Cash Register Ringing For Michael Bennett
December 12th, 2012
Consistent, versatile defensive linemen are worth their weight in gold in the NFL. It’s why Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has invested such high draft picks for defensive linemen in recent years.
So with defensive end Michael Bennett’s contract being up in just a few weeks, he’s going to look to hit a payday. And given data the thinktank crowd at ProFootballFocus.com has generated, Bennett will nail the lottery shortly. Those numbers geeks have Bennett ranked among the NFL elite at pressuring the quarterback.
Bennett is ranked in a tie at No. 4, ahead of even J.J. Watt and Elvis Dumervil, in pressuring quarterbacks.
As for all-around productivity, the PFF.com crowd has Bennett ranked No. 8 among NFL defenseive linemen, ahead of John Abraham and Kamerion Wimbley.
Now throw in another fact that the PFF folks didn’t touch: Until this year, Gerald McCoy has been hobbled by injuries. Da’Quan Bowers has been hobbled by injuries. Adrian Clayborn is out for the year with a knee injury.
So three of the top five Bucs defensive linemen are injury prone. Bennett is not.
You know what Joe thinks? For every game Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman has like the past two weeks, three if you include his inaccuracy against the Dixie Chicks, cash that could have gone to Freeman will instead be slotted to Bennett.
That is if the Bucs don’t franchise Bennett. Either way, Bennett will hit the lottery in a few weeks. He’s a good guy, a stand-up guy, a productive guy so Joe has no problem if Dominik makes it rain on Bennett.
The Bucs need Bennett to remain in the fold, in no uncertain terms.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Joe, for clarification, Bennett is ranked 8th among 4-3 defensive ends, not all defensive lineman.
The link posted related strictly to 3rd & 4th down, not that I’m complaining.
Considering these stats are coming from a LE i.e. not the QBs blindside, makes these numbers even more impressive.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:26 am
And the guy can rush from the inside. Bennett is in for a huge payday. Ray Edwards type money.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Mike Bennett is a beast.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:30 am
Lol@ consistent. Consistent at what? Stopping the run? Maybe. Where was Bennett against Peyton Manning? So he blows up the pathetic Eagles O-line. Big deal. If he is so consistent, where was Micheal Bennett on the Eagles last two drives? Foles was barely touched.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:32 am
I still chuckle a bit when I see people posting how our best DE is on IR. Bennett is the Bucs best DE hands down. Best DE in the division too.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:36 am
@Warrenfb12 – Bennett had his second sack on the Eagles last drive. Or was it the second to last? Either way, I know it was early in one of those two drives.
As far as consistency, he had 2 sacks, 2 QB hits, and 6 QB hurries. It doesn’t get much more consistent than that…. minus Von Miller/ J.J. Watt.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Franchise Tag him..and make him do it again. Then let him go after 2013
December 12th, 2012 at 10:42 am
@Warren
Bennett had a bad game against the Broncos and you are referring to a handful of snaps in the Eagles game. The fact is that Bennett is probably the most consistent performer on the team and the numbers show that.
He needs to be locked up to a decent contract. Joe is right. Period.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Against Denver, yes, Bennett struggled, but please take notice that the guy in front of him that game(Orlando Franklin) has the highest pass blocking grade for RTs this year.
J.J. Watt, in week 3, is the only player to truly get the best of Franklin all year, and no one is likening Bennett to Watt.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Only consistant member of the D-line that seems to be getting better and not injury prone. With the exception to Clayborn. With our D the way it is. Bennett is practically forcing the Bucs to resign him and he has all the leverage. They need to give him an extension and quickly before he hits the open market.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:14 am
@haveaniceday
Not buying the Bennett stuff. He has nine sacks on the year. Watt has in the upper teens. As do guys like Aldon Smith. Michael Bennett played well against a pathetic Eagles D-line. Where was he in Denver? Or how about against Atlanta? Way to inconsistent for big money. I would resign, but at a moderate price if possible.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:15 am
Clayborn is a beast.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:35 am
@Warrenfb12
Stop trolling.. the same way people say good teams should dominate bad teams, Bennett dominate a bad line. He did his job. And don’t use the Broncos game as a ruler cause when yu dealing with a quarterback like Peyton who has a 3 step drop rhythm offense, it’s practically impossible to sack a future HOF.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:35 am
I say like Ian said. Franchise him and see if he does it again, then you sign him to a big contract. I love how Bennett is playing, but if we sign him to a big contract and he isn’t even close to this year production you will here the same people saying “What was Dominik thinking signing him to a big contract after one season!” Most teams tend to Franchise one year wonders to see what they can do the following year.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:35 am
@Warren
You are talking about Elite DE’s. Nobody said Bennett was Elite or that he disserves that kind of money. But to suggest he doesnt disserve a big pay day because he doesnt have elite stats is asinine.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:41 am
If we are going to use the franchise tag this year I dont see why you wouldnt franchise Barth again since that wont cost nearly as much as it would cost to franchise Bennett. Signing him to an extension would come cheaper than franchising him. He has got better and better every year. There is no reason NOT to sign him to a long term deal. However like I said before they need to do it now before he hits free agency because somebody will overpay for him and we wont match it… then we lose the best D-lineman we have.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:42 am
Or did we already sign Barth? I dont remember that happening.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:53 am
We signed Barth in the beginning of the season.
