Bennett Wants To Stay But Odds Are Grim
March 12th, 2013
Just about every Bucs fan wants defensive end Michael Bennett to stay in Tampa. Even the unrestricted free agent Bennett wants to remain with the Bucs.
NFL economics suggest Bennett will not stay with the Bucs.
Earlier this evening, Bennett appeared on Pro Football Talk on the NBC Sports Network and admitted his return to the Bucs is much less than 50/50, so reports the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio.
Bennett, an unrestricted free agent, pegs his chances of staying with the Bucs at a low number.
“I don’t know, 20-to-40 percent,” Bennett said. “It’s not 100 percent. It’s 20-to-40 percent. I’m not sure how it’s gonna play out but it’s a business and hopefully the best things happen.”
Here is some research Joe did using game-by-game statistics on NFL.com: Joe monitored the last five games last season and Bennett had a grand total of two sacks in those games, both coming against the Eagles.
Now Joe has bagged on quarterback Josh Freeman for not being clutch when the Bucs had a shot to make a postseason run. Well, to be fair, in some of those same games, Bennett was about as clutch as Freeman in getting the opposing quarterback on the ground.
Maybe that is why Dominik decided not to throw the bank at Bennett?
March 12th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
I just don’t get not signing this guy. He has gotten significantly better every year. He had 9 sacks last year with a secondary that couldn’t cover me. Why go after Avril when you can have someone like Bennett with more upside, and you are familiar with him? It’s not like Avril is going to be cheaper, he’ll probably be more expensive. This makes no sense to me.
March 12th, 2013 at 11:52 pm
So many people see #71 as a pass rusher, yet I see him as a disciplined, (actually plays the run) three-down, high-effort player that has indeed played better every year. (As Hawaiian stated.)
March 12th, 2013 at 11:52 pm
but dom i mean the administrator throw the bank at Clayton and Quincey Black
March 12th, 2013 at 11:53 pm
We’ve struggled forever to find an effective D-end and now after we finally found one, we’re letting him go? Bullsh!T!
March 12th, 2013 at 11:57 pm
these players needed to be brought back down to earth as far as their asking price goes, after tonight or maybe a few days more, they will understand that teams arent gonna give them $10 mill. a year. DOM was too smart to do deals right off the bat this year. even the teams that did deals off the bat didnt sign to ridiculous deals (minus the dolphins, but lets be honest jeff ireland is the worst gm in the biz). there is still lots of “top” talent for this year left and dom is gonna get some good deals. i hope they dont do the revis deal
March 13th, 2013 at 12:27 am
I don’t get why they don’t sign him either. He has been our most injury free player on defense next to Barber. He is always on the field and makes plays. I watched a lot of games too and saw a guy always around the QB who just completed a quick pass thanks to our no good pass defense. If they are going to after Avril, why not Bennet who they know what they have in him and knows the system already?
March 13th, 2013 at 12:38 am
Keep hearing the Bucs are close to a deal w/ Goldson. I’m freaking out hitting the refresh button. Going to give my computer a stroke.
March 13th, 2013 at 1:22 am
I keep hearing that too but at this point I’m believing the morning sounds more realistic.
March 13th, 2013 at 1:36 am
Joe check out Da’Quan Bowers twitter.
This guy is so humble he said make a wish, so I asked him to call me and he did. Just took time out of his day to have a friendly conversation with a real fan because he is just that humble. What a great guy. I really hope you write about his wonderful actions.
March 13th, 2013 at 1:47 am
@Andrew 2,
Wow, that’s really cool!
March 13th, 2013 at 1:54 am
@andrew2 how did he sound on the phone? I’ve never heard him interviewed. I’ve talked to Blount and you need an ebonix decoder in your phone to understand him. The only thing I understood was you know what I mean he said it three hundred times in five minutes. I thought I was on the set of a little wayne video. I hope he beats that gat beef in Manhatten he might be best d end on the roster in september.
March 13th, 2013 at 1:55 am
@Andrew2: We need more like Da’Quan Bowers.
March 13th, 2013 at 2:34 am
I don’t see teams tripping over themselves for Bennett. Guess they saw those games too, not that he isn’t a great all around player. The market will probably bring him back to reality.
March 13th, 2013 at 6:17 am
The sacks Benner got were system designed…anyone on the side of the designed play is going to get a sack if he’s fast enough…the problem is, it situational. When it needed to be defended, at the end of the season…it was sniffed out easily…and resulted in 2 sacks.
I think Bennet offered some run-stuffing interest…but he is simply outclassed by guys like Cliff Avril…
Bennet is good, just not great.
March 13th, 2013 at 6:25 am
Market for Bennett isn’t really hot. Could get him back for cheap. No one should pay him 10 mil. Kruegar is better than Bennett. Got 8 mil.
March 13th, 2013 at 7:30 am
Think Bennett really meant it when he said he wanted to give the Bucs a chance to match the over, but obviously got told to shut the h*ll up by his agent. That’s why the interview on PFT was so different than the radio interview he did locally. As much as everyone is screaming to sign Bennett, should be obvious that the team has SO much more insight to the player and access to film, etc that they know him better than anyone on the outside does.
Couple of interesting comments on TV the other day. Sapp made a comment that he’s seen plenty of guys lately that have had 10 sack seasons that really didn’t affect the game itself with their play. And Pioli made a great insight that one of the main reasons guys becomes busts is that they get signed/drafted but aren’t really a fit in the new team’s scheme or it’s personality. The Pioli comment is what makes me wary of Avril.
March 13th, 2013 at 8:38 am
Who was playing cornerback for those last five games?