Random thoughts: Bucs improve in free agency

Sunday, 4 a.m.

The Bucs didn't break the bank in free agency this year, but with a defensive end, a center, two defensive tackles and a kicker, they at least got a bit better. Did they get better enough? Not yet.

-- Vinny Curry isn't the pass-rusher you would have wanted, but he's solid with his overall play. He had nine sacks in 2014, but only nine the last three seasons. Then there is this: On team photo day, he's going to make people notice his new ring.

-- It helps the Bucs that the Jets moved up to take a quarterback. Now, if only five more teams would do that, it would leave the Bucs with a choice of Bradley Chubb or Saquon Barkley.

-- Of course, the Browns would have to draft two quarterbacks, the Colts one and the Bucs would have not to choke and pick Roberto Aguayo all over again.

-- For the record, I liked the Colts' trade backward. They picked up three second-round picks, and if the player they wanted was Bradley Chubb, they can still get him with their No. 1 draft pick.

-- For goodness sakes, how many people even know what UMBC stood for before the team beat the University of Virginia. If you had told me it was the "University of Montana and Butch Cassidy," I would have just nodded. For the record, it's "University of Maryland at Baltimore County." I looked it up.

-- Not saying that Virgina choked, but who knew that Ralph Sampson was a 43rd-year senior?

-- Look, no one is saying that USF can match Duke or Kentucky. But UMBC? Is that too much to ask?

-- After a Baltimore restaurant gave Michael Crabtree free crabcakes for life, Vinny Curry should show up at Deccan Spice and ask for a nice chicken curry in perpetuity.

-- Interesting that Alabama's football team is scheduled to visit the White House on April 10. That was the day Robert E. Lee addressed his troops for the final time. What? Am I the only guy who thinks that, from a certain angle, Nick Saban looks like Lee?

-- O.J. Simpson says he has days when "I can't find the words." Try these, O.J. "I." Followed by "did." And "it."

-- The better Tiger Woods plays, the smaller the rest of the field looks, doesn't it? Jordan Spieth is down to four feet, and Rory McCrory is 3-foot-8.

-- I love the comletition on  TheSpun.com. with a 64-person bracket for the most annoying people in sports. Some of the first-round highlights include Skip Bayless over our old buddy Sage Steele (bad draw), Bill Simmons over Charles Barkley, Will Cain over Danny Kanell, Mel Kiper over Todd McShay and Dan LeBatard over Jay Bilas.

-- Interesting round two matchups include Paul Finebaum vs. Keith Olbermann, Mike Greenburg vs. Jim Rome and Dick Vitale vs. Peter King.

-- As for me? I'm annoying, but not famous. So that's that.

-- Wouldn't you love to hear the debate in the War Room if the Bucs were to have their pick of Saquon Barkley and Bradley Chubb? Barkley, I think, is the better player, but he plays an easier-to-find position Alas, the Bucs often seem to left outside when such discussions occur.

-- Darn. I took Penn and 85 points against UConn's women's. They won by 88.

-- If as many as six NFL teams take a quarterback in the first round of the draft, who turns out to be John Elway, who turns out to be Jim Kelly and who turns out to be Dan Marino. And while we're at it, who turns out to be Todd Blackledge, who turns out to be Tony Eason and who turns out to be Ken O'Brien.

-- Of course, if only three are drafted, you get to pick between Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez and Josh Freeman. Whee.

-- A recent poll says 53 percent of fans expect Josh Freeman to end up with the starting job of the Montreal Alouettes. A new poll says that 53 percent of fans expect Freeman to go to sleep in a meeting his first week with the team.

-- In a story on Freeman in CFL.ca, Freeman is compared to Vince Ferragamo, Bo Levi Mitchell, Akili Smith and Troy Smith. You know. Murdered Row.

-- An interesting note: Now that the Browns' Joe Thomas has ended his career 60 games under .500, would he be the least winning member of the Hall of Fame (if he gets in)? For comparison: Thomas was a member of a team that won 48 games in 11 years. Lee Roy Selmon of the Bucs was a member of teams that won 44 games in nine.

-- According to NFL.com, the Bucs are the fourth team most likely to sign Ndamukong Suh, behind the Colts, Browns and Falcons. I don't see it happening.

-- Ranking the Bucs free agent signings (so far): 1. Vinny Curry; 2. Brent Grimes; 3. Cameron Brate 4. Ryan Jensen; 5. Chandler Catanzaro; 6. Ryan Fitzpatrick; 7. Beau Allen; 8. Mitch Unrein.