The Tampa Bay Torpedos are happy to announce that new ownership is taking over in Tampa Bay. Due to absentee management, several important functions have been neglected in the Tampa Bay Front Office. The Torpedos hope that new owner [b7226842]wade moore[/b7226842] will be able to straighten out these holes.

The first priority on the new Torpedos owner's list is to sign the three Rookies who have yet to reach an agreement with the organization. The top pick for Tampa Bay, [b7226842]LG Harvey Kasowski[/b7226842], has been offered 6 year, $15.9 mil deal and [b7226842]LT Kevin Ackerman[/b7226842] has been offered a 4 year, $5 mil deal. Both of these linemen are expected to be slid into starting roles as soon as they are signed, so [b7226842]Mr. moore[/b7226842] hopes to have them on the field as soon as possible. The left side of the Offensive Line continues to be a weak spot that will suffer without their presence. 4th round selection [b7226842]SS Randal Ridley[/b7226842] has been offered a 4 year, $2 mil deal. Ridley is not expected to see significant playing time this year, but will hopefully contribute in the future.

In order to improve on their 7-9, last place finish in the tough AFC East the Torpedos need to do more than just sign Rookies. [b7226842]Mr. moore[/b7226842] feels that [b7226842]QB Lane Manuel[/b7226842] has a lot of growing to do to improve from his 60.2 QB Rating last year. [b7226842]Mr. moore[/b7226842] will be pushing [b7226842]Head Coach Richard Ward[/b7226842] to give [b7226842]Manuel[/b7226842] more run support. 4th year back [b7226842]Elias Alvey[/b7226842] will be expected to improve on his 3.4 ypc last year. With the number of carries that he is expected to have, anything under 1,000 for the season will be unacceptable according the management team. "That boy had better make 1,000 yards this year, or he is as good as gone," stated wade moore in an exclusive interview. In addition, expect to see [b7226842]FB Edward Levy[/b7226842] to see the ball more than the 28 times he did last year. [b7226842]Mr. moore[/b7226842] feels that he was under utilized as a rusher, and envisions him as a similar back to the NFL's Michael Alstott. In addition, [b7226842]Manuel[/b7226842] will continue to look to [b7226842]TE Lincoln Denning[/b7226842] as a favorite target. With 107 receptions last year, [b7226842]Denning[/b7226842] was a lock as the 1st team All-American TE for the CFL last season.

The defense was strong last year, and expect it to only get stronger. [b7226842]Mr. moore[/b7226842] has extended a long term offer to Franchise [b7226842]CB Erwin Koch[/b7226842] for 4 years, $22 mil. The secondary is tops in the league and hopes to make its mark this year even more so than last. [b7226842]Koch[/b7226842] set team single game marks with a 4 int game and a 3 int game, but he only had 1 int the rest of the season. The team states that they hope for more consistency from him and the rest of his group.

[b7226842]Mr. moore[/b7226842] feels that the team is ready to win, and ready to win now. He expects a playoff birth this year, but there are many obstacles in the way including three very good division opponents who will have a thing or three to say about those claims. The team hosts Baltimore this weekend and expects it to be a good measure of how they have improved, rather than the difficult to rely on 4-0 preseason record.