Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik played a little hardball today, announcing the Bucs would not use the franchise tag on any player this offseason.

Translation: Michael Bennett, we want you to think we’ll let you walk when unrestricted free agency bell rings March 12.

Of course, the Bucs can always change their collective minds and franchise 27-year-old Bennett next week.

Regardless of what one thinks of Bennett, or whether one considers him worthy of a franchise tag that would keep him in Tampa and pay him nearly $11 million next season, Bennett will get paid huge money this offseason. Young, healthy pass rushers, especially guys like Bennett who also stuff the run effectively, always get a lottery ticket.

The Bucs can talk all they want about Da’Quan Bowers emerging and about managing their budget, but there’s no amount of spin that can make sense out of the Bucs letting their best defensive end walk away.

Joe sincerely hopes this Bennett deal gets done before Bennett hits the open market. There’s no need for the Bucs to play with fire. Bennett’s not a Hall of Famer, but he’s a very good player, the type the Bucs should be retaining.

Joe has made no secret of his mancrush on Bucs offensive line coach Bob Bostad. With the possible exception of Bryan Cox, no Bucs assistant did a better job than Bostad.

The man lost two Pro Bowl guards to injury, a third starter to injury, played another starter out of position and filled one void with a basketball player. Yet, the Bucs’ offensive line performed better than most across the NFL.

This did not surprise Ricky Wagner. An offensive tackle from Wisconsin, Wagner knows all about Bostad, who came to the Bucs from the Badgers.

“He’s the greatest coach I ever had,” Wagner said.

This is not idle talk from an excitable college kid. Wagner was (is?) a gifted athlete who, as a high school basketball player, had several scholarship offers to play hoops in college, but instead chose to walk-on at Wisconsin as a tight end.

Bostad saw something in the man and moved him to tackle. Wagner believed it is Bostad’s attention to detail and exacting standards that separates him from other coaches, as well as his ability to teach.

“The way he coached, every detail was magnified,” Wagner said. “On the offensive line that is so important because if you are off by an inch, that could screw up the whole play.

“He transformed me.”

Wagner likes to emulate Cleveland Browns tackle and former Badger Joe Thomas. Wagner has played both right and left tackle.

“If [a team] wants me at right tackle, I will work out there all offseason,” Wagner said.

Given how Bostad obviously knows all about Wagner, and the Bucs may be looking for a tackle late on the second day or the third day of the draft, Wagner, who admitted he has spoken with the Bucs and would love a reunion with his old line coach, may be a guy to keep an eye on.

“Mark, I’m moving to deregulate shoelace length and color on road game travel dress shoes. Are you with me?

“Toes on the line!”

Whether it was the temperature in meeting rooms, hotel room thermostats, pasta noodles, or water-bottle protocol, and more, the New Schiano Order seemed to have a rule for it last year. Greg Schiano was all over every last nuance. (Though Joe is still amazed it was within team rules to have Adam Hayward shove Bryan Cox on the sidelines and not get seriously punished.)

But things are going to loosen up a bit around One Buc Palace, so reports Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings, of The Tampa Tribune. Cummings got Schiano to explain that the ship doesn’t have to be as tight now that the head coach has established order.

“You have to go overboard one way or another to get that culture established, but I think at this point, our football team understands who I am and how our football program is going to be run,” Schiano said.

“I think that happened as the season went on last year, so we’ll change some things for this year, some of the mandatory things, things that I don’t necessarily think grown men need.”

Call Joe cynical, but Joe will believe in the changes when they happen.

Sure, Joe believes Schiano will loosen a few minor details — perhaps a choice of hot meals and Adam Sandler movies on team flights? — but Joe doesn’t expect Bucs players to notice any significant relaxation of the Schiano way. It won’t be an easy training camp by NFL standards, and Joe suspects Schiano will have higher expectations now that the program is established.

For the vast majority of NFL head coaches, interviewing players at all-star games and the combine is critical to not just know possible targets but to get inside their heads.

