Cato's gone, packed his bags for Tampa. Hope he enjoys losing and mediocre coaching, because that is exactly what he will get from Jon Gruden. Monte Kiffin is a genius and will get a lot out of Cato, but Gruden is a complete boob, and as long as he's there Tampa will lose. No offense to our good friends at Buc'Em, but Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy's team in 2002. Since then, he's done jack squat. Meanwhile, Tony Dungy went to another team, won more games than he did at Tampa, and got a ring. Dungy is now considered one of the best coaches of his generation. Gruden is an after thought. This after many seasons of idiots like Mike Florio and Chris Collinsworth claiming Gruden was better.
Instant karma, baby.
As always, we wish Cato well... unless he plays the Colts. I know people wanted Cato retained. I had mixed feelings about him. After watching the Colts 2006 DVD, on almost every running play that went for big yardage, Cato June was there... whiffing the tackle. He'd be in perfect position and just plain miss the guy. Yes, he played well in the playoffs. Yes, he had 8 tackles in the Super Bowl. Yes, in recent years, he has made Tom Brady his bitch. He picked Brady off twice in New England in 2006, and since June was inserted as the starting WILL, Brady is 0-3 against the Colts. Cato was a great coverage linebacker for the Colts, but a mediocre run stopper. He had 142 tackles in 2006. If he'd made a few of the tackles he whiffed on, he'd have had 180.
Cato will likely get replaced by Freddie Keiaho or perhaps Gilbert Gardner. I'm telling right now folks, even though many think they will, the Colts aren't drafting a linebacker in Round One. I know people will cry that it's a need, but I'll respond that the Colts did not draft Keiaho to sit the bench, and if they really thought Gardner sucked as badly as we all think he does, they would have let him walk this season.
Remember, many of us felt Rob Morris stunk, and look what happened there. In Dungy you better trust.
So, now the Colts are minus Harper, June, and Rhodes. Most likely, Stokley, Doss, and Reagor are gone for good as well. We could probably throw Simon in that mix. Of all of them, I'm the most upset about Reagor. He was a very good DT, and we need someone like him on the d-line next season.