“It Doesn’t Affect Us”
February 27th, 2011Joe’s back again wondering why Mark Dominik keeps publicly pronouncing his disinterest and distaste for free agency.
One has to wonder why a general manager consumed with building a Super Bowl winner and a lasting contender is seemingly averse to studying every free agent and determining which one in this massive free agent class — with money never being an issue — could help his team.
Sure, Joe gets the whole stated build-through-the-draft philosophy of the Bucs. But Dominik talks as if free agency is not a tool loaded and ready in his arsenal. Here’s Dominik’s response to a recent question at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, per Buccaneers.com video:
Reporter: Does the uncertainty of free agency change the dynamics of this draft?
Mark Dominik: “Not how we approach it. Obviously in Tampa, it’s cliché, a lot of us like to sit up here and say, ‘We want to build through the draft.’ We’re absolutely going to do it that way. And that’s the way we’ve been going. Clearly the two teams that just played the Super Bowl have the same mindset, which is an encouraging blueprint to where we want to be. So we’ll stay the course. It doesn’t affect us. Not the way that we’re looking at it. I don’t want it to.”
Again, Joe gets the Bucs’ plan. But Joe’s talking more semantics and public relations here. There was a time when Dominik and Raheem Morris would chatter about how they would comb the earth and leave no stone unturned to improve the Bucs. Now it seems they’d do anything — except an expensive free agent. (Joe will have a recent comment from Raheem tomorrow.)
It’s an interesting shift in presentation. Don’t ask Joe why.
Now Joe’s not about to believe Dominik and Raheem aren’t interested in free agency and doing their due diligence. That is their job.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they would actually pull the trigger on one.
February 27th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
OK, Capt Tim. What say you? Click on Buccaneers Insider, 2/26 – The Mark Dominik Interview @ http://www.buccaneers.com/index.html
February 27th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Just happens to dovetail perfectly to the low payroll so coveted by the glazer boys.
February 27th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Well at least we know that the 1 billion dollar kickball team in England and the debt the Glazers own have nothing to do with it…that’s good to know.
I’d rather my team intentionally avoid the biggest free agent class in NFL history because that was their “plan” rather than doing so due to financial mandates from cheap owners.
Makes you sleep well at night doesn’t it?
February 27th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Dominik and Morris did in fact comb the earth for free agent talent. We ended up with Derrick Ward and nearly got Fat Albert. Lessen learned. Let’s stick with the plan and hope the waiver wire is as kind to us as it was last year.
February 27th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Losers with a capital L.
Might mess around and win against lousy teams, and exceed the low expectations they set up for themselves, but a championship?
Not happening.
February 27th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Eric is Mr. Sunshine 🙂 True fan through and through.
Now on to the topic at hand.
Dom is doing exactly what we should want him to do (especially after the last few years of the prior regime). Note Dom’s reference to the two Super Bowl teams? Patience. Maybe we just do not know what to do with a GM with a plan that extends out more than one year?
February 27th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Just as comments like “lucky to be 3-13 this year” and “will never get close to a 9-7 record like our last coach” were remembered, so will the new comments be remembered. I understand dislikes of players, coaches, GMs and owners…. but sticking your neck out when you just got it whacked pretty good seem somewhat folly to me….
February 27th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Mark this post. The Bucs will draft Pouncey then sign at least one free agent DE. Most likely Babin from Tenn. Don’t believe anything Dominik says. Like a good salesman, you know they are lying if there mouth is moving. 🙂
February 27th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
exactly bambam, it never fails to amaze me how people can continue to bad mouth a plan that is working to perfection right now.
February 27th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Eric does not want the plan to work.
February 27th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
i dont know why eric is here, hes not even a bucs fan!!!
February 27th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
I don’t see anything newsworthy from what Dominik said. The question was essentially, “Will free agency affect how you draft?”. He said it won’t. I don’t see how his answer says they are not interested in free agency. He is saying that they are going to draft without counting on free agency. Isn’t that the way it should always be? Free agency should be used to plug in holes. However, isn’t it better to plug holes in the draft before free agency?
February 27th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Goodbye Faine.
February 27th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
But just to be clear Joe, I do not think this article is misleading. LOL!
February 27th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Ha! 🙂
February 27th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Working to perfection is winning a Division Title, not cowering down to the lions at home with the playofs on the line or eaking out lucky victories over Carolina, Cleveland, Bungals, Rams, Cards, Skins, etc.
