1988 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season - Preseason

Preseason

Before the season, Perkins identified linebacker and offensive line as the team's strengths, and safety, wide receiver, and defensive end as the team's biggest needs. 74 players reported to the University of Tampa for the opening of training camp, only 20 of whom were on the team when Perkins was hired, and only three of whom (Gerald Carter, Joe Ferguson, and James Wilder) were 30 or older. The team's leading tackler three of the last four years, linebacker Jeff Davis held out of training camp in a contract dispute. Perkins attempted to trade him, but Davis was considered by most teams to be past his peak, and there were no willing takers. With newly-acquired Eugene Marve performing well, Perkins released Davis outright. Davis was later signed by San Diego, but failed to make the team out of preseason. Lacking a game-breaking receiver, the team pursued Ron Brown of the Rams, but eventually signed Patriots holdout Stephen Starring. One of the defensive line questions was solved by the emergence of ninth-round draft pick Reuben Davis midway through camp. His preseason performance moved him ahead of John Cannon into a starting role. Perkins reported difficulty finding a second safety to play along with Mark Robinson, until the Jets cut Harry Hamilton in a salary dispute.

The team found signing its two top draft picks to be difficult. Paul Gruber's agent Ralph Cindrich made public statements to the effect that their contract offer was offensive, although executive Phil Krueger countered that the team's offer was higher than what Bennie Blades, the player drafted ahead of Gruber, had signed for; and that Cindrich was demanding that Gruber be paid more than first-overall pick Aundray Bruce. Only when owner Hugh Culverhouse got involved in the negotiations did Gruber sign, ending a holdout that lasted for a month. Gruber signed a five-year contract that not only made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history, but it set a precedent for linemen to be paid on par with defensive stars, and was so much higher than the regular salary ceiling that it was expected to change the NFL's salary structure for offensive linemen.

Perkins' often-harsh treatment of players was in evidence as tight end Calvin Magee walked out of camp, due to pressure to lose 19 pounds in two weeks. Perkins refused to honor Magee's request for a trade, calling it a "cop-out". Rookie fullback William Howard was singled out for his poor physical condition when he was the first to drop out of the 12-minute run on the first day of training camp, although Perkins later praised his toughness. Perkins did, however, ease back from the three-a-day practices of the previous season's training camp, which had been described as the most difficult in NFL history.

The second week of preseason saw the Buccaneers give up five sacks in a 23-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns. With near-daily changes to the offensive line due to injury, the team could not protect the passer, while their own pass rush was ineffective. Perkins said afterward that they didn't deserve to be called a football team. Perkins repeated that assessment after a game against the Atlanta Falcons, which Tampa Bay lost 19-14 despite outgaining the Falcons 401-304. Perkins would name no more than five of the team's 80 players as having played well. The game was followed by the cut of 15 players, including Monte Robbins, a punter on whom the team had just spent a fourth-round draft pick. Improvement was shown in the final exhibition game, a matchup with the Buffalo Bills at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, but it still resulted in a winless preseason. By the end of preseason, eight of the previous year's opening-day starters were no longer with the team, and four more had been demoted to backup roles.