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Joe’s got the audio downloads below of a very interesting interview of Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM yesterday. Joe already brought you Cummings’ take on the Bucs starting multiple rookie cornerbacks next season, but this is the entire back and forth.

Among the takes, Cummings says the Bucs weren’t happy to see Michael Bennett leave their nest.

“That one got away from the Bucs,” Cummings said. “I know they wanted Michael Bennett back. They wanted him back at a certain price, and I gotta think around $5 million may even be below what they were thinking over one year. Certainly for one year I think they would have done that had Michael gone back to them. Obviously, Michael decided. He felt like the pressure was on to make a decision. He could see the market was not quite what he hoped it would be.”

Check it out below. It’s excellent lunchtime listening.

Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, has Joe pounding his head against a wall.

Joe thought he was rid of experts trying to bestow greatness on the head of Aqib Talib, despite Talib being a guy who was torched annually, injured annually, and in trouble annually. But no, in his Monday Morning Quarterback column yesterday, King told the world Talib was the best cornerback available when the free-agency bell rang.

3. New England: CB Aqib Talib, one year, $5 million. Patriots fans would want it to be a longer deal, because Talib could play himself into a bigger money deal elsewhere if he plays the way he can this year. But the Patriots weren’t going to overpay for a player who could blow up in their faces. The best overall cornerback on the market was a must-keep for New England.

Perhaps Talib’s alleged greatness explains why the Bucs have a near empty stable of cornerbacks. If King is to be believed, and Talib was the best money could be on the open market, then it would make sense that the Bucs would pass on everyone else in free agency.

Funny thing about NFL front office types. They often don’t need to hear the wailing of fans and ranting comments on the Internet to know where their team stinks.

There’s this thing called “tape.” It is an outdated term better known as “video.” The front office types and coaches study the game video over and over again, unlike most of us.

Imagine how ill the Bucs’ suits and coaches got this past season? The vast majority of Bucs fans wouldn’t dare watch film over and over again to revisit how dismal the Bucs cornerbacks played.

Joe can only assume Team Glazer has stock in Beecham, the maker of TUMS.

In case you thought rock star general manager Mark Dominik wasn’t aware of the craters he has in his roster for starting cornerbacks, think again, Twitters eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

eye-RAH! is out in Arizona for the NFL owners meetings and he has spoken to Dominik personally about this issue.

@IKaufmanTBO: Bucs GM Mark Dominik admits the club’s current roster of cornerbacks doesn’t provide a comfort level of competition at the position

Joe just cannot fathom the Bucs going into training camp with the likes of Eric Wright and Danny Gorrer listed atop the cornerback depth chart.

Joe is pretty confident somewhere along the way Dominik will sign a corner if he is unable to rework a contract with Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (remember folks, the Jets have to grant Dominik permission to speak to Revis’ agents; it takes two to work out a deal), and he very likely will draft two corners next month.

Obviously, the Bucs’ offseason is hardly a finished product (thank goodness). It’s satisfying to freak out about the moves/non-moves, but an ultimate assessment wouldn’t be fair at this point. Though Joe understands those who say, ‘What the hell is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik doing?’

Heck, Joe’s asked that question when it comes to the exits of Michael Bennett and Roy Miller.

Yesterday, Dominik offered an explanation to Rick Stroud, of the Tampa Bay Times. It seems the loss of Bennett and Miller came down to sticking to a financial plan.

Going, going: Dominik lamented the loss of DT Roy Miller to Jacksonville and DE Michael Bennett to Seattle, but said they exceeded the value the Bucs had on them in an allocation system.

“Roy is a good defensive tackle,” Dominik said. “He played well for us. The market is what it is. The same with Michael Bennett. We have limits with what we can do. We have a value on every player. When you get more disciplined in doing that, you don’t get to sign a player back because someone values him more.”

Now Stroud’s use of the word “lamented” seems over the top. Here’s the definition. Joe finds it difficult to believe Dominik is saddened by the loss of players he let walk away. Both Bennett and Miller were clear in their desires to remain Buccaneers for many weeks following the 2012 regular season.

As for this player-value/discipline thing, Joe gets the concept, but there’s a load of gray area there. Even the average fan knew Dominik overpaid for Eric Wright and Quincy Black immediately upon their signings.

Some players are worth overpaying because of their specific value to a team and a scheme. A “custom-built” for the Bucs nose tackle for $2 million and change a season comes to mind.

Yes, it is past 2 a.m. Tuesday and Joe has potentially breaking news.

The quest for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to swing a deal with the Jets for Darrelle Revis seems to be going south, and no, not towards Phoenix. If reports are to be believed, the Bucs have turned their sights instead toward Brent Grimes.

The creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, is at the owners meetings in Arizona and he has learned that Dominik refuses to be held hostage by Jets general manager John Idzik for next month’s Bucs first round pick.

The biggest takeaway from our first full day at the league meetings in Phoenix is that, with the Jets and Buccaneers taking strong opposing positions as to the trade value of one of the best defensive players in football, the Buccaneers are close to moving on. The belief is that the Jets want a package headlined by a first-round pick, and that the Buccaneers are willing to part with, at most, a 2014 first-round selection.

The Plan B remains Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes, who has drawn interest from the Dolphins and the Browns. The Bucs and Grimes are, we’re told, talking — and if/when the Buccaneers land the Falcons’ 2012 franchise player, the Bucs will be out of the Revis business.

Florio explains it would be in the Jets’ best interest to quit playing hardball and play ball with Dominik. Florio details how people think if Revis walks after the 2013 season, the Jets would get a third round pick in compensation.

But hold up, Florio writes! Notice the Bucs got stud wide receiver Vincent Jackson last year and the Chargers got zilch in compensation.

So if the Jets don’t want to be left with their pants around their ankles and see Revis walk, they may want to take Dominik’s offer of the Bucs’ 2014 first round pick.

With Grimes talking to both the Browns and the Dolphins, Idzik better put down the magazine and get off the toilet damned quick.

Though the fervor for Eric Wright’s head has calmed down in recent days upon learning Wright lost his grievance against the Bucs for a contract clause stating Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik could cut him for popping Adderall, an NFL banned substance, Bucs fans still pine for Wright to be jettisoned.

Prior to that news, Joe was inundated with queries daily about when the Bucs were going to cut him.

In short, not yet, so Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times Twitters.

@NFLSTROUD: Dominik said it’s not a certainty that CB Eric Wright won’t remain with the team, but he would have to restructure his contract. … Dominik said the team hasn’t made a decision about whether to offer Wright a new deal but will address it after the owner’s meetings.

What does this tell Joe? With news that Brent Grimes and the Browns are making headway on a contract, Dominik doesn’t want to get completely shut out on cornerbacks and will consider keeping Wright, for a much-reduced price.

So, in a twist of events, your big free agent cornerback signing may actually be Wright.

Not much new here, but it is a fresh nuance to the LeGarrette Blount trade possibility.

Speaking at the NFL Owners meetings in Arizona this evening, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik implied that while he’s exploring trading Blount, he’s aware that a solid No. 2 is necessary. Per the Twittering of Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud, it seems the Bucs believe Blount could be their No. 2 and he won’t be dealt for a ham sandwich.

@NFLStroud – “Right now we’re just listening with the understanding that Doug Martin can’t do everything,” Dominik said.

Joe can’t blame the Bucs for seeking to trade Blount, who becomes a free agent after next season. If the Bucs aren’t going to use Blount much, they might as well see if someone will part with a middle-round pick.

Perhaps the Bucs are sniffing a running back they like in a middle round, but don’t love enough to use one of their current picks on him.

It’s widely known that the Bucs courted turnover machine Matt Cassel to push/compete/mentor/cater to Josh Freeman. So Joe can’t see any reason why the New Schiano Order wouldn’t want to purse Matt Hasselbeck, who is a better quarterback and has proven to be a willing and capable backup.

Hasselbeck was released by the Titans today because they didn’t want to pay him $5 million and change for 2013. He turns 38 in September and was 2-3 as a starter last season, completing 62.4 percent of his passes, including seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

The guy’s won playoff games and made a few Pro Bowls. The Bucs could do a lot worse, and Joe suspects Hasselbeck knows a hell of a lot more about playing QB than the Bucs’ new quarterbacks coach.

Put aside Jets coach Rex Ryan’s loud mouth and world famous foot fetish, and one must respect the man’s knowledge of defensive football players.

So it was interesting to note his comments today on Darrelle Revis, via NFL Network. (Here’s the video, including footage of Revis training.)

“His work ethic’s unbelievable,” Ryan said of Revis.

Ryan went on to say “absolutely,” when asked whether Revis will return to the Jets. “He’s our player.”

Surely, Ryan talking about Revis staying with the Jets could just be him touting the company line, but it was world’s more convincing that the clip of the video when Ryan talks about Tim Tebow competing for a QB job with New York this season.

If it is Monday, that means the first thing Joe reads before he rubs the sleep out of his eyes and has his requisite caffeine is the must-read Monday Morning Quarterback penned by cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naive, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated.