Few, if any, NFL types really know the college players aside from their athletic abilities.

Not so with Bucs coach Greg Schiano. Just one year removed from the college ranks, Schiano knows many of the players at this weekend’s largest indoor track practice after recruiting them when they were high school juniors and seniors (much like how he knew Bucs cornerback Leonard Johnson since the Clearwater native was 15).

In some cases, these same prospects played for Schiano, who didn’t dismiss he may have an advantage over his coaching brethren, during his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine yesterday.

“It may have [been an advantage], maybe not so much the player we did select, although we did select two West Virginia players we played against. But more importantly, knowing information, knowing backgrounds, so you kind of cut to the chase on things,” Schiano said. “The other thing is the relationships I had with college head coaches, I think that’s critical, whether you went through league meetings with them or you went through national meetings with them, but you built a relationship through time to be able to talk to those guys and gain insight into the player that you maybe couldn’t have otherwise. That’s helpful.”

With the exception of Johnson, Joe isn’t so sure we have seen the benefit in Schiano knowing players and coaches.

Yes, Schiano and Dominik drafted a pair of Mountaineers, who played in the same conference (at the time) as Schiano’s Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. But at best, the jury is still out on linebacker Najee Goode and cornerback/safety Keith Tandy.

Joe pressed Mike Smith on the health of coveted cornerback Brent Grimes. It seems Grimes can’t run on grass.

Dixie Chicks coach Mike Smith just took the podium at the NFL Scouting Combine and Joe, knowing Bucs fans have a keen interest in the status of Dixie Chicks free agent cornerback Brent Grimes, asked Smith how Grimes’ rehab is coming along.

Grimes suffered a season-ending, Week 1 Achilles injury last season.

“Brent Grimes has been doing an outstanding job working with our athletic performance department, working in the training room,” Smith said. “He is progressing well. That was a significant injury that took place in Kansas City on opening weekend. But he is progressing well. The turnaround for that is usually somewhere around nine months.

“He has not been out working outside. He is still working in the training room and progressing very well.”

When Joe asked if the Dixie Chicks would slap Grimes with a franchise tag, Smith sort of chuckled, not in a happy way, and said, “Guys, I’m not going to talk about the franchise tag in terms of what we may do there.”

So the mystery of Grimes and his health and his free agency status continues, but this won’t stop many Bucs fans who yearn for Grimes to play home games at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

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The Bucs seem to embrace guys with knee injuries. As rockstar general manager Mark Dominik told us, the Bucs know knees and are confident in their medical staff.

The scariest and most heinous knee entering the 2012 NFL Draft belongs to former South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, who was considered a sure first-round pick before one of the ugliest knee injuries ever recorded on film this past season.

Lattimore, however, is at the NFL Scouting Combine being interviewed by teams and analyzed by teams’ doctors. He’s supposedly healthy and ready to run, jump and cut through various combine drills Sunday.

Draft guru Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, of 98.7 FM, writes that the Bucs should be a team paying very close attention and potentially considering Lattimore in the fourth round.

4. Marcus Lattimore – RB – South Carolina – Lattimore suffered a horrific knee injury to end his 2012 season and essentially his collegiate career. The doctor who performed his surgery, Dr. James Andrews, has since said that Lattimore will shock people by his progress at the combine. With Legarrette Blount potentially gone, I’m going to look long and hard at those medical records to see if Lattimore is worth a day 3 pick.

First, let Joe say that if the Bucs have no legitimate plans to use running backs other than Doug Martin, then drafting Lattimore would be foolish.

There’s no reason to believe Lattimore would be durable enough to carry the load as the No. 1 back if Martin went down (like LeGarrette Blount can) so the Bucs would have to change their offensive approach in order to make drafting Lattimore sensible.

Joe knows the Bucs yearn to run the ball like a throwback 1970’s powerhouse but couldn’t do it last season after major injuries on the offensive line. With Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks returning, and if the Bucs invest at right tackle in free agency, Joe could then envision snatching a running back in the draft.

