There are few football minds Joe respects more than Mike Mayock. No, he is not God and nobody is 100 percent. But Mayock puts in the work, the study, the research and doesn’t gin up draft prospects just to get pageviews and change his thoughts every two weeks and plug players into teams where they don’t fit (hello, Todd McShay).

Today, in a marathon conference call, Mayock stated he would do whatever it takes to grab Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis if he were Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik, documents Rich Cimini of BSPN.

However, if Mayock were Jets general manager John Idzik, he’d lock up Revis.

“I’m not trading him. End of story,” Mayock said Thursday on a media conference call. “I’m going to find a way to make it work. I think sometimes we get too carried away with all these draft picks and I’m sitting there saying, ‘Man, corner is a position of need. They’re hard to find.’ This is the best corner in football, and he’s going to be one of the best of all-time, and he’s 27 years old. If I’m New York, I’m not going there.”

From the Bucs’ viewpoint, Mayock said the prospect of acquiring Revis is “pretty exciting. I’m giving up [the 13th pick] to get him, and I’m also talking about some of those other picks. … My perspective from Tampa, man, I’m all over trying to get Darrelle Revis.”

Now Joe has written this time and again: The Bucs are not one star player from a Super Bowl berth. Revis on the Bucs roster does not equate Super Bowl. It just doesn’t.

Of course Revis would help, but at what price? If Idzik was reasonable, Joe could see a trade. Thing is, Idzik doesn’t realize Dominik has Idzik’s privates in a vice that gets tighter by the day.

Adam Schefter has an afternoon update on the trade talks (?) between the Jets and Bucs for cornerback Darrelle Revis in this ESPN video.

What could be funnier than Scott Pioli lecturing on employee relations? The former Chiefs general manager is notorious for tactics that would make KGB agents blush.

Audio below from SiriusXM NFL Radio has Pioli doing just that, but it’s in the context of the Jets potentially trading Darrelle Revis to the Bucs.

Pioli talks about the distraction Revis has caused, and is causing, in New York. And he explores an important question to Bucs fans, one that Pioli says GMs across the NFL are asking., “Is this player ever going to be happy?”

No, Joe’s not calling for the New Schiano Order to sign a drunk-driving, weed-obsessed, alleged-rapist tight end to catch passes in the red zone. That wouldn’t happen.

But the allure of someone with Jerramy Stevens’ football talents might be a good idea for the Bucs next week, so says former Bucs tight end and current radio analyst Anthony Becht.

Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday Becht said the Bucs might be wise to take a long, late-round look at UCLA tight end Joseph Fauria. Becht is very tuned into this year’s draft class at the position. He spent much of the offseason training top-tier TE talents, including Tyler Eifert, at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

“A very good receiving tight end, big target, reminds me of a Jerramy Stevens type guy,” Becht said of Fauria. “He’s a guy that if you can get late, he can definitely make some hay into the passing game. He’s 6-7, a big tall guy, red zone, a lot of production at UCLA.  He could be someone that could help you, if you’re going through the draft to find somebody.”

Fauria caught 46 balls, including 12 touchdowns, last season, but he lacks the speed to be a threat down the seam, and that’s why he’s projected as a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent.

Typically, if the Bucs coveted a West Coast or California guy like Fauria, they’d draft him in the seventh round rather than run the risk of signing him as an undrafted free agent, ala Sammie Stroughter in 2009, or Erik Lorig in 2010. The odds of luring an undrafted kid from the West Coast across the country to Tampa is tough, unless he has no other options. And if that’s the case, that’s a red flag.

As for the Bucs’ need for a giant red zone target? It can’t hurt, though Chucky, and later Greg Olson, never figured out how to maximize Stevens’ ability. Perhaps Mike Sullivan is more of an offensive genius.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More than 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board!

Man, Joe was so scarred by what passed as pass defense last year for the Bucs, he still can’t shake the memories of receivers running like wild African antelope evading hungry cheetah.

Guess this is what experts refer to as “posttraumatic stress disorder?”

Even if the Bucs somehow keep the No. 13 pick this year, and trade for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, Joe wouldn’t be shocked if the Bucs grabbed a corner in the first round of next week’s draft.

Good guy Peter Schrager is of the same mind. The FoxSports.com columnist and tireless NFL beat worker believes NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell will call out the name of Desmond Trufant when (if?) the Bucs select at No. 13.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington

Tampa Bay hit the jackpot with its first three draft picks a season ago, nailing home runs with Mark Barron, Doug Martin, and Lavonte David. Trufant has the right blood lines — two brothers who played in the NFL — and the production at the college level to be worthy of a top-15 pick. A lock-down guy, he was a star at the Senior Bowl and ran an eye-popping 4.31 40 at the Combine. This is higher than a lot of other mock drafts will list him, but I don’t think Trufant escapes the Top 20. I think he’s a better fit than Xavier Rhodes, too. Of course, this all changes if a certain guy named Revis joins the team in the coming weeks.

