to help his standing.

It is possible the team could move on if those players fit the "Buccaneer Way" and embrace being "Buccaneer Men," as Schiano puts it. Tampa Bay has released veteran starter Tanard Jackson and traded away tight end Kellen Winslow in part because they didn't fit Schiano's new program.

While the Bucs' organization has been supportive of him, Price will definitely have to prove he is a good long-term fit with the team after taking out personal frustrations on the seventh-overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Barron was Schiano's first pick and is a selection that the front office needs to work out. Dominik and Hickey are on the hot seat in 2012, and they took Barron over players like Cowboys' cornerback Morris Claiborne and Panthers' linebacker Luke Kuechly.

Getting your face bloodied by a veteran is a tough way to start his early days of work with the Bucs, but Barron avoided serious injury and practiced after the incident. Tampa Bay was banking on both Barron and Price being key defenders this season. It bears watching to see if the incident has ramifications for Price and the Buccaneers in the months to come.

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