Joe knows many Bucs fans aren’t enamoured with defensive tackle Roy Miller. He doesn’t rack up that many tackles and he doesn’t have a great quarterback-sack tally.

But if you talk to a Bucs coach or a Bucs suit, they rave about Miller nearly as much as Joe does Rachel Watson. Even Gerald McCoy has gone on record as saying he wouldn’t be the player he is without Miller taking on two blockers (or three) each play to help set GMC loose.

Miller, a free agent, has Twittered from time to time of late that he wants to stay with the Bucs. Part of that reason is he and GMC are best of friends.

(A Longhorn and a Sooner, pals?)

Last night Miller put out yet another Twitter message that he wants to be playing for the Bucs in 2013, and beyond.

@THE_ROY_V: Me and @Geraldini93 putting some hard work he never stops working in don’t tell him but I hope we r side by side next yr n pewter/red #bucs

Early this morning, Miller put out another Twitter post that, while he wants to stay with the Bucs, he is prepared to look elsewhere if not wanted.

@THE_ROY_V: Being said I’m not talking anymore about this contract stuff Mark & Coach all are great people I respect every and all decisions they will

Joe cannot imagine Miller leaving town. He’s not an expensive hire, and again, if the Bucs — suits and coaches — love him so much, why not bring him back? All Joe ever hears from Bucs people is that Miller “does exactly what we want him to do.” That’s high praise.

Joe’s pretty confident that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik will chat with Miller’s agent while in Indianapolis and perhaps a move to sign him will happen in the coming weeks before the free agency bell rings March 12.

The Bucs may be in the market for a tight end. Well, there is a tight end participating in the combine and he comes by way of Rutgers.

Yeah, you do the math.

D.C. Jefferson played tight end for three years under Greg Schiano at Rutgers and he got there via a strange but somewhat familiar route. He was recruited as a quarterback from Winter Haven, one of the top quarterback recruits in the nation in fact.

Sure, Jefferson would love to come home and play for the Bucs. More importantly, he wants to be reunited with Schiano.

“That man changed my life,” Jefferson told Joe at the NFL Scouting Combine yesterday.

Jefferson was flipped to tight end when he walked on the New Jersey campus and redshirted his freshman year.

Jefferson noted that Schiano was important to him, not so much for how he changed his football career possibly for the better, but how Schiano molded Jefferson away from the gridiron.

“The approach he took towards the game, puts leadership into people,” Jefferson explained of Schiano’s teachings. “I know he is known as a tough coach, but his teaching meant so much to me off the field, not just as a player, but as a man. Not just football, but being a good person and a good husband. He helped me make my mind right and look toward the ultimate goal.

“I would love to play for coach again.”

Jefferson (6-6, 250) had a career high 20 catches in 2012. He’s projected to be a late-round pick.

“Even when they picked up Byron Leftwich. It was something they told me -– they told me it was a smoke screen, everybody would think they didn’t want a QB. They said they were ready to trade up. I think it worked out great. I was sitting there with my family and enjoying it, and I got to go to the team that I wanted to go to.” — Josh Freeman, April 2009

Joe’s not doubting the veracity of Greg Schiano’s backpedalling yesterday when it came to desiring/not desiring “competition” for Josh Freeman, but Joe just wants to caution fans that in the world of endless spin and misdirection that swirls through the NFL draft, one should take Schiano’s comments with a grain of salt.

Sure, Freeman is the guy for 2013, but that doesn’t mean the Bucs won’t draft a quarterback in the second or third round if they believe the value is there with the pick. Schiano didn’t say he doesn’t want a rookie QB pushing Freeman.

Also, does anyone believe Schiano was too “busy” (Schiano’s word yesterday) to fix the perception about desiring competition for Freeman that Schiano himself put out there to media seven weeks ago? He could have quashed that national story in a matter of seconds via an interview or news release. Remember, this is a man who takes pride in accounting for every last detail.

The quote above came from a young — and still media naïve — Freeman during a live NFL.com chat right after the 2009 draft.