Joe likes this pick. From what Joe has read, expect a rush at corner early. As many as six of the first 10 teams drafting have a need for a corner. That’s why Joe didn’t blink when he read a draft mocker suggest the Bucs trade up to get Xavier Rhodes.

There is nothing to dislike about Trufant, though Joe has heard some quibble he’s not physical enough.

Right now, the Bucs just need a corner who can cover lamppost, please.

Pat Yasinskas and Scouts, Inc.’s Steve Muench talk about the Bucs and the draft in this BSPN video.

The NFL rolls out the 2013 schedule tonight. Joe wants to see whether the TV suits consider the Bucs at Jets game worthy of prime time spotlight.

Joe’s been accused of reading too deeply into things and seeing things, at times, that aren’t really there. One could say this is the foundation of Joe’s romance with Bucs icon Rachel Watson. However, Joe and Rachel did finally rendezvous this summer, so perhaps that’s a bad example.

That written, Joe’s extra eager to see the 2013 NFL schedule unveiled tonight at 8 p.m.

Specifically, Joe wants to see whether network television executives are tapping their inside intelligence and investing in showing a Jets-Bucs game in prime time, specifically at night. The Bucs are pegged to travel to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets; this is the Bucs’ year to play the AFC East (also @New England, plus home for Buffalo and Miami).

Joe must believe the networks would want to air a Bucs-Jets gave in prime time if Darrelle Revis is wearing red and pewter.

Revis is a popular and polarizing guy, and the networks likely would love to show his return to the angry fans of Gotham. But the TV suits decision wil have had to be made already — to be rolled out tonight.

Joe will speculate that if the Bucs-Jets matchup is not chosen as a night game, then the TV honchos were advised a Revis-to-Bucs deal is no lock.

So let’s say you are a new general manager of a team who is trying to rebuild from a laughing stock, butt-fumbling, foot-fetish stigma.

When asked if your best player will return this fall, you say you are not sure? Really?

This is what Jets general manager John Idzik said yesterday, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, when Idzik met the fourth estate Wednesday.

Idzik declined to say if Revis will be on the team in 2013. Perhaps more importantly, he didn’t say if he wants the star corner on the Jets.

“I can’t tell you,” he said. “I don’t like to look too far ahead, I really don’t.”

You mean to tell Joe that three months is too far in the future?

Well, this sure smells like Idzik is going to unload Revis, and we all know the Bucs are the prime target. Now Cimini claims this may all change and Revis could have a new team in a few days: the Bucs.

Joe has written previously, and continues to believe, that this trade could could go down after the draft as much as it could prior to the draft.

In short, Idzik all but closed the book on Revis as a Jets player.

Man, the Bucs need cornerbacks worse than a bear in the woods needs a roll of toilet paper. One name Joe will be looking out for is Houston corner D.J. Hayden.

Late last season, Hayden was thought to be one of the top corners in the nation before a violent collision on the practice field nearly cost him his life. He was rushed to an emergency room and had to have his chest sawed open to find the source of the bleeding.

Hayden was thought to be near-death. And he was.

Hayden fought back to compete in the combine where he wowed people running a 4.3 40-yard dash. His quick feet allows him to handle man-coverage well and, with his blazing speed, he has great recovery and closing technique.

He hasn’t played football since November. But the way he was able to bounce back from near death says something to Joe about his spirit.

“The first couple days [after surgery] I was really depressed,” Hayden told Joe and other reporters at the NFL Combine. “I thought I’d never play football again. But the doctor told me after three or four months I should be able to play again. I was like, ‘Okay. I have hope.’ But there was always doubt in my mind. I was questioning myself, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ I even questioned God because I was in a whole different state of mind.

“I have a whole new outlook on life. All the stuff I took for granted, I don’t take for granted any more whether it’s family, friends, God – I’m cherishing every moment because you never know when your time is up.

“The way I’m looking at it is if you’re going to do something, do it to your fullest. If I’m going to play a game, I’m going to play my hardest the whole game. If that was my time to end, I don’t feel I finished like I finished my career the way I wanted to. I don’t feel like I played well in my last game. I just want another opportunity to play another game and do what I can do.”

If the Bucs still own the No. 13 overall pick come next Thursday, and if they don’t see a cornerback on the board they like at that investment, then it’s likely the Bucs would nab a defensive lineman.