Few writers have the kind of access and behind-the-scenes stream of information King has, and he frankly believes Jets general manager John Idzik is blowing smoke when he claims he wants studly cornerback Darrelle Revis on his roster.

I think when I see headlines about the Jets keeping an open mind on whether or not to trade Darrell Revis, I am heartened that they have not lost their minds. Then I think: They’re just saying that. There’s far too much smoke out there, and far too little whispering to sources off the record that Revis is going nowhere, for me to believe they aren’t desperate to move him. Mistakenly, of course.

Joe will have more later on the Revis-to-Bucs chatter, but Joe must caution fans. If a Revis trade to the Bucs is going to happen, it is more likely to happen later than sooner.

Relax and enjoy the ride.

A new form of ice water was tossed on a potential Darrelle Revis trade this morning.

Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings had an in-depth chat with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM and proclaimed the New Schiano Order has the fortitude to open the 2013 season with two rookie starting cornerbacks, if it doesn’t like its options and value via trade or free agency.

“They have the confidence they can make that work,” Cummings said.

Cummings cited former Bears secondary coach Greg Schiano’s hands-on ways with the Bucs’ defensive backs in practice, as well as the team’s faith in its safeties, which now include All-Pro Dashon Goldson. (Joe also will point to Schiano’s apparent takeover of the defensive backs very late in the 2012 season.)

Now Joe can’t predict what the Bucs will do with their woeful cornerbacks corps. It is considered a deep class of rookie corners. But Joe thinks starting two rookie cornerbacks would be the equivalent of NFC South suicide.

However, Joe does believe a Revis trade will get done this spring.

You may have heard Joe yesterday on WHFS-FM 98.7 talk about the Bucs and the favorite subject of seemingly all Bucs fans, Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.

The issue of what ransom Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik must cough up in order to land Revis is concerning.

Joe is against giving up a first-round pick for two reasons: There’s not a doctor on the face of this earth that can tell Joe if Revis, after an ACL surgery, can run, cut, jump, stop on a dime and start, and explode the way he used to — repeatedly through a season.  Any doctor who can predict otherwise is, in reality, a witch doctor.

Second, Joe does not believe the Bucs are one all-star cornerback away from a Super Bowl. Shoot, we’re talking about a team with a losing record that just lost three of its starting front-seven. Have they even been replaced yet?

This is the issue Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly shares. He believes, as always, it all goes back to No. 5, and even Fennelly is confused by that position.

Is this a Super Bowl quarterback — even a playoff quarterback? It’s a question with an answer that changes with Freeman’s ups and downs. We’ve seen him dress up as Michael Jackson. Cool. Great. Now, can he pretend to be Joe Flacco? I’m not so sure.

This is a bulls-eye by Fennelly. If the Bucs had a top-tier quarterback, with the weapons Freeman has, heck, Joe would probably pull the trigger on a first-round pick for (a healthy) Revis.

But Joe would sure like to see the Bucs in the playoffs first before tossing out first-round draft picks for guys coming off of ACL surgery who have a habit of holding out and squeezing a front office for more cash.

This week’s NFL owners meetings, starting today in Arizona, were supposed to be a time for Jets and Bucs big shots to enjoy bagels and coffee together and happily hammer out a trade for Darrelle Revis.

But it seems the Jets have started playing — and blowing smoke — before breakfast has even been served. Via ProFootballTalk.com, the Jets already were talking tough last night upon arrival in Arizona.

“I expect Darrelle Revis to be a New York Jet,” Idzik said, according to USA Today‘s Jim Corbett. “We as the Jets operate under that assumption.”

Owner Woody Johnson offered a similar sentiment, even suggesting an extension for Revis — who’s in the final year of his deal — wasn’t impossible, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

This doesn’t surprise Joe. To preserve some credibility with their grouchy fan base, the Jets have to play hardball with the Bucs. But the Bucs have to play hardball right back. Joe suspects the Bucs’ tough-guy act might be more credible if, say, they signed another starting-caliber cornerback.

The heck with work. Head over to Derby Lane and enjoy an awesome day of live greyhound racing and 10 chances to win $250. Remember, there’s never any admission charge, and Derby Lane is home to Tampa Bay’s best and biggest (and smoke-free) poker room, plus great dining and bar options. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. First race is 12:30 p.m.

Based on how much Joe has been bombarded with e-mails and Twitter messages, Joe knows Bucs fans are in an uproar over what has transpired last week with their beloved team.

While Bucs fans universally stood and applauded Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik’s prowess landing free agent safety Dashon Goldson, there are still so many holes in the Bucs defense, Norv Turner’s acne springs to mind.

