When the Bucs let banged up defensive end Michael Bennett walk away, the move, though smart, left the Bucs thin up front. And vulnerable.

So Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is putting much faith in oft-injured Da’Quan Bowers to put in a full season healthy at left end? That may be a gamble. That’s not even factoring in whether Adrian Clayborn can fully recover from an ugly knee injury (before you type it, not every NFL player is Adrian Peterson).

Oh, and Roy Miller is gone, too. The Bucs’ defensive line, not exactly reminiscent of the Fearsome Foursome, is now razor thin.

That’s why Joe will not be shocked at all if the Bucs pick a defensive lineman at No. 13.

Bucky Brooks of NFL.com thinks the same way. In his recent mock draft, he has the Bucs selecting BYU defensive end Ziggy Ansah.

Ansah would be a hell of an addition, and in Joe’s mind Ansah would immediately give the Bucs a feared pass rush. Ansah is a rare cat. He has size, he has speed, his arms are crazy long. He could be the next Too Tall Jones.

Oh, and give the Bucs some depth up front as well.

The creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, sits down to discuss the Bucs and Darrelle Revis with former NFLer and current SiriusXM NFL Radio personality Ross Tucker in this NBCSports.com video.

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

So what’s happening in the head of Darrelle Revis?

It’s likely nobody will know anything until Monday, when he’s supposed to report to offseason workouts with the Jets or face stiff financial penalties. The media frenzy in Revis’ face (if he wants to partake) should be amazing.

As Joe brought you this morning, Pat Kirwan says Revis knows he holds all the cards in trade talks. And now former Bucs DE Steve White (1996-2001) dives deeper into Revis’ mindset on his blog. White doesn’t expect Revis to be so quick to take less than the $15 million+ he’s seeking.

Which leads us to the fact that traditionally big free agent spenders like the Cowboys, Redskins and Raiders couldn’t do much this year because of cap problems they probably won’t have next year. If you’re Revis, that means that if you make it to free agency next year the market probably won’t be as depressed as it was this year anyway. It remains to be seen if the Raiders will truly take a different tact and back off the big contracts next year but if I’m Revis why would I expect the Cowboys or Redskins to change?

Pretty much the only danger in holding out for a ridiculous contract from a team that trades for him for Revis would be if he didn’t get traded and ended up not playing at a high level. I think, however, that he would be willing to bet on himself in that way. I certainly would.

There’s more to White’s take, and you can click through above to read the whole thing.

Revis has proven to be a master negotiator. The guy has won two holdout battles with the Jets in six years. He’s not afraid to dig his heels in.

If the Bucs are going to make this trade before the NFL Draft, then there’s really limited time to have Bucs doctors thoroughly examine Revis, and have the Bucs brass negotiate a 2014-and-beyond contract with Revis’ agent.

The Jets are going to have to budge soon. There’s only so much the Bucs can do — or offer — without permission to work with/study Revis.

A couple of weeks ago, Joe wondered what a great fit durable, veteran right tackle Eric Winston could be for the Bucs. The guy is a very good player and hasn’t missed a game since 2006.

Joe was of the mind that Winston, who was purged in Kansas City’s overhaul, would be a significant upgrade to Demar Dotson and likely could be had cheap, or at least for less than the $4 million Jeremy Trueblood fleeced Tampa Bay for last season.

But now it’s clear that Winston, per Winston himself (via ProFootballTalk.com), will gladly accept a one-year deal for $3 million.

Winston said on Sirius XM NFL Radio that he knows he won’t get the kind of money he got last year from the Chiefs, when he signed a four-year, $22 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus. The Chiefs cut him to avoid paying a $4.9 million base salary for 2013, and now Winston is just hoping some team will pay him more than $3 million in salary this year.

“In the $3-4 million range is something that I think is more than fair for a starter who has played pretty well throughout his career,” Winston said.

C’mon, New Schiano Order, get Winston to One Buc Palace for a workout. A move like this could immediately take the Bucs offense to a new level. It’s worth a closer look.

A team angling for a win-now transaction like trading for Darrelle Revis should be looking to complement that with other win-now moves that don’t mortgage the future.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has only drafted one offensive lineman in four drafts — a fifth-rounder who didn’t pan out — for a reason. So Joe doesn’t see how signing Winston would get in the way of his philosophy.