There will be plenty more “smoke screens” bellowing over the next two months. Some will be easy to sniff out; some won’t.

Yes, yesterday was Joe’s first appearance at the NFL Scouting Combine. If fortunate, it won’t be Joe’s last.

Please don’t be confused. Joe thinks the actual combine, the world’s largest indoor track practice, is a joke. It is not football, it is not remotely close to football. Do NFL coaches go to baseball games or track meets to find football players? Of course not.

What Joe did find at the combine, however, is the virtual limitless stories and access to plentiful college prospects, NFL coaches (and assistants) and general managers.

Some quick thoughts on the combine:

* It was sort of neat to see coaches and general managers react to questions from reporters across the nation (if not globe). These questions are rarely the same kind they get hit with from beat reporters.

* It was so cold in Indianapolis, even being in a dome it was cold. Even upper Midwestern types, like reporters from Chicago, were wearing sweaters and coats.

* Most players, when brought into the media workroom/center/trough, seem overwhelmed with dozens (at least) of media members crowded around their table, asking questions about playing for all sorts of different teams.

* The car wash: It is unreal what general managers and coaches deal with in a short span of time. Take Bucs coach Greg Schiano. He met with the press at one of the main podiums before around 100+ reporters, then was quickly whisked off to speak on SiriusXM NFL Radio, then interviewed by Pro Football Talk Live, then interviewed by the NFL Network, then a TV station out of West Virginia, then by Joe, then by other Bucs beat writers … and after that, who knows? It was pretty cool to watch how it all unfolded, most prearranged, scheduled.

* Joe was lucky enough to be on the same flight to Indianapolis with the Bucs coaching staff. You know how, for maybe 10 minutes you can have electronics on after boarding before the staff shuts you down? When Joe boarded he saw Schiano with his head buried in his laptop. He truly doesn’t waste away much time.

* Schiano needled Joe on the flight, in so many words, telling Joe to get his toes on the line and wear Bucs gear. Joe explained to Schiano that at least he had to look like he was objective.

* While waiting for luggage, Joe joked with special teams coach Dave Wannstedt, who was the defensive coordinator at Buffalo, “Here you thought you escaped winter and you got pulled back in.” Temperature at the time was a brisk 19 degrees. At 1:30 in the afternoon no less!

* Indianapolis really is a cool, futuristic city. The downtown is virtually a biodome where you can just about walk everywhere indoors using skywalks that connect buildings. Walking from his hotel to Lucas Oil Stadium, roughly a mile, Joe only had to be outside for about two blocks, if that. Whoever designed this city sure knew what the heck they were doing.

* Joe has two really cool stories about two potential Bucs draft picks you won’t want to miss a bit later today. And yes, Joe will be back at the combine for more stories. Hope you enjoy them.

Last year at this time, Bucs coach Greg Schiano was barely into his first month as the Bucs head coach. As expected, it was a whirlwind month for the former Rutgers coach, trying to get his family settled and taking a crash course in the draft.

Not this year. Schiano spoke at the NFL Scouting Combine today about the difference a year makes from preparing for a draft before he got a chance to unpack his belongings at One Buc Palace.

“It is what I am most excited about. The personnel group, headed up by Mark Dominik, they do an awesome job,” Schiano said. “They were at the same spot, well, maybe Mark wasn’t because he was out hiring a head coach, but the rest of them were. Now, for Mark and myself, to be able to sit in our draft meetings and our pre-draft meetings in January and really get a read on kids and hear about the kids we will eventually be watching, you know, the young men, that is huge for me now to be looking out there and knowing a lot of these guys and watched film on them, not going it after the fact [after the combine], it makes it more enlightening for me when I get to sit down with them in interviews.”

Ah, so it was Dominik and his staff that prepared for the draft and helped Schiano with a Reader’s Digest version of the draft. Yet Joe was told by many fans that Schiano was running the draft and not Dominik, despite what Schiano has said to the contrary up to and including Thursday while speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine.