These people will never win didley squat.
February 28th, 2011 at 12:37 am
Well, I for one feel bad for you Eric. Not sure I can understand the craving of attention that leads one to spend time posting negative commentary just to be negative. But, good luck to you. Speedy recovery.
February 28th, 2011 at 12:41 am
@Eric,
What exactly makes you the expert? You are completely talking out of your arse again, but what else is new? You couldn’t build a franchise on Madden!
February 28th, 2011 at 1:06 am
I feel sorry for you lovable losers that actually believe in this regime. Gonna be a hard when the cold wind of reality hits.
Better grow some extra wool for the fall.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:25 am
lol eric i dont think lucky is down and out in some of those games and watching number 5 lead us to the win
February 28th, 2011 at 1:45 am
eric,
I’m not one to argue, or to cry for someone to get banned for a differing opinion. So, please enlighten me as to what you see, what evidence you have that this regime will not win a division championship, or make the playoffs or improve or beat decent teams?
For the sake of argument, I can get you started using what you’ve already stated, but I’m going to refute it afterward. You commented on “eeking out wins against lowly teams”. I understand that barely beating bad teams could possibly be a sign that the team will struggle with a more difficult schedule. However, I believe it was you that said a win is a win, a loss is a loss. It doesn’t matter if you are competitive in a loss, doesn’t matter if you play well against good teams, a loss is still a loss. Well, a win is still a win, no matter who it’s against or how it’s achieved or who it’s against by your own logic. Most of the games you say we eeked out were in the first half of the season. By the end of the season, we played good teams close and lost. Yes, lost to Atlanta and Baltimore, both good teams and all close games and all losses. We finished the season against two playoff bound teams and beat both of them (although Seattle didn’t have the best record, they were still playoff bound and still beat NO in the playoffs).
What else have you seen, besides winning close games in the NFL that makes you think the team is on the decline and that we will need “extra wool” for the “cold wind of reality”? Where has the team gotten worse since the beginning of the ’09 season? Seems to me they improved the 2nd half of ’09, and again the first half of ’10, and again the second half of ’10. Based on the current trends, I don’t see any evidence of collapse. What am I missing? Please enlighten me.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:52 am
Oh, here’s one more point on your side of the argument… it will be difficult to win a division championship… because we have the Saints and Falcons in our division and the NFC South is becoming (or has been) one of the toughest divisions in football. Of course, that makes it difficult to win divisions, but not necessarily to make the playoffs. We were a tie break away from having 3 teams in the playoffs this year, and could very likely repeat that next year. Even at third in the division, making the playoffs is the most important thing. Once there, it’s anybody’s game. We could even win the Super Bowl as the 6th seed (3rd in the division). The Packers just won as 6th seed, it’s definitely possible. Don’t have to win the division for that. We’ve shown we can split with the Saints two years in a row and are very near beating the Falcons at this point. One injury, one penalty, one blown call could change the losses to wins against the Falcons, it’s that close.
February 28th, 2011 at 2:38 am
Eric,
I feel sorry for you just because you are obviously so unhappy with your life that you have nothing better to do but to hang around this site hoping for and predicting failure. You must have a lot of problems.
February 28th, 2011 at 3:23 am
Skyway??? It’s a nice night for jump eric. Just don’t try that bungee crap.
One single ref (IMO) made one single pass interference call, taking 6 points off the scoreboard, which would have lead to a Bucs victory over the Lions and the playoffs with the Packers left at home. Of all the times the refs screwed the Bucs this year, that one took the cake. The Bucs knew it, the Lions knew it, the NFL and all the fans in the Stadium knew it.
eric, you make the bucyou clan look intelligent.