December 12th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Warren,
The way the great DEs post the big numbers is by absolutely crushing the weaker teams and then hoping for a few good plays against the better ones.
As for your question about where he was in the last two drives against the Eagles, he got a sack in the last drive… any more questions?
You pretty much lost all credibility when you then stated that Clayborn is a beast. Clayborn is an effort guy, a stout defender, but he will never put up numbers like even a good DE does because he lacks burst to hit the edge and turn the corner. He’s a LDE-type that is only capable of playing RDE. Bennett is far from having an elite burst, but he is much more explosive, and much more of a sack threat than Clayborn.
And by the way, slamming him by saying he is only consistent at stopping the run… uh, yeah, that’s pretty important too. Sacks don’t always come when you want them to and they usually come in bunches. Bennett is not elite, but he is completely worthy of a nice payday.
December 12th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
He’s so different from his goofy ass brother
December 12th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
@Sneedy
Thanks for that. Strike my comment then from the record.
December 12th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Ian/Sneedy,
Franchise tag was 10mil this year (see Cliff Avril/Detroit), will probably be 12mil next year. That’s a lot of scat. Might want to rethink Ftag!
December 12th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
He deserves it. He’s worth it. Buuuut, sadly, I don’t think he’ll get it here. The buccaneers envision Adrian Clayborne and De’quan Bowers as there bookend DE’s for the next eight-ten years. And that is a really great combination! Don’t know if they can afford to give Bennett what he can get on the open market. Meybe, but I kinda doubt it. Hope I’m wrong.
December 12th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Bennet and jackson are the best things to me about this season. Hate the beard though.
December 12th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
He is easily the 2nd best D-lineman on the roster even with a healthy Bowers and Clayborn. It would be insane to let him go while hoping one of these two younger guys step up to be as good or better than Bennett.
December 12th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
We should blame Dominick for this problem.Picking up an excellent player off waivers has now created possible salary cap issue.Darn it Mark.
December 12th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Sneedy16, I have been thinking along similar lines. It has often happened in the league that a player has an excellent contract year, but after he gets that payday, production falls off. This is impossible to predict, however, and nothing from Bennett indicates it will be so.
December 12th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
I don’t think you tag him. I mentioned before its likely around 12 mil for the season and that would go a long way in locking him up long term. Also it will probably just make him disgruntled like all the other guys who get tagged.
Put the cap money into the guaranteed cash in the first 2 years and sign the guy. He deserves it and we need a versatile guy in a deep line rotation.
December 12th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
He better get his pay day from us. All this time by our FO trying to find a pass rusher and we finally have one. If we let him walk I don’t know how we could take them serious.
December 12th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Iwould first like to say welcome back to Capt Tim…it has been a while.
Silence, you say the numbers show it…I thought only W/L matters, like in Freeman’s case…Just messing with you man, don’t get mad.
December 12th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Lol Very funny. Bennett gets his job done though for the most part. You cant ask him to do more than he’s been doing.
December 12th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
@Brandon was it the sack that resulted in a 3rd and 18 that the Eagles converted when he was in Eagles territory? Where was he the rest of the drive? If he “knew what play was coming” as he said he did, why didn’t he make an effort to stop it.
Yes I am talking ELITE D-Lineman, that deserve Elite D-Lineman money. Money that Bennett will likely believe he deserves. He is not at that status yet. He is a deal at a good price/not worth it at a large price.
December 12th, 2012 at 5:37 pm
If it were up Bennet we would have gotten the W haha
December 12th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Bennett’s weight in gold at current spot price is $6,763,452.80. Dominik surely knows this.
December 12th, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Go and franchise him, it would be the happiest day of his life.
When they drafted Bowers, I believe they only expected to get 4 years off that bad wheel. Often when you have a leg injury (knee), you compensate for it, and injure something else (achilles).
December 13th, 2012 at 6:51 am
Silence. I agree.