This year adds intrigue to the draft. With Schiano and Dominik coming together as one with full preparation, it will be interesting to see how this draft transpires, not just the weekend of the draft, but roughly four years down the road.

The interesting thing about how NFL coaches handle the combine is they don’t just speak with and answer questions from just their local beat writers/TV talking heads. No, they are deal with NFL media types from all over the nation, in fact, from all over the world.

So today when Bucs coach Greg Schiano took to the podium in front of the masses, a Philly media type asked him what type of advice he would give Eagles coach Chip Kelly. Like Schiano last year, Kelly is coming from college to the NFL as a head coach. But there’s a twist of paths between the two that determined how Schiano ended up in Tampa Bay and Kelly in Philly.

It was Kelly’s cold feet. Schiano knew it and was grateful.

“First, my biggest advice would be to say, ‘Thank you, Chip,’” Schiano said. “Had Chip not decided what to do last year, I wouldn’t be standing here, that is first and foremost. I am happy for Chip, he will do a great job. I know he is excited, we got a chance to talk a little bit at the Senior Bowl. He doesn’t need any advice from me, he will do an excellent job.”

Yes, if Kelly hadn’t left Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik at the altar last year, rather than Schiano coaching the Bucs it would have been Kelly.

And who knows? Schiano could have been coaching the Eagles.

Nearing the end of his media car wash today at the NFL Scouting Combine, Greg Schiano (after he spoke to the horde at the podium, after he was on SiriusXM NFL Radio, after he spoke to Pro Football Talk Live, after he spoke with the NFL Network, after he was interviewed by Buccaneers.com, after a West Virginia sports network spoke questioned him), gave Joe a few moments of his time for an exclusive JoeBucsFan.com one-on-one interview, albeit a short one.

JoeBucsFan: Some people think, and have written, that you are hiring a bunch of cronies; your assistants. What is your reaction to that allegation?

Greg Schiano: I think it is, you know, people need to sometimes step away from the situation and look at the end. In the end, if you don’t win, what happens? So you are going to surround yourself with people who you think can do the best job to help you win. Now often times those are people who you have experience with and that is how you know that can happen, you are not guessing that can happen. So, often, our staff, a lot of guys I had worked with and a lot of guys I hadn’t, which is fine. The guys I hadn’t worked with certainly had relationships with guys I had worked with who knew their work ethic, who knew what kind of people they are and what kind of teachers they are. And that is really how I go about it.

Joe: Ronde Barber and Dallas Clark, as you said a bit earlier, you and your staff have gone through examination of each and every player, gone through every play. How would you grade out these two veterans?

Schiano: They are both productive players. Certainly, guys that have played a lot of football in this league. When you evaluate a player there are always some good and not-so-good plays. But at the end of the day, I thought both were huge contributors to our football team in 2012 and they did a nice job.

Joe: Ronde Barber, have you had a chance to talkto him yet, any insight into what way he may be leaning, coming back for one more year or hanging up his cleats?

Schiano: No, we haven’t spoken yet, myself, Mark [Dominik] and Ronde. That was kind of the plan. Let a little time pass by and let Ronde get away from the season and see how his body feels, where his mind is and kind of let us, you know, evaluate the football team and formulate the plan for the 2013 team. That is where we are. I am sure we will speak in the very near future.

Joe: Dave Wannstedt, your new special teams coach, obviously you have a background with him in Chicago. I know you don’t like to pigeonhole guys with titles. It would seem that with the experience that Wannstedt has, it would be a waste just to have him work with special teams. Do you plan on having him work with any other area of the team in addition to special teams?

Schiano: No, I think special teams is a huge job. And I think it will take every bit of his energies and efforts but the thing you have to remember is, Dave has sat in my chair at different levels, right, in the NFL and in college. So it is great to have a guy in the building like Dave or like Butch [Davis] that have done that and bounce an idea off here or there. It is not just football stuff but, ‘Hey, what do you think the fellas will think about this?” Or “How do you think the staff will feel about that?” That is where it is valuable and again, guys who you can really trust, they don’t have any agendas or motives other than, hey, to win and to win a Super Bowl. When you can find people like that and can hire people like that, so often those guys are taken and you can’t get them. When you have an opportunity to hire people like that, I jump all over it.