One guy allegedly climbing up draft boards is DT Sylvester Williams out of North Carolina. Of course, what adds intrigue to Williams is the fact Greg Schiano senior operative/advisor Butch Davis recruited Williams to Tar Heel country out of the junior college ranks.

Williams, at 6-3, 313, is like a bigger version of Brian Price. But he’s a bit of a bizarre prospect, having only played one year of high school ball and turning 25 years old in November.

Here’s what NFL.com has on Williams:

WEAKNESSES

Lacks closing speed to get a lot of sacks or make plays outside the box. Overly reliant on the swim move. Does not bull linemen backwards very often, won’t out-quick NFL guards. Flashes quickness off the snap, but gets stuck on blocks too often when tired, and loses ability to get to the ball even if able to disengage. Can get low and create a pile on the goal line, but gets pushed back when playing high in other short-yardage situations. Doesn’t have the athleticism to stop his momentum. Will run himself too far upfield and miss sacks and tackles when he can’t stop himself and break down. Turns 24 during the 2012 season.

Today, former NFL scout Russ Lande projected the Bucs to draft Williams in the first round.

Joe’s biggest question on any potential defensive tackle pick is whether the guy would be able to play the 3-technique successfully if Gerald McCoy was injured. One would think Williams has the physical tools to play the position.

Joe, though, doubts Greg Schiano would want to invest in a nose tackle after waving goodbye to Roy Miller, a guy he said was “custom-built” for the position.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More than 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board!

Joe knows a large segment of Bucs fans can’t race to a computer quickly enough in the morning, or turn on their smartphone fast enough, to see if the Bucs have landed Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis.

In a revealing piece typed by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Stroud suggests the asking price for Revis is forcing Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to balk at a Revis trade.

But the Bucs front office and coach Greg Schiano are in agreement that the Jets’ price is currently too high for Revis, especially due to the lack of suitors and the fact he is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL. While Revis was cleared to begin running without restriction following an examination of his knee in New York Monday, it is not a trade that can be made on the clock. The Bucs would want several days to have Revis’ injury evaluated. In addition to the draft picks, the Bucs must be prepared to pay Revis about $15-million per year.

Eight days before the NFL dtaft, the Bucs and Jets are in a virtual stare down when it comes to Revis.

Schiano has said he is not afraid to start a rookie cornerback and they could be in position to draft one in the first round. Last year, safety Mark Barron, linebacker Lavonte David and running back Doug Martin combined to start 48 games as rookies.

Joe’s reaction to this? Well, of course!

Look, if Dominik thought Idzik’s asking price for Revis was fair, the trade would already have been consummated. Second, how many weeks has Joe been typing the very same scenario? That Dominik has all the leverage in the world and he is more than willing to enter the 2013 season with Eric Wright and two rookie corners taking most of the snaps.

The Jets need to trade Revis far more than the Bucs need to trade for him. It’s that simple. Therefore, Dominik gets to set the market value for Revis, not Idzik.

Earlier this week, “SalPal,” Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, worked behind the scenes to, in his words, “crack the code” to find out where the Bucs stand with acquiring Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Aside from confirming what Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has said on the record, and what Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune spoke about on WFLA-TV Sunday evening, SalPal noted days ago that the Jets have hit “the pause button” in trade negotiations, perhaps not even trading him.

What SalPal also has learned is that Revis’ agents are likely working harder than Jets general manager John Idzik and Dominik to induce a trade or a transaction of some sort, SalPal told Bob Papa and Amani Toomer, co-hosts of “The Opening Drive,” heard exclusively this morning on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Revis “has been cleared medically to begin running. The fact Revis is ahead of schedule is important but what is more important is that this information was released almost immediately to various members of the press. It is very clear they wanted to get that significant update to the press. Why? Because they are trying to push this process along on three possible fronts:

One, to get Revis paid by the Jets and a contract extension. Notwithstanding that, that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will increase their offer to the Jets to get this deal done. Or, that the latest news will motivate another team to join negotiations with the Jets and the Bucs and drive the price up or a resolution with a trade with another team. No team emerged 24 hours after the report [was released] so that tells me there is just one team, the Bucs.

Remember last Monday when, after days of silence of Revis news, half the sports world seemed to have news of Revis within a handful of hours? Those are known as plants, and the source of the plants was coming from suits under the employ of Revis.

From everything Joe has learned and heard of late about Revis, there is one camp that wants a trade of Revis from the Jets to the Bucs more than anyone, and that camp is Revis’ hired hands.

Three years ago Team Glazer, specifically Joel Glazer, belted off a telling quote to the St. Pete Times that is often overlooked by Bucs fans.

