The Countdown: 20 Worst Buccaneers Personnel Moves Of The Past 10 Years — No. 9
July 20th, 2015
It’s the countdown feature you’ve all been waiting for. Not really, but on the heels of last year’s award-winning “20 Worst Buccaneers Of The Past 10 years” feature, Joe had to deliver.
A list like this is highly subjective and toxic. Fits of rage were common during production meetings at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters. Scared interns soiled their pants. Full beer bottles were smashed, and a treasured Rachel Watson poster was accidently destroyed. But order was restored.
Current and former general managers and head coaches might not like what’s coming, but it had to be done. This is what happens when your team is 30-70 in its last 100 games.
No. 9 — Re-Signing Blocking Icon Michael Clayton
Joe will keep this simple. The Bucs gave $10 million guaranteed to a wide receiver notorious for dropping the football. That can never happen.
Joe still can’t believe former Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik did such a thing shortly after he took office in 2009.
Heck, Dominik was gutting the team of Ike Hilliard, Warrick Dunn, Derrick Brooks and others, why not let the guy who spent years sending Bucs fans into fits of rage leave, too? The move would have been applauded by legions of fans.
But no, Dominik guaranteed Clayton a bunch of money. And a year later, he paid Clayton a chunk of that to not be on the roster.
Clayton got the “blocking icon” nickname from Joe after Dominik defended the Clayton signing, in part, because of his unique blocking prowess. Joe maintained that if you’re selling a guy with the dropsies for his blocking ability, then that’s a crater full of red flags.
After Clayton’s magical rookie year of 2004, Clayton had 43 Bucs starts and only caught three touchdown passes, one of the most ugly stats in team history.
No. 11 — Michael “Ghost” Johnson
No. 13 — Free Agent Inactivity After 10-6, 2010 Season
No. 14 — Scaredy Cat Dexter Jackson
No. 16 — Choosing — And Drafting For — The Jim Bates Defense
No. 17 — Drafting Cadillac Williams Over DeMarcus Ware
July 20th, 2015 at 1:06 pm
Another Rockstar mistake on the list!
Yet people still think he was a good gm
July 20th, 2015 at 1:06 pm
The dreaded Michael Clayton…it was only a matter of time.
July 20th, 2015 at 1:36 pm
Really surprised this wasnt top 3
Racking my brain for what could possible be #1. Maybe passing on Adrian Peterson? I guess Anthony Collins is still out there….Goldson too but there’s no way I would rank his signing as worse than Eric Wright’s so I’m guessing he doesn’t make the list
July 20th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
You know the Bucs have made some terrible moves if this is only NINE on the list.
Ugh.
July 20th, 2015 at 1:56 pm
Who was the GM during most of these?
July 20th, 2015 at 1:57 pm
CreamsicleBananaHammock …#1 has to be either the hiring of Dom or letting Kiffin leave out of the building.
July 20th, 2015 at 1:59 pm
’87
Those both sound about right…either way it all led to Jameis Winston in pewter and red, so it all worked out
July 20th, 2015 at 1:59 pm
#1 has gotta be the dumb and dumber duo of Dom and Raheem being hired
July 20th, 2015 at 2:20 pm
#1 blocking prodigy to come out of LSU in quite some time.
July 20th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
Did I mention mike capt caveman Williams is sitting at home swinging on his stripper pole? Just saying.
Evan vjax ball Williams = lights out
July 20th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
I think the hiring of Dominik deserves a slot, a high slot. But, I won’t be surprised if he’s not included. The Joe’s have historically been much kinder to Dom’s tenure than I feel is warranted. We disagree.
July 20th, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Wow. Only 8 spots left, and we’ve yet to hear about Benn or Brian Price or Sears or Gaines Adams or Jeremy Trueblood or Marcus Arroyo…
July 20th, 2015 at 2:39 pm
@WS99
Williams isn’t coming back man. The bottle poppin at Club Rose’ was too much temptation for him. LOL
Although, I must say he was good at making those sideline catches and winning jump balls. The guy had great feet and awareness when making those jaw dropping catches.
July 20th, 2015 at 2:46 pm
Who remembers Marquis Walker from University of Michigan? Taken in the 2nd or 3rd round by Chucky, turns out he finally wound up moving furniture for a living for a local moving company…So Chucky blows two number two’s on wideouts that never worked out…Dexter Jackson and Marquis Walker…
July 20th, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Monte decided to leave to go with his son. Do you think that just throwing a pile of money at him would’ve gotten him to stay?
Raheem is still the last coach to lead this team to a winning record…all on a budget, might I add. Have some respect.
