Is Schiano Now Driving The Bus?
March 15th, 2013
Joe has studied the moves of rockstar general manager Mark Dominik for years, and Joe must say that allowing Michael Bennett to walk away to Seattle for relative peanuts doesn’t smell like the call of the GM.
1) Dominik has said repeatedly over the years that his priorities, outside of a franchise quarterback, are protecting the passer and rushing the opposing passer.
2) Dominik also has spoken of the value of a deep defensive line roster in the Tampa heat.
3) Dominik has referenced a core belief that claims the Bucs will re-sign and reward their home-developed talent.
4) Bennett was a Dominik signing in 2009. A hand-picked steal off the scrap heap.
5) Dominik has been around the NFL long enough to know productive, versatile, young defensive ends don’t grow on trees.
It’s all speculation on Joe’s part, but Joe thinks the Bennett loss/debacle wreaks of Greg Schiano’s foot coming down in the bowels of One Buc Palace.
Schiano and Butch Davis and the defensive staff have a right to evaluate and assess players however they wish. Their livelihoods lie in their roster, and they should have a big say in who’s on it. Joe doesn’t quibble with that. That written, Joe doesn’t like the move and Dominik’s history suggests he wasn’t in favor of it, either.
Bennett was successful in Schiano’s system, not on another team — right here in the New Schiano Order defense. That’s gotten lost in a lot of the reporting, and it’s one reason Joe doesn’t think Dominik is behind the Bennett move.
Bennett did what they asked him to do. He stuffed the run like a beast and finished at the top of the league in tackles for loss. He recorded nine sacks, despite heinous cornerbacks behind him. And he rushed inside quite a bit later in the season on passing downs, as DaQuan Bowers got more playing time.
Joe can’t imagine a GM, let alone Dominik, letting Bennett walk given the state of the Bucs’ defensive ends.
March 15th, 2013 at 4:53 pm
The Bucs have traded WR Arrelious Benn & a 2013 7th round pick to Philadelphia for a 2013 6th round pick & a conditional 2014 pick.
March 15th, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Bronco just messed up with Dumerville contract.. Hope we sign him up ASAP.. He was going to take a pay cut to 8M but the agent didnt file the papers in time so hey had to release him.. Surely we cold offer him 9M… Make it happen Bucs.
March 15th, 2013 at 4:54 pm
ELVIS DUMERVIL! ELVIS DUMERVIL! ELVIS DUMERVIL!
March 15th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Rejus Benn was just traded to the eagles for a 6th round pick
March 15th, 2013 at 4:58 pm
There it is. First person to deflect the negativity from Dominik and place it on schiano
March 15th, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Good Luck Benn. I bet his first play in Phili is the Benn’d around.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:06 pm
If he gets the credit for GM successes, then he, too, gets the blame for failures.
It’s really that simple.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:07 pm
holy crap?? How did Aquan get traded for less than Regus?
March 15th, 2013 at 5:07 pm
I believe Schiano is indeed driving the bus but this move has little to do with that in my opinion. Bennett believes in his ability and wants a big pay day, he wasn’t going to get the reps needed to ever warrant a major contract in Tampa. Playing rotation is one thing but don’t forget schemes either, they can’t simply let every d-line men loose. Bennett was strong against the run but if they pull him on every third and long for Bowers, how many sacks can he realistically get? Who does the organization want to shine?…Their 2 first rounders and second rounder or the guy they picked up off the street. Don’t kid yourself that teams don’t try to smother very talented players to protect their picks or keep a guys market value down aka Blount.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Oh, and one of the failures of Dominick? Benn – 2nd round pick.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:08 pm
@ Joe
why are you trying to stir up controversy? Dom and Schiano work TOGETHER!
Schiano’s job is to let Dom know what players he needs, or doesnt need, for his gameplan to be successful and Dom’s job is to go out and get those players or release them. whats so conniving or undermining about that?
March 15th, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Dumervil
March 15th, 2013 at 5:10 pm
I’m starting to get a little worried. I love the Goldson signing, but we’ve now lost a starting DE, (Bennet) starting DT (Miller), Starting RT (Trueblood)…we have NO CB’s that are any good, big questions at TE and NO DEPTH along the defensive line…Coach WTF is going on over at 1 Buc PLace?
March 15th, 2013 at 5:14 pm
There is no doubt in my mind that Schiano is behind the wheel! I’ve thought about the Bennett deal overnight and it sounds like the proverbial “I went to a wedding and a fight broke out”. This has the fingerprint of some Rosenhaus sleaze and some Schiano stubbornness.
Make no mistake about it the Bennett/ Buc negotiation did not start at 5mil a year with Rosehaus in the room. It appears that both walked away from that first meeting with an agreement for Bennett to test the market and the Bucs to have first right of refusal. When Bennett publicly admitted that and we all heard it, Rosenhaus quickly did an about face and denied such an agreement existed. Shiano is the wrong guy to break a commitment with.
My opinion, and it’s only that because I have no facts here – that is where things started to get personal and one thing after another started to go downhill. Believe me, the reasonable mind cannot rationalize 3mil a year for a Casillas and not 5mil for a Bennett, regardless of their plans for Bowers. Bennett’s out of the blue 1 year deal with Seattle smacks of a rejected woman going to bed with the first good-looking guy at the bar after a break-up and the Bucs refusal to pursue Bennett after the market softened is a classic “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last woman on earth”.
I can’t prove that it’s not the case, but it’s too easy to dismiss this as the Bucs deciding to move on and Bennett wanting to play for a contender. Something went wrong here and nobody had the presence of mind to reel it in before the damage was done! This is not the end of the world, but there was no reason to go near the edge either!