Joe went on record early this week saying he believed that the pinching of Da’Quan Bowers at LaGuardia Airport for packing heat would not impact the Bucs because at best, Bowers wouldn’t go to trial until after the 2013 season.

Apparently, Joe is wrong, so says Bucs coach Greg Schiano.

While talking to Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, during his car wash with the over 8,000 accredited media members at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the NFL ScoutingCombine, Schiano said, yes, Bowers’ arrest has thrown the Bucs a curveball in preparation for the draft and free agency this winter and spring.

@RCummingsTBO: Added Schiano on Bowers: “I think you’d be naive to think it doesn’t have any impact” on teams plans.

Does this mean free agent Michael Bennett wins the lottery and is franchised (and will then receive some $11 million dollars this season)? Or does it mean the Bucs will draft a defensive end in the first round? Joe isn’t sure.

But it sure bears monitoring.

Schiano says his comments about competition at the quarterback position were not interpreted as he intended

As Joe reported earlier, Bucs coach Greg Schiano was asked about Josh Freeman’s status as the Bucs starting quarterback this afternoon in Indianapolis. In no uncertain terms, Schiano adamantly stated Freeman is the Bucs quarterback now, and will lead the Bucs to the team’s goals.

Schiano earlier had said there is but one goal for the Bucs: hoisting a Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft in victory.

Below is Schiano’s direct quote on Freeman’s job security:

“I am glad you brought that up because at the end of the season, the day after the final game, I probably said something that got a lot more attention than I meant for it to do. Really, it was about every year that I have been a head coach I step back and I evaluate every phase of our program and it starts with me. So that takes a while. I even said I didn’t know if I was the right guy, let’s figure this out.

“Then I went through every assistant coach and then as a staff, we went through every single player in a series of evaluations. But the one thing I believe in whether it is as coaches or as players, in our whole life we have grown up in competitive athletics and that competition is healthy. So I made the statement that I wanted competition at every position. My fault, but it kind of stood out at the quarterback position more than any other. Josh Freeman is our quarterback. And I believe Josh Freeman – with Josh Freeman – we will be able to accomplish our goals. So, that is my belief and our organization’s belief.

“I have been busy and I hadn’t had a chance to clear that up. I’m glad I had the opportunity to today.”

Moments ago the leader of the New Schiano Order gave a huge vote of confidence to Josh Freeman and threw cold water on the notion that the Bucs are eager to bring in competition to challenge for his job.

“Josh Freeman is our quarterback,” Schiano said from the NFL Scouting Combine podium.

Joe will have more later on Schiano’s subtle yet clear backtracking on the “competition” front, something Schiano himself put out there right after the close of the 2012 season.

As Joe’s written before, the whole notion of “competition” for Freeman makes no sense from a regime — and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik dating back to the 2010 offseason — that made sure the was no competition for Freeman. Current backup Dan Orlovsky didn’t even take snaps with the first team in practice.

Loads of pundits out there are uneasy about the Bucs’ tight ends situation, but Joe’s not in that camp.

Dallas Clark shocked the world by staying healthy through 2012. He displayed some great hands, never fumbled, and Mike Sullivan found ways to work him into the offense more during the second half of the season. Clark is no punishing blocker by any stretch, but Doug Martin had plenty of holes to work his magic.

Joe wouldn’t be so quick to toss aside Clark, who will be a free agent in a matter of days, though Joe would be intrigued by the versatility of free agent Martellus Bennett. Joe also thinks Luke Stocker could be poised to perform quite well in his upcoming third season.

Former Bucs defensive end Anthony “Booger” McFarland has another name in mind that he would be excited to see wearing pewter and red. That would be Jets tight end and soon-to-be free agent Dustin Keller.