Joe’s good friend, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, breaks down various angles of a Darrelle Revis trade in this NBCSports.com video.

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

OK, before Joe gets going here, there is a new angle to what Joe has been banging on his keyboard for weeks now:

For every tick of the clock, the tighter the vice squeezes on Jets general manager’s John Idzik’s jewels. He has no leverage. He has but one team to trade cornerback Darrelle Revis. And if Revis walks away from the Jets after next year (he has an out in his contract with the Jets after the 2013 season), the Jets might get a third round pick in compensation.

As the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com, the great Mike Florio, said yesterday on Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network, the way the NFL factors compensation is a complex maze of calculations that aren’t exactly predictable. As Florio pointed out, the Chargers got zero compensation for losing Vincent Jackson to the Bucs.

As Joe’s dad used to day, “It’s one thing to be stubborn and quite another to be stubborn and dumb.” If Idzik wants to be stubborn and dumb and roll the dice, Revis could leave the Jets high and dry.

If you were a thinking front office type, wouldn’t you be motivated to try to get any draft picks from Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, not stomping your feet and saying, “I want the No. 13 pick or you can take a long walk on a short pier,” which Idzik is reported to have told Dominik.

Now many speculate the trade of Revis to the Bucs will happen the week of the draft or on draft day, which homeless-mistaken, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading Peter King of SI.com wrote is 16 “interminable days” away. That very well could happen but it’s hardly a rock solid deadline.

Surely, if the Bucs don’t trade for Revis before the draft, Dominik will draft a cornerback, maybe two, perhaps three. If Dominik were to make a trade for Revis after the draft, not that he may need to, Dominik would likely use one of those corners as a cog in such a swap.

Joe finds all the Revis news that popped yesterday to be interesting. There was virtually zero news for days if not weeks. Part of that is because Dominik, fingered by one as a mole, and all football personnel are in lockdown mode preparing for the draft. So busy are they, Joe learned the Bucs ordered meals to be delivered to One Buc Palace.

It sure smells to Joe like Revis’ agents are getting antsy as hell, which is why so many people had Revis news yesterday.

In certain circles, this is called a “plant.”

Pat Kirwan says Darrelle Revis won’t get paid anywhere near the money he wants and asserts that Revis is controlling the trade winds.

Former Jets linebackers coach and personnel executive Pat Kirwan, who currently is one of the busiest guys in NFL media, working for SiriusXM NFL Radio, CBS-TV and CBSSports.com, when he’s not writing football books, is one of Joe’s favorite insiders.

Kirwan packs a lot diverse knowledge into his takes. So Joe took note when Kirwan said recently on 770 AM in Fort Myers that Darrelle Revis won’t get paid outrageous money by the Bucs and the Jets should not trade him.

Kirwan asserts that Revis is in the driver’s seat, far more than Bucs or Jets management.

“Darrelle Revis controls this,” Kirwan said. “He’s going to manage that control by not accepting a new contract extension unless it’s the place he wants to go.”

Kirwan went on to explain that Revis wants $1 million per game and remains misguidedly convinced he can score that kind of money.

“He’s not going to get it, and his agent should be telling him that by now,” Kirwan said. “The market has changed and it’s changed permanently. Deals are down. There are so many one-year deals right now. You look at next year, you’re going to have 450 to 500 hundred free agents, plus another 150 free agents off one-year deals.”

The market will be flooded next season and team executives, Kirwan said, have told him they don’t want to pay Revis until they see him perform at a Pro Bowl level again.

Kirwan said the Bucs absolutely shouldn’t part with first-round picks, if they make a move for Revis. As for the Jets, Kirwan thinks they shouldn’t trade Revis.

The deal is “stuck in the mud until the Jets lower want they want, and they shouldn’t because they don’t have enough star players,” Kirwan said.

Joe’s written repeatedly that the Bucs would be insane to pay Revis anywhere close to the $16 million annually he’s seeking when the top free-agent corners on the market this season commanded $6 million, especially with Revis coming off a major injury. There’s no logic to that.

First it’s the Jets stonewalling. Then it’s the Bucs’ indecision from Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Or is it the Bucs stonewalling or Jets general manager John Idzik’s indecision?

The pendulum has swung back and forth so much Joe isn’t sure, but in the latest of he-said/she-said moles dropping intelligence in the laps of reporters, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times has learned the Jets are demanding the Bucs’ No. 13 pick this season for Darrelle Revis or they can forget about a trade.

