Trade-Up Query To Vikings Is Dominik Way
April 27th, 2012
“I like being rumored to be everywhere. I mean that in the sense that I’m going to call and find out what it takes to get anywhere in this draft class. That’s just how I do it. So if I call and I check to the St. Louis Rams and say, ‘What is it going to take? What would you want to do if you want to move up?’ Or if I talk to the Cleveland Browns or the Minnesota Vikings, I just want to know what’s going on because I want to be able to value what trades are going for in the National Football League. We all have these point charts but sometimes they’re obsolete. What are things actually going for? So you have to stay involved in those. Now at the end of the day I’ll talk to [teams] and say, ‘hey, we’re not in on that.’ But I need to know going ahead. That I think is just the way you need to be prepared.” — Mark Dominik following the selection of Mark Barron. Dominik was asked about rumors he was looking to trade up.
Joe led with the above quote because it meshes with the contention today from popcorn-munching,coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports, that Dominik was looking to trade up to No. 3 overall. King’s source is the Vikings head honcho.
Talked to Minnesota GM Rick Spielman after round one. He told me there was another team — Tampa Bay — interested in moving to No. 3. And before the round began, Spielman was in talks about swapping picks with Cleveland at four and Tampa Bay at five.
Cleveland had two picks in the fourth round (100 and 118 overall), the second pick acquired from Atlanta in the Julio Jones deal last draft day. The Browns also had two picks in the fifth round (139 and 160 overall), the second one part of the Brady Quinn deal with Denver two years ago. And the Browns had three seventh-round picks (211, 245, 247 overall), the final two compensatory picks awarded by the league.
Was Spielman bluffing? Would Tampa Bay have made the move up? I’m not so sure. But after the Browns lost Robert Griffin III to Washington because the Redskins made a better “final” offer for the second overall pick in March, you can be sure Cleveland wasn’t going to get caught short again.
Joe doesn’t think this is much of an X-file. If the Bucs really wanted to trade up, they could have outbid Cleveland. King’s not claiming the Bucs were in a bidding war.
April 27th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
I heard the rumors and was of the feeling that after all these years of watching the Bucs draft far worse than I would have, I was ready to jump ship. Instead, we recovered fairly nicely, took a player that should be pretty good for us (I still like Kuechly better but the safety is class is HORRIBLE this season, particularly at SS) and fills a major need.
April 27th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I hope the “successful draft” is not the only “winning” we do.
April 27th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Rumor has it that Jenkins – Dallas CB is now being shopped for a trade. I say pounce on that. He’s a former 1st round pick and local kid. Plus he’s a decent CB and young.
April 27th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
I am of the same mindset NJ. The guy is a good corner and we need them badly. I would think we could snag him for a 5th or 6th rounder. Pretty cheap for a former 1st rounder and a guy that has really been Dallas best corner.
April 27th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
I agree I think we should go after Jenkins he has been dallas’ best corner and could bring him back to Tampa.
April 27th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Jenkins had one good year and has been anything but since. You might want to re-think that one.
April 27th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
If we can get Jenkins for a 5th or 6th then its well worth it he’s better than half of our corners. And way better than a Talib sitting in jail or at home suspended.
April 27th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Orlandobucfan:
The Bucs aren’t trading for Michael Jenkins. He’s allergic to contact. That’s not what Schiano is looking for.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Ok so maybe I am a little biased since I am a USF alum but as joe has said before something has to be done to strengthen our corners after this year we prob lose ronde and Talib who knows what’s going to happen to him. I’m looking for some answers here but hopefully we get a quality free agent cap casualty or a draft steal.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
I was never a fan of Jenkins, always felt he was soft and overrated, but if he can be had for a 5th round pick or lower, why not roll the dice? He’s making under two million this season, and he’s young. We’ll see.