Speaking on 98.7 FM yesterday, McFarland said he’s spent time training with Keller and he’s a tight end that has the speed to make the Bucs’ offense more dangerous in the middle of the field. “He’s got that burst,” McFarland said.

Keller’s an interesting option. He was hurt much of last season but hadn’t missed a game in his previous four seasons with the Jets. A near freakish athlete, Keller was a favorite target of Brett Favre and he’s got plenty of playoff experience.

A few big questions hang out there: How much does Mike Sullivan want to use the tight end? Would the Bucs prefer a major upgrade at slot receiver versus tight end? And just how many weapons does Josh Freeman need to become a star?

Joe wrote many times last year that he thought Mason Foster, the biggest Ric Flair fan in the Bucs locker room, played at or close to Pro Bowl level early in theseason. Joe even told Foster Joe thought he would be eating pineapple in January.

But that didn’t happen. Foster’s play slid toward the end of the season, and Joe doesn’t think it was a coincidence Foster’s play declined when Quincy Black went down with nerve damage. Most Bucs fans know the Bucs may have their eyes on an outside linebacker with the likelihood that Black cannot return. Earlier this year, Bucs coach Greg Schiano noted that the Bucs, on behalf of Black and his doctors, were consulting with doctors from Europe, which demonstrated the seriousness of Black’s injury.

Foster, a former outside linebacker at Washington, might be revisiting his old position.

Monitoring outside linebackers, however, may be too narrow of a focus, Woody Cummings believes. The Bucs beat writer from the Tampa Tribune thinks Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik just may draft a middle linebacker and move Foster to the outside, Cummings Twittered this morning.

@RCummingsTBO: Something to consider is possibility Bucs will draft or sign a free agent MLB and move Mason Foster to SLB as replacement for Quincy Black

When Foster was a rookie he played, and looked like, he was simply overwhelmed at the NFL level. At the time, Joe was screaming for the Bucs to move him back to the outside. But Dominik’s hunch was right. Foster could — and did — play well at middle linebacker (got some coaching for a change last year), though he could brush up a bit on pass coverage.

As well as the Bucs played against the run last year, Joe would hesitate to do too much tinkering moving players around. The fact Foster played so much outside linebacker in college may just give Dominik flexibility in order to fill Black’s void.

An ESPN makeup artist plies her trade on an ESPN anchor type. Chris Mortensen and Bill Polian look on during a commercial break Thursday morning at the NFL Combine held at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Yes, Joe is at the NFL Combine in frosty Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a balmy 21 degrees when Joe left his hotel.

Though Joe and the rest of the credentialed media are not allowed to watch the combine drills live in the stadium (there are plenty of TVs turned to the NFL Network), the NFL has a parade of players, coaches and general managers come through all day the next four days for interviews. Joe will try to bring you interviews and nuggets of interest to Bucs fans.

FYI, cornerbacks are scheduled to make an appearance Sunday, and yes, Joe is going to concentrate on those guys for interviews.

Below is the NFL’s scheduled parade of players for the next four days.

Thursday: Offensive Linemen, Kickers, Punters, Long Snappers, Tight Ends.

Friday: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers

Saturday: Defensive Linemen, Linebackers

Sunday: Defensive Backs

Though Joe doubts Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik would pull such a stunt, Joe is pretty sure few Bucs fans would cry if Dominik drafted nothing but cornerbacks in April’s draft.

There is no debate this offseason; the Bucs need help at cornerback desperately. And re-signing free agent E.J. Biggers doesn’t qualify has help

Many Bucs fans are jumping up and down like a Warren Sapp touchdown dance for Dominik to throw the National Bank of Glazer at Falcons free agent Brent Grimes — whatever it takes.

It is an intriguing thought: Add a solid player to your lineup at a major position of need and weaken a division foe, the reigning division champ, all with two strokes of a pen.

For Bucs fans who pine for Grimes, this little piece of analysis by Pete Damilatis of ProFootballFocus should whet their appetite.