February 28th, 2011 at 3:34 am
The article states that Free agency will not affect how we draft. I would hope not! It didn’t say we weren’t signing free agents. Last year’s FA class sucked, and we still signed four or five( Jon Alston, Sean Jones, Reggie Brown, Kendrick Vincent, whoever, whatever) this years class is exceptionally deep. And we cleverly have more money to spend than anyone. I realize how everyone loves to panic that we arent going to sign free agents. Relax. Mark Dominick has said repeatedly that he is following the same plan as last SuperBowl. Remember signing Ken Dilger, Michael Pittman, Kennan MacCardell, Roman Oben, Phillip Buchcanon, Keysawn Johnson, et all. Both Raheem and Dominick said, had they realised sooner how quickly this team developed, that they would have pursued Julius Peppers!! Sound like somebody not interested in Free agency?? They tried to sign Albert Haynesworth the year before. Offering him the most money. Our offer required him to produce, so he took advantage of the Redskins stupidity. But that’s the top Free agents each year. So quit misinterpreting every damn quote. This team will build thru the draft. First and foremost! Unlike Eric’s mancrush Lil Chucky, they actually know how to draft. We will fill in gaps wilth Free agency. It’s gonna happen, just like last year, except with more impact players this year. Not gonna keep arguing with the reactionaries. Just wait and see!
February 28th, 2011 at 8:08 am
The lions drove the ball right down our throats and won with a QB and running back no one ever even heard of, or will hear from again.
Of course free agency doesn’t effect how the bucs draft, because they have no intentions of signing any free agents, unless its a Reggie Brown type.
Why? Because the real plan of saving money has been implemented long ago and will not be altered, demonstrated by the lowest payroll in the league.
February 28th, 2011 at 8:17 am
I guess were building “lasting almost wildcarders” or “tiebreaker losers”.
If ony the refs hadn’t done this, or plays had happened differently…………..blah blah blah.
We can’t win the division because its too tough.
Loserville.
February 28th, 2011 at 8:29 am
The return of Bi-polar, less interesting than Guest 27 ,Eric. No use , pal, your act has gotten boring. You got nothing but stupid crap left. We’ve all heard your rediculous post say the same same thing over and over, since your dumbas predicted 2 wins last year. Then weren’t man enough to honor your bet when you lost. Go cry for attention elsewhere. You’ve become predictable and routine here. You should go look up the rest of your slow squad buddies- Rahdomthe Rascist,bucYou,guest 27, and the rest of the losers. It’s where you belong- with the banned losers/racist/humiliated. Not on a Buc site
February 28th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Ahhhh, so much to cover. First, BamBamBuc always nails it. I always read your comments, brother, because much of the time it feels like we share the same mind.
The Lions have been “rebuilding” for years. Successful or not, they have young guys with experience now. We have young guys with very little experience.
So they lost to tough teams…this early in rebuilding it doesn’t matter. What matters is that they defeat most of the easy teams. What matters is developing a winning attitude, even if skill and technique is not yet up to par.
Remember, much of the team playing last year were rookies. They were getting experience through the school of hard knocks, and that will pay off down the road.
We CAN win this division. It is possible. It didn’t happen last year, so what? We still got entertained and saw some huge imrovements with the team.
We may not win it this year either. It’s a young team and the lockout is going to slow the development of our players. Unlike other teams, our guys do not have the experience to fall back on in times like this. What they do during the lockout is important, but they will not have the benefit of coaches and playbook development.
And about free agency…
There will come a time when dippig into the free agency pool will yield results for the Bucs. But lets be frank here (if he doesn’t mind). Say we get a 29 year old MLB that can come in and upgrade that position.
We still have incredibly young and inexperienced players on the defense…it will take another year or two for them to fully develop. That would make that MLB 31…at just the time the defense is ready to step it up, he will be at the injury-prone age.
The key issue with Free Agency is you are getting experience old players most of the time. This means the rest of the team should be ready to go, or at least close to it.
Look at Kellen Winslow. Love the guy, but lets be honest. By the time the rest of the offense is up to his current skill level, and really ready to compete, we will need to replace him. Heck, we should already be looking for a replacement to start training up. Each season, on a weekly basis, his knees are an issue. His time is limited.
So you say we should dip into the free agency pool. For what positions? Traditionally, the most successful free agents are punters. We have that. Then kickers, right? We have that. What next?
The rest is a crapshoot, but I would guess quarterback would work out for the better in FA at least sometimes (see Breeze).
In point of fact, the Bucs have signed free agents in the last 2 years. In 2009, it was QB Byron Leftwich, RB Derrick Ward, TE Kellen Winslow Jr., OLB Angelo Crowell, ILB Niko Koutouvides, K Mike Nugent, P Dirk Johnson. Out of those 7 guys, only what? One remains on the team?
They had a little more success in 2010, at least in part, with Sean Jones and Blount, but we also saw Mark Bradley get released, went through another kicker (punter) or two and more.
