The process of cutting costs by taking money out of the pockets of folks caught in the crossfire of the lockout continues.
The latest team to join the belt-tightening trend is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next week, the offices will be shut down, with the employees being asked to stay home without pay.
The team announced the move this morning on its website.
The offices also will close during the week of Labor Day, if the lockout is not resolved by then. If no games are missed, the employees will be paid for their week-of-Memorial-Day hiatus.
“The Buccaneers remain hopeful that the 2011 season will be played without interruption; presuming this occurs, the plan will essentially provide the team’s entire staff with an extra week of paid vacation,” team spokesman Jonathan Grella said. “And more importantly, this plan preserves jobs and does not ask employees to work for less or no pay.”
That’s a fair point. But, still, with all the money that the Bucs were able to pocket last year thanks to the absence of a salary floor and a player payroll considerably south of where that floor would have been (not to mention years of carrying over cap room that was never used), they easily could have decided to push some of that cash forward to cover the salary expenses of the men and women who have done nothing to cause this mess.