The Falcons’ surprise march to the No. 1 seed this season appears even more impressive when you realize they did it without their best defensive back. Grimes’ +17.2 grade in 2011 was second only to the great Darrelle Revis, and Atlanta used the franchise tag to ensure they’d keep the 29-year-old cornerback around for at least another year. When Grimes unfortunately tore his Achilles in Week 1 and missed the rest of the season, many assumed that his days as a Dirty Bird were done. But Atlanta should not let him walk away that easily.

Cornerbacks are still too often judged by their interception count, and Grimes’ one pick in 2011 didn’t put him on anyone’s radar. However, after dissecting the film, we saw one of the best cover corners in the NFL. Grimes’ average allowance of 0.58 Yards Per Cover Snap was the lowest for any cornerback with over 200 coverage snaps. On the season, he surrendered just 258 yards, allowing just 10.3 yards per reception and a 62.9 passer rating. His 12 passes defensed tied him for seventh-most at his position, as he knocked away 21.4% of the throws when he was targeted. And he was the model of consistency, only twice earning a negative PFF grade in a game.

That season wasn’t an outlier for Grimes either, as he received a Top-10 cornerback grade in 2010 and allowed just a 61.3 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks, earning the first of two straight PFF Pro Bowl selections. But regardless of his past production, should the Falcons really invest in a 30-year-old cornerback coming off an injury, especially when they already have Asante Samuel and Dunta Robinson under contract? That depends upon your opinion of Robinson, which at this point shouldn’t be very high.

Damilatis also touts Grimes as a solid run defender, which of course would make Bucs coach Greg Schiano smile.

Oh, and it seems the Dixie Chicks may not franchise any player this offseason.

The only things that scare Joe about Grimes is he is 30 and recovering from a blown Achilles. That is not a good combination.

But as bad as the Bucs’ play at corner was last year, a hobbled Grimes would have been an upgrade.

Joe has so many interviews he conducted at Media Day of Super Bowl week, he still has plenty in the can to last another couple of weeks.

Today, Joe brings you the words from former Super Bowl quarterback and current CBS NFL analyst Boomer Esiason. The golden southpaw, a noted Josh Freeman critic, talked to Joe about how he feels the Bucs are on the verge of being an NFL powerhouse thanks to the decisions of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

JoeBucsFan: Your impressions of Greg Schiano’s first year guiding the Bucs?

Boomer Esiason: I thought it was good. I thought it was great. Now they just have to figure out their quarterback situation. They have to get more out of Josh. I know he is putting pressure on him; there is nothing wrong with that. It is all good. All of these young quarterbacks have to learn to grow into the next Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Drew Brees. It takes lot of hard work and dedication and I am sure that is exactly what Greg was pointing to.

Joe: Was Mark Dominik, in a sense, a trendsetter because he was the first [NFL general manager] to look at Chip Kelly and all of a sudden everybody wanted to hire Kelly.?He did hire Schiano, mostly a college a guy. Now interviewing and hiring college guys seems to be a fad.

Esiason: Well, it’s not an overall fad. I do know Andy Reid was hired and a lot of [NFL] coordinators were hired. The pro game is different than the college game; I don’t care what anybody says. But, coaching, dedication, commitment, putting the time and effort in, that never changes. I don’t care what level you are at and Schiano has that in spades. He will put the time in. He knows the game and he certainly has a track record to fall back on. We will see if Chip Kelly has that. I’m not ready to brand him like that yet.

Joe: Lavonte David, I thought he was one of the most underrated rookies.

Esiason: He was! Uh, huh, he was. Most of us that follow the game on a weekly basis think [the Bucs] had a terrific rookie class, by the way. That is an up and coming team, there is no question about that. With the addition of Vincent Jackson through free agency, a smart addition, then adding Carl Nicks, there are a number of things they did that are really good. As long as Josh continues to grow and doesn’t have any downturns like he did towards the end of the year, even though they are in a tough division, they will be a tough team to deal with.