Gone is starting left defensive end Michael Bennett.

Gone is starting nose tackle Roy Miller.

Gone is starting strongside linebacker Quincy Black.

And don’t get Joe started on the cornerbacks. It’s a frightening thought.

Now one main reason Bucs fans are up in arms with their team is, in their perception, the lack of movement in acquiring Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. So unnerved are Bucs fans, one actually asked Joe if Team Glazer would sack Dominik if he cannot get Revis.

Joe’s answer? Not just no, but hell no!

Look, this is the NFL we are discussing here, not fantasy football where you can just click on a button to accept a trade. Joe was mocked when he (correctly) surmised that when Jets general manager John Idzik was in Tuscaloosa for Alabama’s Pro Day, that there would be no trade movement. There is just no way Idzik was going to move his best player and Jets owner Woody Johnson’s pet player while Idzik was up to his elbows in barbecue at Dreamland sitting in some backroom booth.

For the Bucs to make a deal on Revis, a contract extension will have to be worked out. Not even Vinny Cerrato is stupid enough to trade potentially a first round pick to have a guy for five months and watch him bolt for free agency.

To date, the Jets have stonewalled Dominik. They have not granted Dominik permission to talk to Revis’ agents. You can’t negotiate a contract if you can’t talk to the agent(s).

Then, there is this little nugget from Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. If the Jets trade Revis before June 1, the team gets hammered with an ugly salary cap hit.

If the Jets trade Revis before June 1, they’ll be hit with a $13 million cap charge, but he’ll be off the books next season.

Right there is why you see the Jets strong-arming Dominik. That’s a major penalty on a team that is looking for cap room as it is.

For that reason alone, Joe doesn’t expect any transaction on Revis being completed for a couple of months.

Now Dominik, who is at the NFL owners meetings this week in Arizona, as is Idzik, may work out the parameters of a trade this week, which would enable both teams to pull the trigger after June 1. That could very well happen.

But for Bucs fans who are cursing at their bartenders and kicking their dogs because Dominik hasn’t landed Revis yet, brace yourselves. If it happens, it may not be for a while.

And no, Dominik will not lose his job over where Revis plays this fall.

UPDATE: Per @NFLosophy, who is a former NFL front office type, “If [Revis is] traded before June 1, Jets eat $12 million in dead money for 2013. If after [June 1], it’s a $3 million charge for 2014.

Those ugly contract holdouts by Darrelle Revis with the Jets in 2007 and 2010? They very well may have been driven by his agent’s distaste for Gang Green management, so penned New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers.

On Friday, Myers dove into a list of reasons/factors why he believes Revis surely will land with the Buccaneers. One of them stuck out to Joe most.

Revis’ agent, Neil Schwartz, has a contentious relationship with the Jets that  goes beyond Revis holding out in 2007 and 2010. But last year, Schwartz client  Vincent Jackson signed a five-year, $55.5 million free agent deal with the Bucs  that included $26 million in guaranteed money. Since no team is going to give up  significant draft choices for a one-year rental, it’s crucial that Schwartz and  the Bucs already have a good relationship.

Various reports claim Revis wants a contract extension to the tune of $14 million to $16 million annually starting in 2014. Joe finds that figure to be insane, given the depressed salaries doled out to cornerbacks this season. Consider the roughly $15 million Eric Wright was scheduled to earn over 2012 and 2013 — before he pill-popped his way to less — and compare that to what corners are scoring on the open market this season. It’s not close; and Wright wasn’t that great before he got to Tampa.

Perhaps Schwartz will see that reality. He’ll surely hear it from Dominik. The Bucs can’t fork over a big compensation for a one-season player. But they also can’t serve up almost double market value to a guy coming off major knee surgery.

Where did Joe buy his pre-owned, 2007 Ford 25 months ago? That would be Ed Morse AutoPlaza in Port Richey. And Joe hasn’t needed a major repair since. Check out this awesome classic car event coming up at Ed Morse Auto Plaza. Put it on your calendar now!

Last week, former Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett said, in so many words, the Bucs didn’t show him any love and that was a main reason he bolted for Seattle and left Tampa Bay.

It seems the same thing happened to new Bucs tight end Tom Crabtree. Pete Dougherty, of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, noted Crabtree, who is vacationing with his family in Tennessee, is expected to make it to Tampa today to sign his contract.

Crabtree said it soon became clear “we just weren’t on the same page,” and the Bucs’ two-year offer was better for him, his wife and two young children than the one-year deal worth $630,000 — the NFL minimum for a player entering his fourth season — and small signing bonus extended by the Packers.

