Stefen Wisniewski And The Bucs
March 25th, 2015
Not long after the free agency dinner bell rang, Raiders center/guard Stefen Wisniewski visited the Bucs to talk turkey and maybe a contract. Wisniewski left without a contract and headed to Seattle, which needs a center.
Wisniewski not only didn’t sign with the Bucs, he didn’t sign with the Seahawks and later after visiting the Bears, didn’t sign with them either.
Yesterday, when Joe appeared with his good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, on the weekly JoeBucsFan.com Hour heard exclusively on WDAE-AM 620, Joe speculated that either Wisniewski was asking for way too much cash, or there was something going on behind the scenes.
Turns out, it may be both. Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Wisniewski had shoulder surgery.
Wisniewski is recovering from shoulder surgery after last season when he played with a torn labrum. The former second-round pick of the Raiders has made visits to the Seahawks and Bucs, and the Rams and Chiefs are also known to be interested. No team has been willing to meet his request of $4 million per season and it could be he winds up on a one- or two-year prove-it contract. At this point, it would be a mistake to rule out the Bears.
Well now, that explains it all. First, his agent is trying to shake down teams for $4 million a year (Ha!) and the dude has a bum shoulder. No team is going to shell out that kind of cash unless they know for sure his shoulder is OK.
No wonder the Raiders passed on Wisniewski and signed free agent center Rodney Hudson.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:05 pm
PASS!!!!
March 25th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
I’m confused by your segment yesterday Joe. You’ve recently made it sound like EDS way underperformed and needs to go, but yesterday you made it sound like his poor performance was due to a ‘trickle-down’ effect from poor play at right guard and left end… so is it worth us going after a center? Because if so, I’d like to see them pounce sooner than later, like that bs they pulled days before the start of last season
March 25th, 2015 at 12:08 pm
Dougie Fresh recovered from the same injury….don’t see why this monster can’t.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
a torn labia aint nothin to joke about.
pass
March 25th, 2015 at 12:13 pm
Of course.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:14 pm
He sure fits the Lovie Smith requirements, average player, injury history, another team cut bait and he is in need of a prove it deals. That’s a Lovie guy.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
give him a cheap deal to prove it and then maybe he can get the numbers he wants afterwards.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Muscle Hamster? Has he recovered?
March 25th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Then what of EDS?
Is he serviceable?
March 25th, 2015 at 12:23 pm
I thought it was because he wouldn’t play center or something….but still its not like a TOE injury he’ll recover from this and with the state of your franchise can you really afford to let anyone walk if they play the o line? atleast we know the bucs think they are done overpaying for anybody
March 25th, 2015 at 12:31 pm
If it’s a one year prove it contract I say get him. Even if we overpaid by a million or so we have the space to do that. As long as we don’t over-commit in length of contract I’m OK with a short term solution.
Too many holes to fill in just one draft. Next year we’ll have drafted our QB and so wherever we draft we can start picking up OL and perhaps add more edge rushing if we still need it.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:40 pm
If he were 28 or 29, I could see reason to doubt. But he is only 26. Even if he has a bad season as a result, he will eventually recover. That makes it a worthwhile investment IF the price is right.
I say a 2 year deal with an option for a 3rd. Offer him $3m per year plus incentives that can make it 4m. It isn’t like we don’t have the money.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:42 pm
Mike10 Says
“Then what of EDS?
Is he serviceable?”
No.
EDS actually cost us at least 2 games last year. A Center should NEVER cost you games. We’ll hear excuses for him, especially if we cannot replace him, but that’s the bottom line. However, it is widely believed he can do better at guard.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:49 pm
The problem with one year prove it contracts is this…if a player does well, we get burned. While it’s good to have a good player in the present, there are certain positions that are hard to fill properly.
Center is one of them. A bad center can throw everything off. Team a good center with a good QB and you can build a strong offense, which is why Tampa has never had a strong offense. We’ve never had both at the same time.
And historically, we have had some mighty bad centers. That’s why, when we do find a good one, I always caution against letting him go too soon.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:56 pm
@BucBonzai
And historically, we have had some mighty bad centers
True dat! At least those of us with some long memories can harken back to Tony Mayberry. He was good.
March 25th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Loss of strength in your shoulder after labrum repair is no joke… I’d wait to see how he recovered before shelling out upper tier $$ for an interior OL.
March 25th, 2015 at 1:03 pm
robert 9 Says:
March 25th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
a torn labia aint nothin to joke about.
pass
I think our team suffered from numerous torn Labias last season…
March 25th, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Joe Says:
March 25th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
“Dougie Fresh recovered from the same injury….don’t see why this monster can’t.”
“Muscle Hamster? Has he recovered?”
Welp Joe he wasn’t doing much before it now was he?
March 25th, 2015 at 1:21 pm
Robert 9:
A torn labia… lol. I agree. Not a joking matter.
March 25th, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Jameis is packing on the pounds…move him to Right Guard 🙂
March 25th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
@bucco brice
You’ll just won’t let it go smh. I’m the biggest jaboo there is But funny is funny and that was hilarious lol
March 25th, 2015 at 2:38 pm
Might not be the same injury but didn’t Michael Bennett have a shoulder injury that promoted Schiano and Dom to let him go elsewhere? Not saying that this outcome would be the same, but it might be wise not to write the guy off just because another bad team (Raiders) let him walk?
March 25th, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Labrum rehab CAN take a year for strength to return.
March 25th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
The same bum shoulder michael bennett had when the bucs let him walk. Sign this guy already
March 25th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Ease on down the road to Tampa Wiz.
March 25th, 2015 at 4:47 pm
Give him a thorough physical, if his shoulder passes muster then a 1yr. prove it deal for 2 or 3 mil. Sooner or later somebody will step up and do this and he will sign unless he wants to face the real prospect of not playing this year.
March 25th, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Well, all the more reason to go after Cam Erving if we can move into the bottm of the first. We’ll just have to hope a decent left tackle can be picked up from someone’s cuts.
March 25th, 2015 at 6:43 pm
@BuccaneerBonzai I totally agree, sign him and let he and EDS battle it out for who fits best at C and G
March 25th, 2015 at 9:41 pm
Yes – Cam Erving please! Max – Cam Erving only played 5 games at Center but did quite well obviously. Erving played Left Tackle very well for almost a full 3 years at FSU and would likely be able to step in at that spot and do well. If not – he can play Guard or Center. Erving’s versatility and talent are impressive.
March 27th, 2015 at 4:55 pm
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