Sears dealt with personal issues, you can’t forsee that happening to anyone. Don’t believe he should be lumped in that category.
Gaines had 21 sacks in 2 years in college. I think it warranted his draft position. Plus, after he was underperforming, we were able to get a decent draft pick for him. Don’t think he should be in the category either.
Brian Price, he looked good until a freak injury.
The others you mentioned, i’m fine with.
July 20th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
sideline catches and winning jump balls. The guy had great feet and awareness when making those jaw dropping catches.
*******************
Exactamundo! IMO it’s either that or Louis Murphy and I’d start Williams with a knife in his thigh, a mattress on his back and a flaming pot in one hand before I’d start Louis Murphy.
Btw, this other Buc site just posted the most insane article ever. Talking about Louis Murphy better than or equal to Reggie Wayne. Dude I almost lost my chit how fckn stupid can you be?
July 20th, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Celly
You got keep some of these dudes in check for they know not what they speak. Good for you homie.
July 20th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
The common denominator in all these boneheaded decisions is Dominik.
July 20th, 2015 at 3:26 pm
“After Clayton’s magical rookie year of 2004, Clayton had 43 Bucs starts and only caught three touchdown passes, one of the most ugly stats in team history.”
And in roughly that same 40 something game time span, Mike Williams had 23 TDs. Then once he got paid and had a few million in the bank – he was done. Now he’s out of the league so it wasn’t just the Bucs perspective that he was no longer worthy of a roster spot. Same with Collins. With JFro I think as well once he got his head all screwed up – potentially assisted by Schiano’s “working conditions”.
One of the most important jobs of the scouts and coaching staff is to find out for reals how much a player they are looking to bring in loves the game of football. Not enough of that going on round these parts in the last decade.
July 20th, 2015 at 3:44 pm
This list is why Buc fans have PTSD….We have endured this too long. I could have done a better job managing/coaching this team, the last 10 years!
As an original Buc fans, I watched us let Doug Williams go, I watched us let Steve Young go…Through the years 100’s of bad-bonehead moves….If Jameis is a “bust”…for my health sake, I am giving up Buc football!
July 20th, 2015 at 4:47 pm
That’s it. If you want debbie downer your going to get it. There is some “stuff” I need to get off my chest. How about recent fresh pain? Donovan Smith over Jake Fisher? How about not jumping all over Randy Gregory with the 34th pick? Yea..I know he is not a “scheme” fit. Scheme belheme. How about AJ Cann over Ali Marpet? Or better yet Nate Orchard with that pick? How about drafting another WR in the 6th round when there is a need at DE, Safety and RB? In 2014, take Timmy Jerrigan over ASJ? Then the Mt Everest of bad picks Charles Sims over Gabe Jackson? How about the release or trading of the entire OL. Donald Penn, Jeremy Zuttah, Davin Joseph and Gabe Carimi? The the almighty Anthony Collins, Oniel Cousins, Garrett Gilkey and their master George Warhop? Need I say more?
July 20th, 2015 at 4:51 pm
@WS99
Murphy equal to Wayne??? WTF! LMFAO
July 20th, 2015 at 5:29 pm
tampa2bucsforever Says:
July 20th, 2015 at 4:47 pm
That’s it. If you want debbie downer your going to get it. There is some “stuff” I need to get off my chest.Well, i’ve finished renewing all my server SSL Certificates for the day, so what the heck, I’ll bite.
How about recent fresh pain? Donovan Smith over Jake Fisher?
Just because you like said player more than another doesn’t make the player the wrong selection. They have scouts that get paid LOTS of money to do these things. The fact that you seem to want to claim oneone a bust so soon is disturbing.
How about not jumping all over Randy Gregory with the 34th pick? Yea..I know he is not a “scheme” fit. Scheme belheme.
And if we would’ve taken Gregory and he didn’t work out, would you have blamed Lovie for drafting a player that didn’t fit the scheme? Would you have called him a bust? Damned if you do; damned if you don’t.
How about AJ Cann over Ali Marpet?
Who’s to say that marpet wasn’t a better scheme fit for Koetter than Cann? I guess you’re privy to information that we don’t have.
Or better yet Nate Orchard with that pick?
Should we just pretend that he wasn’t already drafted by the Browns 10 spots earlier?
How about drafting another WR in the 6th round when there is a need at DE, Safety and RB?
Tampa has struggled at KR/PR almost as long as we have struggled at DE. Again, if you are privy to what the Buccaneers draft board looks like, then you have far more information than the rest of us.