“It was hard for me to justify almost being back where I started this whole thing off, when I feel like I worked so hard and contributed so much,” Crabtree said. “I guess I would have liked to have been rewarded for my efforts a little more. … I saw more of a commitment from (the Buccaneers) end, which kind of was a little bit of a shock at first. I expected it to be the other way around — maybe some teams interested but wouldn’t come close to what the Packers wanted to do or offer.

“But at the same time, it’s part of the business. No hard feelings or grudges on my end, and I’m sure on their end, too. We both have to make the best of the situation and go on from here.”

Crabtree, who Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel described as the Packers’ “best blocking tight end,” apparently has developed into something of a passing weapon. Dunne, after speaking to Crabtree, noted the Bucs offered Crabtree more of an opportunity to be a pass-catching threat.

Crabtree faced a major road block with the Packers playing behind tight end Jermichael Finley.

Joe kind of had a hunch the Bucs would draft a tight end in the second round, but now with Crabtree on board, the possibility of re-signing Dallas Clark and Luke Stocker on the roster, Joe doubts a tight end will be drafted high by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Besides, there are too many holes on defense. The Bucs lost a starting defensive end, starting defensive tackle and a starting outside linebacker all in a matter of hours last week.

That’s not even factoring in the porous unit of cornerbacks that sorely needs upgrading.

So Joe breathed a sigh of relief to learn this afternoon that helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, pill-popping, granny-hassling Aqib Talib did the Bucs, and indirectly Bucs fans, a favor by signing a one-year pact with Bill Belicheat.

Joe actually turned on local radio airwaves yesterday afternoon — and quickly returned to SiriusXM NFL Radio — upon hearing people actually pining for the return of Talib! Can you imagine?

Why?! That’s like asking for another case of the mumps.

Joe literally has no idea where this fallacy came from that Talib is one of the game’s better corners. Even people who should know better peddle this absurd notion.

@RapSheet: On Talib: Smart of an elite CB to sign a 1-year deal in soft market, rather than a multi-year offer he got. He had 3 other options, stayed.

ELITE??? Good grief, have we, as Americans, lost our standards this badly? Just what exactly makes anyone think Talib is “elite?” Anyone that calls Talib “elite” is admitting they have never watched him play or have a far different definition of “elite.”

Simply playing for Belicheat does not make one “elite.”

Elite pain in the neck? Maybe. Elite talent? That’s debatable. Elite player? Don’t insult Joe.

Do elite corners allow Hakeem Nicks, not exactly to be confused with Jerry Rice, to charbroil them for 199 yards?

Just because one has talent does not make him elite. Reggie Bush has talent, for example. He’s not even close to being elite.

Then there’s Talib’s dependability, which is just slightly above depending on the weather in Chicago in March. When he’s not injured or suspended or incarcerated, yeah, Talib may be dependable. It’s hard to be dependable much less elite while caged in a county jail.

Joe would rather have Brandon McDonald than Talib. At least you can pretty much depend on McDonald to suit up and take the field.

Thank goodness this nonsense of Talib’s return to the Bucs is dead. At least for a year (sigh).

Joe’s unsure the truth will ever come out regarding why the Bucs thought it was a smart idea to let their best defensive end walk away in free agency when it wasn’t going to cost much to retain him.

For those returning from a Mars getaway, Michael Bennett signed with the Seahawks on Thursday.

Yesterday, veteran Tampa Tribune beat scribe Woody Cummings caught up with Bennett, and the versatile, young stud DE said he didn’t feel like the Bucs wanted him to return.

“They acted like they didn’t want me, so no, I didn’t go back to them,” Bennett told The Tribune on Friday. … …

“I just didn’t feel any love from them at all,” Bennett said. “And that’s kind of disappointing, because for a team that you put everything you had into for four years to do that, you’re just kind of, ‘OK, whatever.’

“You do everything you can to grow as a player and get better as a player and you prove yourself over and over again for them, but I guess that’s just who they are.”

The Bucs declined to comment.

Joe’s not going to rehash all the reasons why retaining Bennett — a guy who proved he was a strong fit in Greg Schiano’s defense — was a wise move. You can read many of those here.

As Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik always say, every organizational move is about making the Bucs a better football team. Joe looks forward to seeing how losing Bennett fits into that paradigm.

Where did Joe buy his pre-owned, 2007 Ford 25 months ago? That would be Ed Morse AutoPlaza in Port Richey. And Joe hasn’t needed a major repair since. Check out this awesome classic car event tomorrow at Ed Morse Auto Plaza. Make plans now!