Michael Bennett Is “Undervalued”
March 4th, 2013
The numbers crunchers over at Pro Football Focus are trying to figure out just which Bucs were a bargain last season and which were overpaid for their services.
So it didn’t come really as a shock to Joe when they deemed Michael Bennett the No. 2 most undervalued player on the Tampa Bay roster, so claims Nathan Jahnke.
2. Michael Bennett, Defensive End
If there is one thing that Bennett does well, it is making tackles for losses. In 2012 he had 13, which was second-most among all defensive linemen, behind J.J. Watt, and in 2011 he tied for the most with 10. In 2012 he improved on his pass rushing as well with nine sacks, 14 hits and 48 hurries, making him one of the most well rounded edge defenders in football. This offseason we fully expect him to get paid as such.
2012 Cap Hit: $2.7m
2012 Performance Based Value: $10.6m
Value Differential: +$7.9m
There is no question Bennett was a bargain last year but he’s not a bargain to get franchised. Is Bennett work $1 million a sack? That’s a pretty steep price for a guy that had good, not great numbers, though Joe wouldn’t be shocked to see a defensive-needy team overpay for Bennett once the free agency dinner bell rings March 12, a week from tomorrow.
It’s interesting to note that Pro Football Focus lists both Bucs free agent treasures from last winter, Carl Nicks and Vincent Jackson, as overvalued. In Joe’s eyes, Nicks’ rating is completely unfair since he missed most of the season with an injury.
Not shocking to Joe that Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman also made the overvalued list.
March 4th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
I really cannot imagine the Bucs no signing him unless some teams totally overpays which could happen. They really need to have 7-8 abve average starters on the d-line and Bennett is one of them imo.
March 4th, 2013 at 1:15 pm
We will sign him IMO
March 4th, 2013 at 1:18 pm
We stand a good chance of losing both Bennett and McCoy. Two of our better performers on the D-line.
Yeah, the D-line. That has two good DTs, 3 good DEs- and that’s it. No depth.
If we lose those two- we are back to rebuilding D-line.
Thought we head build the D-line, and we supposed to be rebuilding the secondary. Losing those two, within no replacements on the team- is a huge step backward.
I thought we were supposed to going forward. Haven’t we spent enough time at the bottom half of the NFC south.
And while Nicks was hurt, Jackson did every thing you could ask for in a player.
He was a bargain- and one of the best things about this team!
March 4th, 2013 at 1:18 pm
Dwight Freeny made $850,000.00 Dollars per Sack throughout his career and he was worth it
March 4th, 2013 at 1:18 pm
“Both Bennett and Miller” not McCoy
March 4th, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Clayborn just came back from a serious injury and Bowers could still face JAIL time. Letting Bennett go would kill our defense.
March 4th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
There are two factors that will determine whether Bennett and Miller are Bucs next season.
Unless Bennett and Miller have their minds set on playing somewhere else, they will be back. They have both said they want to be Bucs.
Unless the Bucs have better options in mind, they will be back. I’ve heard praise for both players from the Bucs.
There is no team in FA that would be interested in either player has the checkbook to compete with the Bucs. If the confluence of those two factors come together, they will both wear pewter and red again!
March 4th, 2013 at 1:54 pm
NFL is saying FS Goldson will not be tagged and test free agency, I think tampa should go after him. Also Sean smith and Cox
March 4th, 2013 at 2:18 pm
i would franchise this guy if i had to. he is young and extremely talented and his arrow is pointing up. best d-lineman we have, no hype just someone playing like a stud. good franchises do not let guys like this walk.
March 4th, 2013 at 2:19 pm
$1 mil a sack is pretty steep, but is there no value in having a player that has been in this system, and is familiar with the guys around him? A guy that walks into the building the day after the signing and doesn’t miss a beat?
March 4th, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Not surprising to jarrett, bucs writer joe finds way to criticize freeman.
March 4th, 2013 at 2:35 pm
If SF let Goldson test free agency. the bucs should definitely make a move on him. If he were the only signing in FA along with bringing our guys back, I would be okay with that!!!
March 4th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Hmmm…1 million a Sack…Thats why they scream when they get a sack..
Boy… JJ Watts is in for a Big Pay Day
March 4th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Not surprising to Silence people are still bitching about others bitching about Freeman. I guess mediocrity is ok for some of us.
March 4th, 2013 at 3:26 pm
It’s not that Mediocrity is ok, it’s that stupidity is annoying.
We just a record setting offense this season. If we had ONE NFL caliber cornerback, we would have been in the playoffs
Just watched the raider game. The game where Doug Martin just ran crazy, and Freeman played off the hook.
And it was still a gunfight, because our secondary couldn’t stop one single pass. Biggers particularly was toast all game.
Our offense can score, and win games. We need a TE, line depth, a slot Reciever. Most important- we HAVE to quit changing Co-ordinators every frigging year. Most NFL experts say it takes a QB 2 pffseasons to learn a new offense. It’s stupid to keep doing that to a young QB.
But the heart of it all, is that we have a league worst Secondary.other than Ronde, there isn’t one player there who should be starting. Not even close
Terry Bradshaw couldn’t have dragged that debris into the playoffs.