As for Dom and trading up/down, I’m sure if the price was right Dom would have moved up, but in the long run I think the team made the right decision. Let’s just clear up one little thing so Capt.Tim can stop with his nonsense about Claiborne; he was never in play. The Joe’s on this site have their connections and from what they’ve been told it was going to be Barron at #5 and it was Barron at #7, and the more you study the two players, the more you see that it’s Barron that fits into what Coach is preaching and not Claiborne, a finesse cover corner who grades poorly as a tackler. We as fans get hooked on these players because we are on the outside looking in, we trust the talking heads, most of which have experience in covering or playing football, and we fall in love with some of these players while forgetting there are 32 professional football teams who spend every month of every year looking at film, studying players, and focusing on the right fit for this football team.
Did Dom trade down for too little? No. He got exactly what he wanted, the missing 4th round pick to give him a full compliment of draft picks to build the team. The trade in to 31 was a masterstroke as it not only robbed the Giants of the player they wanted, but potentially solves our RB concerns and results in no loss of additional picks, as that 4th round pick is swapped back 25 spots and the second is traded straight up for the first. All in all an excellent move.
And I’ll just say this; Like Joe mentioned in another post about his sources swearing on a stack of bibles that Barron was the Bucs guy, I can confirm with the same level of confidence that Barron would have been taken at #10, assuming no other team jumped ahead of the Bills, who were not going to trade up for anyone other than Kalil if he slipped to #5. Gilmore was number 1b on their board which is why Buffalo stood pat once the Vikings wisely took Kalil. So if you’re going to knock the move, come up with something just as little bit better than claiming Barron would have been there at #12 or #14 or whatever. That is simply not the case.
April 27th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
More evidence that the Bucs did not get their man, CYA Dominik. Maybe, you can fool the Glazers with that one but you can’t fool everyone. TR was their man.
Drafting in the NFL is all about value, Dominik lost value when he failed to select an elite talent at #5, lost value when he traded down to #7 for only a fourth round pick and lost value when he selected a safety 10 picks too soon.
I hear Jerry Jones is having a little poker game at his crib after the draft and he wants to send his private jet to pick up Mark Dominik. Just as long as he brings lots of cash money.
April 27th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Have you lost your mind, Miguel Grande? Barron wasn’t going to be there at #15 or #17 or anywhere past #10. How do you know Dom lost value? What logic are you using? I do believe there was legit interest in Trent Richardson and Dom did his job and called to see what it would take to move up and the cost was too much, especially when Dom knew he could get a talent in Doug Martin late in the first and could do so by trading down a couple spots, STILL landing the player he covets while gaining the ammo required to trade back into the first, to obtain the other player he covets that would have been drafted at #32 had the Bucs not made the move. So, Dom grabs two legit talents, two football players, two guys that could very well be impact players and he lost value because he didn’t draft elite talent at #5. You were watching the 2012 NFL draft, correct?
Look, Claiborne could very well end up being an elite CB. He has plenty of talent, but I think his negatives are what kept him from being drafted by the Bucs. When Dom said he was nervous when Dallas was on the clock, he wasn’t lying, as a lot of people expected the Cowboys to target Mark Barron. Dallas passed on Barron and went with Claiborne and Dom got his man.
Maybe Dom’s man isn’t flashy or exciting to some, but I think this team gained two leaders, and Mark Barron in particular will set an example for this defense that it’s about playing full speed on every down, never giving up and smacking people in the mouth. This team needs that and Claiborne doesn’t give them that kind of leadership. Yes, Claiborne has shutdown potential, but Barron is no scrub and he’ll be an impact player on this team. The defense gained a leader yesterday evening, and as a fan I couldn’t be more excited.
April 27th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
@thegregwitul WTF are you talking about? Dom got punked by several teams and showed that he has no clue what he is doing. Dallas was interested in Barron at pick # 22 not at #6. Dallas picked our pocket and made Dominik look like a fool.
The Cowboys had Barron at #14, they moved up and stole Claiborne at #6. When the Cowboys stole our lunch the correct move would be Kuechly. That would have almost made sense.