Joe’s nearly a day late on this but better late than never. Hey, Joe has a real job he has to tend to as well, much as he would like to write about the Bucs 24/7.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik appeared on “the Big Dog,” Steve Duemig’s show Wednesday afternoon and discussed a variety of subjects. Here’s some highlights of what Dominik had to say:

On how busy he has been:

“It’s been non-stop, lots of hours with the coaches and the staff. We’re bringing in people for physicals to meet them in person. We’ve seen a lot of tape. We need to find out what the doctors think [about potential free agents].”

Cutting linebacker Derrick Brooks:

“It was difficult, a very difficult decision, it really was. I met with [Raheem the Dream] to really reexamine the decision. There was no easy way to tell him, but it was something we wanted to do.

“It was one of those decisions that once you make it, we felt like we must meet man-to-man. Then we met with ownership. We needed to do that out of dignity and respect. It was brutal because I love the guy.

“It was very difficult for me.””

What he wants from the offense:

“We like production on offense and the five guys we signed do that.

[Defensive coordinator Jim “Bates is not happy. He knocks on the door each day [because of the lack of defensive free agent signings].

“Production is what we are looking for and we think we have that in [Sgt. Winslow and Derrick Ward].

Newly signed free agent running back Derrick Ward’s role:

“With him in the backfield, the defense doesn’t know whether you will run or pass. When he runs the ball, he runs downhill. That was wanted for [Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff] Jagodzinski’s system.

What type of identity he wants the Bucs to establish:

“We would like to be a running team. We will run a lot of plays off of play action. You can do so much more when you run the ball. Everything happens off of the run.”

The prospects of resigning the “King of Turds:”

“We have on going discussions with [Turd’s agent]. We’d like to have [Sgt. Winslow] and [King of Turd’s] on the field together, on each side of the field and that will create mismatches.”

On his day-to-day duties:

“The transition has been easier to go for free agency. I owe a lot to [Bruce Almighty] for getting me involved in contract negotiations. But I have a lot of help. I like the direction we are going. We involve the coaches a lot in the talent evaluations.

“Players want to stay. Either they or their agents, when they go on the road to other teams, tell me, “Let me know.” Communication has been good.”

Resigning wide receiver Michael Clayton:

“We need to get the ball in his hands more. When he gets the ball in his hands, he is so physical.”

Josh Johnson’s role at quarterback:

“We expect him to get a chance to compete. He took great strides last year. He’s bright, athletic and has a big arm. Competition for us is important.”

Newly signed kicker Mike (not Ted) Nugent’s role:

“It’s an open competition at kicker. We told [incumbent kicker] Matt [Bryant] what is going on.”

How he lured Sgt. Winslow to Tampa Bay:

“He wanted a fresh start. He looked at the stadium and was sold. Playing in Florida was important for him. He wanted to play outdoors. It was easy to talk him into playing in Florida.”
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