Explaining how Team Glazer evaluates, in part, its general manager, Glazer said the following: “We’ve had long talks about this. And really, the general message is: You think long-term, we think long-term. It’s plain and simple. You start thinking short-term, we start thinking short term.”

(For those who need a translation: You wanna play in free agency and in the draft to win now, then you better believe we’ll expect you to win now.)

Joe was reminded of this quote listening to longtime former general manager Charley Casserly on WDAE-AM 620 this morning. Casserly wondered aloud about various factors in a potential Darrelle Revis trade. “What’s the pressure to win this year?” he asked.

It is a massive question. Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik knows he must produce a winner in his fifth season, and Greg Schiano is aware he’ll be on thin ice if the Bucs can’t muster a winning record with premium offensive weapons and Pro Bowl talent on defense. Right or wrong, that’s the NFL.

Regarding the Revis trade, Casserly said the Bucs would be misguided if they traded their 2014 first-round pick. “You can’t trade next year’s No. 1 because of the [Josh Freeman] situation,” Casserly said. If the Bucs don’t want Freeman to return, Casserly claims they’ll need that 2014 first-rounder to draft a good QB.

Joe really can’t say what level of win-now pressure is coming from the owners’ box. But Joe can’t imagine Team Glazer passively accepting the Bucs not improving in 2013. (Catch the entire Casserly interview below.)

As Davin Joseph reminded Bucs fans yesterday, any whiff of the “country club” Raheem Morris era is long gone from One Buc Palace.

Frankly, that “country club” line from Joseph was nothing new. Several weeks ago, he told the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, that the Bucs under Raheem “lost that hard-work ethic,” and last year Joseph spoke of the New Schiano Order have much higher strength and conditioning standards than the Raheem regime.

The Bucs resumed team-supervised training on Monday, and Adrian Clayborn took to Twitter to explain his pain yesterday.

@AJayClay – Legs and arms so sore I have to use my elbows to get off the couch lol. #thanksJB

The “thanksJB” hash tag surely refers to former Rutgers and current Bucs strength and conditioning coach Jay Butler.

Joe finds it interesting that Clayborn, hardly a workout slacker, was hurting so soon. Joe suspects after a full season working with players under the New Schiano Order, Butler’s detailed workouts individually crafted for players are a supremely challenging out of the gate.

The famous $9.95 roundtrip chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field is back for its third season!

Get your seat on the No Excuses Tour chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field, courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation, Lee Roy Selmon’s and Joe, departing from Selmon’s locations in Carrollwood and near International Plaza.

You get to ride in style — with beer and food in hand — and get dropped off right at the gate!!

Click on through to buy a seat and get all the details at NoExcusesTour.com.

Don’t flush your gas and parking money down the toilet. More than 900 fans have enjoyed the Tour. Get on board!

So far, the Bucs, with plenty of cap room to spare, have been the only NFL team seemingly capable of pulling off a trade for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. Could there be another team? Scott Pioli, Erik Kuselias and the great Mike Florio discuss in this edition of NBC Sports Network’s Pro Football Talk.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Davin Joseph wants the Bucs to limit Doug Martin’s workload. Joe thinks the exact opposite will happen.

Pro Bowler Ray Rice had has carries cut more than 10 percent last season from his 2011 and 2012 totals — fewer receptions, too — and the Ravens leaned on rookie Bernard Pierce (108 carries) just enough en route to a Super Bowl win.

Rice clone Doug Martin, pounded out 319 carries last season, more than workhorse Rice ever has in an NFL season.

Davin Joseph took notice of Martin’s workload and firmly believes the Bucs need to keep Martin fresh in order to win their own Lombardi trophy.

“We plan on being a playoff team. We gotta be able to conserve Doug to make sure that when we go on that playoff run, he’s our main guy,” Joseph said yesterday. “As long as we use him the right way, he can be a major weapon and not to abuse his powers, I guess you could say.”

Joe agrees with Joseph. However, Joe suspects the New Schiano Order has every intention of riding Martin even more often than last season.

And why wouldn’t they? Greg Schiano knows he needs victories. He likes having a bell cow running back, and his history with Rice at Rutgers suggests he will not hesitate to pound Martin relentlessly. Rice had a whopping 380 carries (yes, 380) during his final season under Schiano at Rutgers.

Joe expects the Bucs will use Martin more on third down, and there will be more running in general, assuming Carl Nicks and Joseph stay healthy. Yes, the Bucs have LeGarrette Blount, new third-down back Brian Leonard, and the captain of the inactive list, Michael Smith. But don’t expect Schiano to put the ball and/or his career in their hands if Martin is available.