Days Numbered For Michael Koenen?
March 23rd, 2015
Rarely does a day go by in which Joe doesn’t get the following two questions: 1. Why is Michael Koenen still on the roster? 2. Why hasn’t Koenen been cut?
Joe’s usual response is, “Why, are you losing a bet? The season doesn’t start for six months. What’s the rush?”
The number of the aforementioned questions jumped last week when the Bucs signed a punter, the world renowned Andrew Wilder, not to be confused with James Wilder or James Wilder, Jr.
Joe doesn’t know much about this Wilder fellow, and really has no desire to study his works because, well, punters are non-people. The less you hear about them the better.
Unlike the fallacy the defense-wins-championships rabble likes to front, punting is not a weapon but a white flag, a signal of failure. Teams that move the ball don’t punt. Teams that fail to move the ball, punt.
When you punt, that means your offense has failed, unless you are laying down for your opponent.
But the signing of this Wilder guy moved the “Custodian of Canton,” eye-RAH! Kaufman of the The Tampa Tribune, to put fingers to keyboard and all but announce that Koenen is finished.
Michael Koenen’s 4-year run in Tampa appears over. With a new coach and GM on hand in 2014, he picked the wrong time to have an off season
— Ira Kaufman (@IKaufmanTBO) March 20, 2015
Per Rotoworld.com, this Koenen is due to make $3.25 million in 2015, which his simply outrageous for a punter, especially one with the second-worst average last season.
March 23rd, 2015 at 8:51 am
He sucks. Shouldve been cut as soon as the final whistle blew in New Orleans in week 17.
March 23rd, 2015 at 8:54 am
Great use of cap space for the DOM
March 23rd, 2015 at 8:56 am
“the wrong time to have an off season” what??? He has been bad and expensive his whole time in tampa except year one. I was shocked to see him make it out of camp last year especialy when they cut a very good Barth and then how the hell did he make it through the season????
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:00 am
The real question is. What will we spend the money on?….we have a ton of cap space already and aren’t really spending yet…..
Actually, with our offense we should spend as much as needed to acquire the best punter in the NFL…..punting for us is a defensive position.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:01 am
Rush? What rush? Licht’s already a year late cutting him. We’re way past ‘what’s the rush’.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:03 am
Barth was a field goal kicker not a punter.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:08 am
fair enough, but until you’ve proven you can drive down the field, that punter remains important. as sad as it is, there were games in 2012 and probably also 2010 – our 2 best seasons since the gruden firing – where the punter was the team MVP. not making an argument to keep koenen, just that we can’t regard punters the way the broncos and packers do. I dream of the day when you can go an entire half or longer without trotting your punter out there. the only time we’ve done that is when we throw picks on consecutive drives.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:14 am
*the “fair enough” response was referring to Joe’s ‘punters are non-people’ statement. when you have an efficient offense like NE, GB, or DEN, you could have your backup QB be your designated punter for all the difference it makes. when you are a perennial contender for the 3-and-out kings of the NFL, that guy has undue responsibility in preventing the game from getting out of hand. we will still have too many issues on the offensive side of the ball in 2015 to enter the blessed world where punters are largely irrelevent. Koenen must go, but we’ll need more than just a warm body in his place
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:19 am
TBBF
“The real question is. What will we spend the money on?….we have a ton of cap space already and aren’t really spending yet…..”
Not enough broken down ex bears or cowboys needing prove it deals therefore no players available regardless of position. They can’t spend it.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:19 am
Without even considering his bloated salary I’m surprised he made it through last season. He was terrible!
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:23 am
@tmaxcon
A good year to frontload some contracts/restructure players….saving cap for future years…
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:27 am
When you can successfully coffin kick the ball to the 1-5 yard line that is a scoring opportunity for your defense. Koenen was order to stop doing that because coaches are afraid of returns. Sound to me like lack of faith in stopping the return rather than lack of faith in your kicker.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:28 am
We should corner the market on punters, then teams will be forced to go for it on 4th down against the Bucs!