The Bucs had hoped the Jets would consider a first-round pick in 2014 as part of the compensation for Revis but have been emphatically told that is not an option.

Tampa Bay is willing to pay Revis about $15-million per year, but the Dominik has not received permission to speak with the agents for the Jets star.

Because Revis is recovering from a torn ACL, the Bucs do not believe it is a trade that can be made on the clock because they would require him to be examined by multiple team doctors. Therefore, the Bucs have a loosely, self-imposed deadline of about a week before the draft to complete a trade for Revis, the Times has learned.

Here is what Joe, if he were Dominik, would tell Mr. Idzik, who has about three months of job experience:

“John, you know there is only one team that can fit Revis’ salary under the cap. That’s my team. Now you can roll the dice and watch Revis walk away after next year because your owner caved on the franchise tag option. When Revis walks, you will only get a third round pick (maybe) next year in compensation. I am offering a first round pick next year.

“When you are finished with your math, call me. In the meantime, I have two corners to focus on who I’m going to draft in two weeks as well as re-signing Mr. Eric Wright. And in three weeks, I don’t think I will even want Revis at all.

“And no, I have no use for Tim Tebow outside of church on Sundays. Thanks for your time.”

The QB who said he took zero first-team reps in practice last season is about to return for his second season as Josh Freeman’s competition the Bucs’ backup quarterback.

Per the Twitterings of Bucs beat writer Roy Cummings, Dan Orlovsky will re-sign with the Bucs.

@RCummingsTBO – Hearing that Dan Orlovsky will re-sign with the Bucs today

Orlovsky signed a two-year deal before last season, got cut recently, and it’s pretty obvious he’ll be back at a reduced price. So the Bucs saved a few nickels and at least have a guy in the mix who knows the system.

Whether this cuts the odds that the Bucs draft a quarterback later this month is unknown.

Nobody knows what the hell the Bucs have planned at tight end. Healthy free agent Dallas Clark hasn’t generated a whisper across the NFL this offseason, and perhaps the Mike Sullivan offense has little use for the tight end if it can pound the rock behind the return of Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks.

But one thing about tight end is clear; newly signed Tom Crabtree will have every opportunity to impress.

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, in fact, was still talking about Crabtree’s blocking and versatility after he signed with the Bucs. In a Journal-Sentinel story today out of Milwaukee exploring the Packers replacing Crabtree’s blocking, Green Bay beat writer Tom Silverstein quotes McCarthy from the NFL owners meetings.

“Because we do like the flexibility of Ryan Taylor, D.J. Williams and Tom Crabtree when he was there. And obviously Jermichael’s more of an on-and-off type player. That formula of getting the athlete and having one or two big guys, it factored a little bit in how we played last year,” McCarthy said.

Silverstein goes on to write that Crabtree turned down the Packers’, one-year, $715,000 offer for 2013.

Joe’s not banging a drum for Crabtree. Outside of being thoroughly hilarious on Twitter (@tcrabtree83), Crabtree has 18 catches in three seasons. He better be a solid blocker.

Frankly, Joe’s not sure what the Bucs want to invest at tight end — on the field and off. They passed on the top free agent names, Clark is walking the streets, and Luke Stocker hasn’t been used much. Joe could easily see the Bucs doing nothing in the draft at TE, or going the opposite direction and drafting Tyler Eifert in the first round.

Yes, Bucs fans who want Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis on the Bucs roster aren’t tied up in what the compensation will be and, in fact, want Revis in Tampa Bay now!

Those fans will have to find a hobby in the coming days, as Jets general manager John Idzik is in no hurry whatsoever to consummate a deal with the Bucs. That’s the information dropped by Jets beat writer Conor Orr, who types for The Star-Ledger located in the Garden State.

Orr was a guest on the dreadful NFL AM show on NFL Network, a show that to the bewilderment of Joe, spends more time talking about how NFL players dance than how NFL players, you know, play football!

