With the NFL on the brink of re-opening for business, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a lot of work to do to get ready for the 2011 season. There will be a lot of players to get under contract, and a lot of decisions to be made by general manager Mark Dominik and head coach Raheem Morris. To get Bucs fans ready for the flurry of NFL news, Pewter Report previews the order of business for the Buccaneers.

As soon as the lockout ends the Bucs need to immediately get players and coaches together for meetings. Primarily they need the quarterbacks meeting with quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt and offensive coordinator Greg Olson. They also have to get their Mike (middle) linebacker candidates with linebackers coach Joe Baker and Morris. A crash-course of the new additions to the Bucs’ playbooks would be helpful before training camp starts. Tampa Bay’s coaching staff did not add much to the playbooks from last season, but they have some new wrinkles based off their offseason film study.

While that is going on, Dominik will be busy talking with agents for undrafted free agents and the Buccaneers veteran free agents. It sounds as if the undrafted free agent marketplace will open up for business first. Here are some undrafted free agents to keep an eye on.

Nebraska DE Pierre Allen
North Carolina CB Kendrick Burney
Marshall LB Mario Harvey
Boston College LB Mark Herzlich
Delaware QB Pat Devlin
Kentucky RB Derrick Locke
LSU WR Terrence Toliver
Oregon WR Jeff Maehl
Arkansas Pine-Bluff WR Ray Webber
Florida P Chas Hendry

Once veteran free agency opens up the Buccaneers will have to decide which of their players are worth re-signing and which they are willing to let leave. The Bucs will come to terms with a lot of restricted free agents. Tampa Bay is interested in re-signing a lot of their unrestricted free agents, but wants to do so at the right price. Throughout the past weeks Pewter Report has predicted the outcome for the Bucs free agents. Here is a breakdown of those predictions.

Players Predicted To Re-Sign With Tampa Bay
G Davin Joseph
RT Jeremy Trueblood
DE Tim Crowder
LB Barrett Ruud
LB Adam Hayward

Players Predicted Not To Re-Sign With Tampa Bay
RB Cadillac Williams
WR Maurice Stovall
TE John Gilmore
DE Stylez White
LB Quincy Black
LB Niko Koutouvides

The Bucs will also have the opportunity to fortify their roster with some free agents from other teams. Signing many of those players is dependent on if the Buccaneers are going to retain some of their own free agents. This week Pewter Report previewed five prominent free agent fits for Tampa Bay, and five mid-level free agent candidates for the Bucs.

Prominent Free Agents
Oakland CB Nmandi Asomugha
Cincinnati CB Jonathan Joseph
New York Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw
Minnesota LB Chad Greenway
New England G Logan Mankins

Mid-Level Free Agents
Atlanta RT Tyson Clabo
Cleveland CB Eric Wright
Baltimore CB Josh Wilson
Buffalo LB Paul Posluszny
Carolina LB Thomas Davis

The final order of business before the start of training camp practices is to sign the rookie class. The contracts for the non-first-rounders should be relatively simple, and considering the Bucs selected at the 20th overall pick in 2008 and again this year, that contract should be much easier for Dominik.

The Bucs are in for a lot of activity with training camp starting very soon. Stay tuned to Pewter Report for all the news with the Buccaneers moves.