Wait, our defense sucks. That’s an awful plan.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:29 am
I guess Joe does not believe that field position is a valuable part of football.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:31 am
does he ever tweet out anything meaning for or something that the world doesn’t already know? forget the paycheck he’s getting because the way he’s played the last two years he’s not work the average salary a punter gets much less 3 mil. who knows maybe he wants out of tampa anyway, he’ll end up back in Atlanta
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:32 am
This should have been done months ago!!
Joe any News on LVD?
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:40 am
TBBF
It’s always about the future with the bucs and practicing patience. it’s never lead first, aggressive and decisive actions and decisions. every damn year it’s about, next year before the season starts…. it’s getting old.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:42 am
@ Joe
Special teams/field position is a very important part of the game. Why wouldn’t you care who our punter is. Given, I’d like to see less of whoever it is, but I like knowing we have someone who can boot the ball or put it exactly where he wants to.
March 23rd, 2015 at 9:52 am
Trade back with the Eagles and draft a punter DUHHHH!!
March 23rd, 2015 at 10:25 am
I say we keep him because Jameis was used to absolutely horrible punting at FSU, so it would probably be a comfort for him
March 23rd, 2015 at 10:52 am
You say “What’s the rush?” I say “Why wait?”
We have 2 other punters who are way cheaper and probably just as talented. Why not just cut Koenen so he can shop for jobs elsewhere? I just don’t understand what we gain by keeping him any longer than necessary.
March 23rd, 2015 at 10:57 am
Koenen, haha. There were literally some punts of his that could be made just as good if not better by us Bucs fans. And he is getting paid millions a year to do it. What a joke. Sometimes he held the damn ball so long it was like he was TRYING to have it blocked.
March 23rd, 2015 at 11:05 am
Punting is an extremely important part of the game. It is not only a battle of field postion, but a battle of time. Why take a chance on 4th and 5 from midfield when you can down them inside their own 20 or even 10, and likely get the ball right back? It’s a chess match.
Ask the National Champion LSU Tigers from a couple years ago how important it was. One of the best punt coverage teams ever seen, and it was definitely an advantage. Not something that will win you the game, but something that will set you up to win the game.
With Koenen no such advantage exists.
March 23rd, 2015 at 11:05 am
The thing about Keonen specifically was the many times where we needed a long punt. Having been stopped deep in our own side, he would kick like a 39 yder in those situations SMH
March 23rd, 2015 at 12:42 pm
Let Patrick Murray handle punts, kick-offs and field goals. He can do it all well. That extra available roster spot on game day could be a valuable edge Lovie. Or is that too innovative?
March 23rd, 2015 at 4:39 pm
Has no one noticed Lovie and his staff asked Koenen to punt differently. Watch the film on him punting prior to Lovie and compare to last year.
March 24th, 2015 at 1:33 am
He stunk so bad lmao , idek why he still is on the team . Like seriously I don’t even want him as a camp body in TB. He’s gotta know he’s not wanted in TB anymore . He’s gotta know he’s completely overpaid . He has too know he won’t be getting a $3.25 mill check this year and that his career is likely over.
I want too see a 6th or 7th rd punter Drafted too TB and then I wanna see Koenen FIRED. Andrew Wilder and this rookie punter can compete for the starting job.
March 24th, 2015 at 1:38 am
MJC the coaches only did that because our ST unit was horrible , tbh though that was because we didn’t have good protection for the punter , & because we didn’t have good tacklers too help put pressure on the returner. Since then we have gotten guys like lemon on the team and Isaiah Frey who really helped the punt team out as far as tackling and getting in the return mans face , but we stillove kept guys like LUKE STOCKER on the ST unit and that wasn’t good at all he allowed 4 kicks total too be blocked this year. 2 punts and 2 FGs . Not making excuses I still wanna see new blood at Punter in TB next season but Lovie didnt exactly put him in a good situation.