In 2014, take Timmy Jerrigan over ASJ?
We have GMC and had already signed Clinton McDonald. I think it was safe to say that we were strong enough at DT and was more deserving of a TE (as we have been since Kellen Winslow started slipping).
Then the Mt Everest of bad picks Charles Sims over Gabe Jackson?
Won’t argue that too much. Its true that a Guard woudl’ve been better there, but, again, I can’t judge Simms off just half year.
How about the release or trading of the entire OL. Donald Penn, Jeremy Zuttah, Davin Joseph and Gabe Carimi?
I remember PLENTY of people on this here board stating how Penn and Joseph were busts. Specifically, Penn is too fat and slow and Joseph wasn’t worth the money. Letting Zuttah go was a horrible decision. The fact that we gave up a draft pick for Carimi is one reason why I would’ve kept him for at least the year in which we drafted him, but I guess that’s why I’m just a keyboard GM and my job isn’t on the line if I make the wrong decisions.
The the almighty Anthony Collins, Oniel Cousins, Garrett Gilkey and their master George Warhop?
No argument there. You never know how guys are going to turn out, but the fact that they admitted their mistakes and were quick to correct them has to be worth something.
Need I say more?
You really haven’t said much yet.
July 20th, 2015 at 5:53 pm
“Monte decided to leave to go with his son. Do you think that just throwing a pile of money at him would’ve gotten him to stay?”
Celly…yes it depends on how much money..
July 20th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
tampa2bucsforever…how did that grenade taste anyways?
July 20th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Our once proud franchise is stuck in the 7th year of rebuilding. Sad to see that we just can’t get over the hump.
#1 on this list:
The (potential) 10th anniversary of the Tampa defense not producing a plate with 10+ sacks.
Hard to win with a Virgin Center and no pass rush #It’sAMan.U.SecondFiddleLife
July 20th, 2015 at 6:00 pm
A player with 10+sacks*
July 20th, 2015 at 6:52 pm
This should have been #1 for no other reason than the Bucs KNEW exactly what they were getting. This wasn’t someone who was coming from another system who would have benefited from a change of scenery. There was no excuse for Dominik not knowing. But he looked at Clayton, looked at his numbers, looked at the tape and said, “You know… we need more of that and we should reward that level of ineptitude.”
At least with Michael Johnson you could say he was mired in Cincinnati or something and maybe the scheme change might have helped. You had the benefit of the doubt.
It kills me he has a ring as a Giant and even worse, he calls himself a SUPER BOWL CHAMPION – the guy actually BRAGS about it! He. Did. NOTHING for the Giants.
July 20th, 2015 at 8:37 pm
I forgot about Clayton, Lol.
He got mad at criticism in the public and the media so he takes to the post-game podium to announce that the check is in the bank. That’s not changing.
What a guy!
July 20th, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Buc1987 – I was just venting. Jumped on top of it but failed to go off.
Celly Says – It can be difficult at times being a Bucs fan and these articles with the top 20 countdown of bad decisions just gets me either real fired up or really down. Today I thought I would just get everything off my chest and move on. You did get me on the Nate Orchard pick. I should have said Owa Odighizuwa. In the end you are right, it is to early to tell but I did say something. If what I said comes true, this team and L&L are in trouble. I hope I am wrong.
July 20th, 2015 at 10:35 pm
The Clayton deal was a blow. No doubt but at least it didn’t crush the franchise he was cut quickly and never felt a cap issue. We will never know how much of this move was Dom vs the coaching staff. Either way, thankfully dom did the cap well so any of his moves never slowed what could be done going forward. I wonder if the K2 catch vs Detroit to make Bucs 11-5 would have changed the franchise forever???? Also letting go of Schiano vs hiring Lovie. Why is it I feel the ownership ALWAYS reacts one year to soon
July 21st, 2015 at 12:00 am
I really love these features that dredge up pain I’m hoping to forget.
Not.
July 21st, 2015 at 12:03 am
I know why Says:
“Why is it I feel the ownership ALWAYS reacts one year to soon?”
I do too, but to be honest, waiting a year may not have been an option if they wanted Lovie. Certainly, there hasn’t been many option for head coach this year.
Unless you count our new OC.
July 21st, 2015 at 2:38 pm
Don’t understand how this isn’t #1.
July 22nd, 2015 at 1:10 am
The Clayton deal was one of the worst contracts in the history of the franchise. People who can remember the Alvin Harper deal would lament that, but Harper was actually productive to the Cowboys prior to cashing in on a big-time deal. You could not say that about Clayton. Definitely a top 5 worst move.