It’s time for Bucs to put the mistakes in the past 
The Bucs have cut ties with offensive lineman Anthony Collins, along with fellow 2014 free-agent signees defensive end Michael Johnson and quarterback Josh McCown. JASON BEHNKEN/STAFF By Martin Fennelly | Tribune Staff Published: March 12, 2015 TAMPA — Tuesday was one of the wildest days in NFL history. You might need to go back 30 years, to when the USFL folded and Reggie White and Steve Young were open for business, to find a day like Tuesday — the level of talent, the amount of movement. The week leading into it was insane, too. Bodies and money flew as free agency began. Signings. Trades. Major moves everywhere.And then there was the quiet of One Buccaneer Place, seemingly in relative slumber pre-Jameis/Marcus.Of course, if you were holding a watch party to see if the Bucs would re-sign Major Wright and Leonard Johnson, which they did Tuesday (oh, baby), or holding your breath on whether they’d get Cowboys linebacker Bruce Carter (they signed him Wednesday), then we completely apologize.We’re back to mini-moves.The Glazers and Bucs are clearly hesitant after last year’s free agency debacle, low-lighted again Wednesday when the Bucs released defensive end Michael Johnson, who joins the departed Josh McCown and Anthony Collins in the Bucs Book of the Dead.Collins, Johnson and McCown.Inky, Dinky and Stinky.If the Bucs do anything with all this cap space, it’s not feeling like DeMarco Murray, but going for non-headliners.Going after B-list talent isn’t a bad thing in theory. It would have worked if Collins, Johnson and McCown had worked.I mean, the Packers have lived like that in free agency for years, picking up missing pieces, surgical strikes. The Ravens have thrived on B-list shopping, too. It can be done.But by Lovie Smith and Bucs GM Jason Licht?They were in over their heads last offseason in free agency. They’d never run the whole show, and it showed. That much they’ve admitted by dumping McCown, Collins and Johnson.The Bucs gave too much A-list money to B-list talent, which might not have been so bad, only they had D- and F-list seasons.That’ll sink you every time.The startling bottom line this offseason is that the Bucs still have needs that go way beyond quarterback, and most of them are the same needs they had before last offseason.And Lovie and Licht are about to pick the quarterback any Bucs future rides on …Back to Bruce Carter.On paper, this is a nice move. Carter is 27 and a superb athlete. He played outside linebacker and made some big plays for the Cowboys. He led Dallas with five interceptions. Carter could play the middle here, in this system, especially if Gerald McCoy keeps blockers off him.Carter is a B-lister with A-list potential. On paper.It’s not a major move, not like all those other ones in and around Tuesday. But it could be a good one. And can it really go worse than free agency did last offseason for Lovie Smith and Jason Licht?Not that Clinton McDonald and Alterraun Verner were free agent disasters for the Bucs in 2014. Anthony Collins, Michael Johnson and Josh McCown were.The Bucs have officially moved on from all three of them. At least they can admit their mistakes.Now, it’s just a matter if any more of those lie ahead.