March 15th, 2013 at 5:17 pm
Uh, deep defensive line roster? We’re hemorrhaging talent there by the day.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:17 pm
We can all speculate as much as we like – bottom line is Dom and Schiano have obviously got a plan for this team and they are sticking to it. There is a lot more going on behind the scenes that us fans do not know of.. I am sure if they really wanted seam smith, Cox and Bennett they would have signed them.
Clearly something did not fit in with he Bucs plans and remember just because we want them doesn’t mean they would want us.. Just give it some time and have some faith in the team. We still got months to go for opening day kickoff and a lot could happen between now and then..
March 15th, 2013 at 5:21 pm
BREAKING NEWS : Michael Bennett is no longer a buc so just get over it and move on , nothing you say or do is ever going to change that fact. So we might as well look to the future now. No point dwelling on the past..
March 15th, 2013 at 5:33 pm
I’d love to know exactly what happened, but there’s at least a strong argument to be made that Bennett going to Seattle was really about Bennett WANTING to go to Seattle, despite his previous comments about “wanting to stay in Tampa.” Why? He himself said (in so many words) in that recent radio interview that the set up of the Bucs’ defensive scheme limited his number of sacks in 2012. In other words, even if he got a starting job in Tampa, he doesn’t think the system will be in his favor. If that’s the case, then why not go to a team where he will probably produce better sack numbers, which will increase his value in 2014, allowing him to get a big long-term deal with Seattle or elsewhere? Not to mention he’ll have a serious shot at a ring this coming February!
Look, I’m not happy Bennett’s gone either. I”m just saying, the possibility that he’ll perform even better in Seattle is a very good one, so what would be the purpose of staying in Tampa where his production would continue to be good but maybe never great?
March 15th, 2013 at 6:02 pm
Machiavelli,
Oddly enough, I agree with you and you can relax I have definitely moved on. But there is going to be a post mortem on why this happened and sooner or later the Bucs front office is going to have to speak on it. There will be plenty of grassy knoll theories about what happened for some time. It’s called catharsis. It’s how people deal with things that are not easily explained or understood leave alone agree with.
March 15th, 2013 at 6:11 pm
I think that you obsessing of bennett is dumb. He isnt that good. He is sub par. And a healthy clayborn and bowers is a risk I am thankful we are taking. Look at mccoy last year. Known for injuries…played full year and ate pineapple. Lets get our money on the dbs
March 15th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Sorry macabee I wasn’t directing anything at you specifically. I just got sick of the complaining lol. But you are right we can only analyse the moves been made right now postseason, and hopefully the moves will be explained by the front office in the near future so the fans are kept in the loop as to why certain decisions are / were made… They owe the fans that much..
March 15th, 2013 at 6:15 pm
BTW I posted this article in another column .. I though it was a good read..
http://www.bucsnation.com/2013/3/15/4103976/the-revis-economy-why-tampa-should-hold-firm-on-their-offer
March 15th, 2013 at 6:58 pm
It’s about time Joe! i’ve been saying Dominik is nothing but a towel boy since Schiano was hired.
March 15th, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Sounds like Joe is trying to defend his rockstar. Hilarious.
March 15th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Get after Dumerville and cut wright.
March 15th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Trueblood was not a starting right tackle–he was replaced by a better overall player (who still has lots to learn but is serviceable given the overall strength of the offensive line. Miller is a journeyman, again a serviceable player but not one who is worth a continuing investment. Also, he was injured a lot over his career in Tampa. Bennett simply is not in the future plans. You can’t pay three defensive ends and Shiano. Dominator are casting their lot with the other two, and perhaps another picking up, though they seem to like Danny boy as well. The fat lady hasn’t sung. We’re already better at safety, on the offensive line (with good injured players returning), and at the third receiver position–I think this is a bigger upgrade than some think. Give it another week and let’s see where we are then. The market is set now and there are a few bargains to be picked over.
March 15th, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Schiano is driving
And we have definitely gone over the cliff
March 16th, 2013 at 2:04 am
Why doesn’t anyone seem to think Bennett was even affordable? The home team trying to lock up a player and another team giving a tryout contract are two very different things with very different price tags. It is a chance to prove himself on another team since his value wasn’t as high as he thought this year. He has already been with this team and would be insulted to get a one year 5 million tryout year contract
March 16th, 2013 at 2:05 am
I meant why does anyone think he was even affordable. Guy could have been out to lunch, hence the tryout year contract
March 16th, 2013 at 8:31 am
Joe..when I and others suggested last year that it was Schiano calling all the shots down there at one buc you dismissed that talk out of hand. So did you just change your mind? Seems to be the same thing this year as last year with schiano pulling in more Rutgers staff and players while finding a way to dismiss many of Dominik’s guys. The moves last off season to get rid of Winslow, price and others turned out to be good ones but I suspect now, as I did then,that these are Schiano led decisions much as you are suggesting with Bennett and miller. Sure feels like we are going to regret this. Hope I am wrong and a rabbit does come out of that hat after all!!
March 16th, 2013 at 8:58 am
5 million is an insulting” tryout” contract??
Wow, wish somebody would have insulted me like that! For 5 million, I’d ” tryout right now! And the way it’s falling apart at OneBuc- I might get a contract!!
March 16th, 2013 at 9:47 am
I have a feeling that the letting go of Bennett has something to do with the comment of ”
sending these coaches back to the colleges that they came from” made mid way into last season.
March 16th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Its looking like we will depend on rookie corners this year. They better be good, our safeties can only do so much.
I do believe NSO has more power than other coaches. Not signing one freakin FA Corner, is shameful.