Blaming all failures, or crediting all success, on the QB- that’s something uneducated fans do. It’s just an easy mark for those too lazy to really watch the game
This site is supposed to be for educated fans
March 4th, 2013 at 3:27 pm
McCoy makes 2.2 million a sack
March 4th, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Capt. Tim Said:
“This site is supposed to be for educated fans”
lmao since when? this site has always had various trolls and/or negative ninnies posting idiotic comments.
overall, I +1 your post though
March 4th, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Capt tim amen,the problem is Joe is leading the idiots. Stupidity has been allowed to flourish, and i for one have had enough. I will be waging a war on dumbness, and tim i am glad to see i am not alone.
March 4th, 2013 at 4:59 pm
Righteous!
March 4th, 2013 at 5:22 pm
@ Capt Name caller and Jarrett
Its stupidity to say that a mediocre QB was overvalued? Stupidity is name calling which is what you just did in that long post that told us absolutely nothing but that you are bias for Freeman. You say we had a record setting offense…. so what? He set franchise records for a franchise that has had nothing offensively for its entire existance. That doesnt prove he is a good QB.
Lets get something straight. There are a number of reasons why we sucked. The defense is one of them as well as Freeman. You have every right to blame the defense and I have every right to blame Freeman. I never once said it was all Freemans fault, that is you trying to put words into my post because you have nothing else to fall back on. Freeman sucked for the most part. I dont care how many yards he had. You can sit there and say i dont watch games all you want to but you dont know a thing about me…. but I can that you are one of these flakes to resort to name calling when someone doesnt agree with you…. that is the only stupidity I see.
So feel free to tell me how stupid and uneducated I am. Seriously its amusing. That wont change the fact Freeman sucks. LMAO
March 4th, 2013 at 7:08 pm
I heard Atlanta is going to offer both Bennett Brothers. Since Atlanta is now in the market for a TE and a DE, after Gonzalez’s retirement and Abraham’s release.
March 4th, 2013 at 7:49 pm
It’s speculation. Like everything before March 12.
That being said I’ve been backing Dom for a while, don’t make me look stupid by letting Bennett walk…
March 4th, 2013 at 7:54 pm
@PR
Sadly, I think Bennett is walking. I just dont understand how we dont have him signed already unless he is demanding far to much money. We shall see what happens.
March 4th, 2013 at 7:58 pm
Freeman does SUCK!!!!
March 4th, 2013 at 7:58 pm
Silence the critics- I have not said anything about you, While i disagree that freeman sucks, nothing you said was dumb. I have no qualms with you, until you start saying dumb things like tebows better or freeman is a thug, or defensive tackle is not a need (all things said this week), you will not hear anything from me.
You have to realize that freeman shows promise and there is nothing that we can do to improve at the position in free agency, or draft so why are we still talking about it. Dumbness has been getting out of control here lately and it reflects badly on all buc fans, so inform yourselves so that no names have to be called.
March 4th, 2013 at 8:04 pm
@ Jarrett
I understand what you said and I am not saying we need to replace him immediately or anything like that. Finding a QB is a lot harder than any other position. All I am saying is that Freeman is as of right now, a problem. A very big problem that hopefully with another year will be able to correct his issues. I just dont see it happening. If I am wrong, i will happily admit it because that would be the best thing for the bucs rather than having to start all over again.
March 4th, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Silence the critic: His play down the stretch was a problem,Thru ten games he was all pro, I realize he may not even be a top ten qb right now. If andrew luck is available or aaron rodgers becomes a free agent replace him. We both are smart enough to realize this wont happen.
My point is we averaged 28 points a game last year. which was good enough to win alot of games this year,we can score points. Dt, De, Lb, CB, Safety,Te, and slot Wr all bigger needs right now. This offense is made for freeman, he is not scared to pull the trigger downfield, huge things are coming our way
March 4th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
All I can say is I hope your right and I’m wrong. We shall see. If we fix the secondary issues, we will see how far Free can take us.
March 4th, 2013 at 9:32 pm
Freeman wasn’t there for us when we needed him most. And THAT IS what matters!!
Remember the Dallas game? Good lord that was pure embarrassment!
March 4th, 2013 at 9:43 pm
^^^^ 16 to 10 ….pure embarrassment? ….no how bout Saints 41 to 0… 🙁
March 4th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
They said Freeman should get 4.4mil
March 4th, 2013 at 10:59 pm
“Capt. Name caller”. Lmao
You got nothing but clichés, Sterotypes, ” blame the Qb for the defense giving up 41 points “opinions? Really? Nothing original to throw out there, amidst the whining?
You’re a chick, aren’t ya?
March 4th, 2013 at 11:03 pm
You know for someone who is always talking about stupidity, you sure dont seem to smart. Who blamed Josh for the defense giving up 41 points? Again you are making things up I see. Nice try though… I tell you what though, New orleans offense getting 41 points in a game isnt that shocking is it? I mean its not like they have a mediocre QB or offense… on the other hand scoring 0 points on the worst defense in the league…. Thats pretty horrible. But hey Josh threw for 4000 yards, he’s a stud!
March 5th, 2013 at 12:48 am
God enough with the damn sack numbers. First of all, Bennett had 9 sacks on a defense with the worst secondary maybe in NFL history and without another edge rusher on the opposite side flushing the quarterback his way. Now lets consider what a sack is…tackling the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage…hmmm, now it seems to me that a “tackle for loss” is the same thing, it just isn’t the quarterback who has the football. Therefore when you combine Bennett’s sacks with his 2nd ranked tackles for loss, you see that he’s one of the best 4-3 defensive ends in the NFL. All you have to do is read beyond the box score. Damn Joe, I would think that you’re capable of doing that.
March 5th, 2013 at 1:05 am
^^ agreed
Bennetts value cant be measured with just sacks