BREAKING NEWS: Cerrato resigns (Bruce Allen hired as VP/GM) - merged

3. He and Gruden both like veteran players and value them over draft picks.

I didn't like the Allen hiring and i like it even less now. Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but he's Vinny 2.0.
Reminds me more of Gibbs than Vinny honestly.

I'm not going to base my opinion solely on what happen with the Bucs. We just hired the guy and I will wait and see what he does for us. I can careless about who he drafted when he was with the Bucs and Raiders. One thing I know about Allen is that he knows how to put together a roster.

George Allen was the same way. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Rick Stroud (from the St. Petersburg Times) was just interviewed on ESPN980 and reiterated what Smoot said earlier - Allen is a great administrator and contract guy, and thats all he's good at. The coach won't work FOR him, but rather WITH him. Some other of Ricks feelings on him:

1. He's a yes-man. He always did whatever Gruden and the owner wanted. So don't expect Snyder's level of involvement to be reduced.

2. The reason Tampa Bay's drafts from 2004 to 2007 were so bad because Allen and Gruden made all draft decisions "in a vacuum" - If Gruden wanted a player, Allen would agree with him, and they would select the player, regardless of what the scouting department recommended.

3. He and Gruden both like veteran players and value them over draft picks.

I didn't like the Allen hiring and i like it even less now. Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but he's Vinny 2.0. Nothing's really changed. Either one of two things will happen now:

1) We'll hire Gruden or a no-name coach and Snyder will still pull all the strings OR
2) We'll hire Shanahan and He'll have total authority over our offense. Snyder will step down and Allen will just be a puppet for Shannahan.

In either case, the one thing that this organization needs isn't going to happen - We won't have a "real" GM with full authority to make football decisions.

Well, I do share in your thoughts that it's not a slam dunk like everyone says, however, I do not think this is cerrato 2.0. It's a move in the right direction. Love the lineage to George Allen too. I think Gruden knows what he's doing...he did after all bring two different teams to the SB and won 1.

Rick Stroud (from the St. Petersburg Times) was just interviewed on ESPN980 and reiterated what Smoot said earlier - Allen is a great administrator and contract guy, and thats all he's good at. The coach won't work FOR him, but rather WITH him. Some other of Ricks feelings on him:

1. He's a yes-man. He always did whatever Gruden and the owner wanted. So don't expect Snyder's level of involvement to be reduced.

2. The reason Tampa Bay's drafts from 2004 to 2007 were so bad because Allen and Gruden made all draft decisions "in a vacuum" - If Gruden wanted a player, Allen would agree with him, and they would select the player, regardless of what the scouting department recommended.

3. He and Gruden both like veteran players and value them over draft picks.

I didn't like the Allen hiring and i like it even less now. Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but he's Vinny 2.0. Nothing's really changed. Either one of two things will happen now:

1) We'll hire Gruden or a no-name coach and Snyder will still pull all the strings OR
2) We'll hire Shanahan and He'll have total authority over our offense. Snyder will step down and Allen will just be a puppet for Shannahan.

In either case, the one thing that this organization needs isn't going to happen - We won't have a "real" GM with full authority to make football decisions. How many division titles did he win during that time period?

Reminds me more of Gibbs than Vinny honestly.

That was my feeling as well, except with better clock management.

I'm not going to base my opinion solely on what happen with the Bucs. We just hired the guy and I will wait and see what he does for us. I can careless about who he drafted when he was with the Bucs and Raiders. One thing I know about Allen is that he knows how to put together a roster.

No he doesnt. The bucs roster was never very talented. And I don't see how you can say you can care less about who he drafted but that he knows how to build a roster - the two go hand in hand. ALLEN IS NOT A PERSONEL GUY. He sucked at drafting and building a roster. He just agreed with whatever Gruden wanted. Thats why he and Gruden were dismissed in the first place. Consider this - Glazer is the cheapest owner in the NFL. Allen and Gruden had just signed huge contract extensions and yet Glazer got rid of them anyway. THAT is very telling.

Beathard said he likes the move.. also this mentioned that he had talked about a return to DC

D.C. Sports Bog - Beathard: "It's a terrific move" (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/12/beathard_its_a_terrific_move.html)

No he doesnt. The bucs roster was never very talented. And I don't see how you can say you can care less about who he drafted but that he knows how to build a roster - the two go hand in hand. ALLEN IS NOT A PERSONEL GUY. He sucked at drafting and building a roster. He just agreed with whatever Gruden wanted. Thats why he and Gruden were dismissed in the first place. Consider this - Glazer is the cheapest owner in the NFL. Allen and Gruden had just signed huge contract extensions and yet Glazer got rid of them anyway. THAT is very telling.

What about Oakland's roster? Like I said, let the guy do some work. Shit, do you want Vinny back here then? No. And maybe other people were not available. So just let it work out. Crap, is like damn if they do and damn if they don't. I'm not thinking Super Bowl right now, but shit, this is a different guy who's in a different team with a different owner.

How many division titles did he win during that time period?

The NFC-South was the worst division in football during that time period. Winning the division twice in five years is no feat. And in both instances where they won the division, they lost in the wild card game. Gruden/Allen's regualr season record in Tampa Bay together was 38-42. If a 0.475 percentage winning record is something to get excited about, then we've got problems. If Snyder thinks hiring Allen and reuniting him with Gruden will win over the fans, and he succeeds in doing so - then its a testament to the stupidity of the fanbase more than anything else.