I can hardly blame the Bucs for holding back. In truth though, they are not. They are just being wise. They did sign FAs, just not the name guys some fans want…never mind that even though the fans wanted Haynesworth, it would have been a mistake to get him. Certain people pass over that fact.
No, the Bucs want a young team to groom, so the main free agents they go after are the young ones…guys that do not make final cuts in their rookie years. Nothing wrong with that. The time will come when more experience will be brought in, but the time is not right for it.
And about this years free ageny…
Many are saying this is a huge Free Agency class. Bull. In a few days, teams will not be able to sign ANY free agents at all. We will see the draft happen before Free Agents can actually get signed. Most teams are giving temperary deals just to hold onto their players until after the CBA, so that they can make more balanced decisions.
This is an unusual year, because the draft will happen BEFORE free agency. Therefore, teams will be able to try to get replacements before dealing with their players that need to be resigned.
For example, in Barrett Ruud’s case, he might get a temperary deal now, but it won’t be valid after the CBA goes into effect. So the Bucs can go to the draft, and if they happen to get a good replacement for him, guess what? No more Ruud, or at best they will tender a 1 year offer.
It will be interesting to see how things work out. Personally, I’m rooting mostly for the owners in the CBA conflict. I like the idea of 18 games. Back when they went from 12 to 16 games, the players had a fit as well. It didn’t shorten their careers then either. Why? Because the NFL made sure to find ways to protect their players with better gear and more effective rules.
The owners want their money back? Fine. I’m in favor because that will mean ticket prices might drop.
Afterall, cities are starting to refuse to pay for new stadiums, and if a team is expected to shell out the cash, they actually NEED the cash.
February 28th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Sheesh that was a long one!
February 28th, 2011 at 10:44 am
I still haven’t gotten an answer, eric. What have you seen in this team that indicates a decline or lack of improvement? Honestly, you can’t be using the one Lions game as your entire argument. It is a serious question, I really want to know why it is you feel the team will regress or remain the same in the future rather than improve? What is your reasoning? Is it just a baseless hunch? or have you seen evidence? If you’re gonna just use the Lions game, I can refute that in more ways than just the PI call that the NFL called and apologized for screwing up. After all, there were many injuries leading into that game. Talib was placed on IR before facing one of the leagues best WRs in Calvin Johnson. GMC, Grimm, and Faine all went on IR within 2 weeks of that game. Also, the same Lions team was capable of beating the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers without the benefit of a PI call so bad the NFL called to apologize….. hmmmm. Got any other evidence to back up your theory that we’ll never make the playoffs?
February 28th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Looks like we got another 2-3 years of perculating.
Bout what I figured.
I feel we could make a run this year, but will require supplementation with some experienced vets to help lead the way.
Window is very small, other teams have the high draft picks, players age, injuries occur.
When you got a shot you take it. The bucs wont. Instead we get BS.
Pisses me off.
February 28th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Geez, Eric , I almost agreed with that post! Except the Bucs will get some vet Free agents. Just wait. Remember- I’m ALWAYS right, and you have ALWAYS been wrong- trust me ! Lol
February 28th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Lets hope that streak continues Mr. Captain.
February 28th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Eric, you’re a lucky guy, and that’s all I can say. Not what I’d call a fan in any way, but a loudmouth definitely, hater too, and very lucky to have a forum to spout the hatred for your “so called” team, that you do.
I feel sorry for you. Did someone take your woman?
February 28th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
The fact that I am not held in high esteem by Mr. Bigmacattack and others is of grave concern to me.
I just don’t know if I will ever recover, its so devastating.
February 28th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
eric,
No, you’re wrong, because during the season when the Bucs were winning close games, and it was exciting, you had many very positive posts. Now the season is over and it’s back to bashing Raheem, Dominick, the team and it’s all doom and gloom. What gives? You’re much smarter than that, and how do you know what Dominick is going to do in regards to the draft or free agents. He may not want to tip his hand if there is a couple FA players he likes. Sure he says no to this or that, but it may all be gamesmanship and smoking mirrors. Whatever He and Rah do, I doubt the team could get any worse, and they are pretty darn good now. So whomever they draft or sign, it should help the team. Take your credit card, go to Mons, Dollhouse or Dejavu, have a few stiff ones and enjoy the scenery. Things just aren’t that bad. Wear a Bucs’ jersey and maybe you’ll feel better. The Lightning are going to the playoffs.