Are Koenen’s Days Numbered?
August 12th, 2015
Endangered species?
Seems like the Bucs are running a lot of punters in and out of One Buc Palace of late.
Joe knows NFL teams love competition, but the revolving door of trying punters out sure smells like this punter roulette is more than just pushing Michael Koenen.
Are punters important? Of all the football games at the NFL, college and high school level Joe has watched over the years, Joe honestly can recall only twice a punter was used as a weapon, and one of those was Ray Guy. Punting equals failure. The less you see of a punter the better. Even more important if you never hear of the guy.
Former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik signed Koenen in July 2011 to a six-year, $19.5 million contract, per Rotoworld.com. Is a punter, specifically Koenen, important? Well, since he signed with the Bucs, the team has gone 17-47. So you do the math and tell Joe how important a friggin’ punter is.
Last year Koenen was the second-worst punter in the NFL with average yards per punt at 40.4.
Koenen, again per Rotoworld.com, is due $3.25 million this season. He is under contract through 2016 for the same price.
It’s one thing for an NFL braintrust to overpay for its own player (hello, Ghost Johnson). Koenen’s signing came from a different Bucs administration.
Would you pay top dollar for a guy who was the second-worst at his position in the league?
August 12th, 2015 at 1:39 pm
God no! Idon’t understand how he’s been here this long. Dude has consistently sucked since “the rock star” signed him to that ridiculous contract cut him and give his pay to Dotson.
Win win
August 12th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
A good punter will keep opponents from starting drives at midfield and will pin opponents inside their own ten on busted drives. So yeah, it extremely important. That being said, we have Jameis now who has experienced 4th down so few times that I’m not sure he knows FSU had a punter.
August 12th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
Koenen should have been booted two years ago.
August 12th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
The race for Jameis. So ya the whole team was intended to suck last year.
August 12th, 2015 at 1:50 pm
WAS a good Punter when Dominik gave him the Contract
NOT a good Punter anymore
August 12th, 2015 at 1:51 pm
He was great his first year. Coffin kicking constantly. Then something changed. Is he being told to punt short to prevent returns?
August 12th, 2015 at 1:52 pm
He makes WAY too much money for the production he’s given us the last couple of years. Time to send him packing.
August 12th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
I guess you didn’t bother watching Florida Gators football the past 4 years, if you have to think all the way back to Ray Guy to find a punter who was a weapon at switching the field. But to answer your question, YES, his days are numbered, unless he clearly outshines the other two guys, and does well in the preseason games.
August 12th, 2015 at 2:10 pm
He was top shelf with Atlanta…for what we’ll get to replace him i don’t think we can give up yet…
August 12th, 2015 at 2:11 pm
Patrick Murray can punt too
August 12th, 2015 at 2:21 pm
I don’t even understand how he still has a number. He should have been known as “former” a long a$$ time ago.
August 12th, 2015 at 2:31 pm
Wasn’t there a store last year about how he was playing with some sort of sickness. He remedied it later in the year and finished ok at best.
August 12th, 2015 at 2:34 pm
http://www.sportstalkflorida.com/bucs-michael-koenen-reveals-mystery-surrounding-punting-woes/
August 12th, 2015 at 2:39 pm
The punter is certainly not the most important player on a team but can definitely have an impact, for better or worse. Unfortunately for Koenen, his stats do tell the whole story. 2-14, 2nd worst punt average, gee I wonder if there’s a correlation!?
August 12th, 2015 at 2:40 pm
Are punter important? Darn right they are! Good ones can get you out of trouble and bad ones can put you in a world of hurt.
August 12th, 2015 at 5:46 pm
Unless he wows in pre-season – the Bucs are likely to give Koenen a choice of cuts. Cut your salary in half or you are getting cut.
August 12th, 2015 at 8:53 pm
Come on guys. Koenen was one of the few bright spots on our entire roster. It was Lovies design. Koenen can punt the ball in a way few others can. If we are to make the playoffs, we will need Koenen to be healthy and execu….Sorry. couldnt even type that with a straight face =D