(Column intermission: Please, powers that be at the NFL Network, will you just STOP IT with this fetish for dancing! We, red-blooded football fans of America, turn to your beautiful network to gain information about our beloved sport and could not care less how an NFL player dances, nor do we give two rats’ arses about his touchdown celebrations. Only the E! Network, MTV and Entertainment Tonight types are interested in this schlock because they, kind sirs, are not football fans. In the immortal words of Chucky, knock it off! If the only way to keep Nicole Zaloumis’ attention is to waste hours and massive amounts of electricity a day on this subject, then Joe dares to suggest it is time to get a new co-host, specifically promote Molly Qerim to the gig. At least she’s a football chick — in addition to being dropdead gorgeous.)

Mark Kriegel: Conor, what are the Jets holding out for? Is it really a matter of this year’s first round pick [from the Bucs]?

Conor Orr: It could be. I definitely know Idzik wants compensation in this year’s draft and it seems Tampa Bay is kind of pushing things towards 2014 just because they have a really high 2013 pick. I think that is what [Idzik] is waiting for but at the end of the day, it is how he does business. He is very slow. He is very pragmatic. At the end of the day this is the biggest decision he will ever have to make as the Jets general manager. So he is trying as hard as he can to get the best compensation to maybe even [delay] some time in order to pull out another suitor. Apparently that is why this process is taking so long.

This is why Joe believes Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has all the cards. If the Jets don’t trade Revis by the trade deadline of the 2013 season, he walks out on his contract. By the time August rolls around, teams will have their salaries budgeted. Teams aren’t going to be able to just find $12-15 million in cap space like the Bucs have to make room for Revis starting in 2014.

And if the Bucs draft two corners in the first three rounds, Idzik is totally boxed in by Dominik.

The angling, intrigue and mystery of the expected Revis-to-Bucs trade doesn’t confuse PewterReport.com chieftain Scott Reynolds. He was on 98.7 FM this morning proclaiming loudly and proudly that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik is the unknown source beyond the latest twist in the Revis saga.

Reynolds said Dominik was the driving force behind Jason Cole, of Yahoo! Sports, penning some specifics on trade talks.

“I’m sure [Dominik] had a phone call to Jason Cole,” Reynolds said this morning. Dominik is “very good at using the media.”

Here’s Joe’s need-to-know from Cole’s story.

The Buccaneers are not only willing to trade a combination of a first-, third- and sixth-round picks for Revis, they are also willing to pay the corner in the area of $15-16 million per year on a long-term contract.

Idzik, who did not return a text message sent to him by Yahoo! Sports, has been coy about trading Revis. He has repeatedly said he is not “actively” trying to trade Revis, though multiple teams have said he is willing to listen to offers.

First, with all the BS flying around about Revis, it’s an extraordinarily bold claim from Reynolds to say Dominik is Cole’s unnamed source. After all, it was Cole who was so certain, via multiple sources, Aqib Talib was going to serve a four-game suspension in 2011, for his role in the gunfire that arose from a family squabble in Texas. The NFL did nothing, and Talib’s charges were dropped a year later.

Second, Joe doesn’t believe the Bucs will pay Revis anywhere in the neighborhood of $16 million annually on a long-term deal.

That’s just wacky talk when the top corner on the market this offseason scored about $6 million per year. Joe could see Revis scoring three years guaranteed from the Bucs at $12 million annually. That makes Revis the top-paid corner in the league by a solid margin — from the organization that repeatedly has said it won’t overpay for players.

NFL insider Adam Schefter discusses the status of Darrelle Revis trade talks with the Bucs in this BSPN video.

Joe hasn’t seen Bucs fans this outraged since Raheem Morris was a Bucs head coach.

As days have flown off the calendar since the free agency dinner bell ran a month ago, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has been playing a formidable game of poker. He hasn’t succumbed to the wails of Bucs fans who are beating very loud drums for him to sign anyone with a pulse not named “Myron,” no matter how much this player is a cripple, to help fill the Bucs’ historically rotten cornerback position.

It’s almost as if, in Bucs fans’ eyes, Dominik never signed Dashon Goldson.

The fervor has reached a point where Bucs fans have resorted to throwing rocks at postmen who deliver any sort of mail from One Buc Palace until Dominik signs at least a human lawn chair to play corner.

In many regards, this is a ploy to keep the price down on acquiring Jets corner Darrelle Revis. Rich Cimini of BSPN New York believes Dominik has played this game of high stakes poker beautifully, having boxed in Jets general manager John Idzik.

Quiet before the storm: Things are eerily quiet on the Darrelle Revis trade front, but don’t take that to mean a potential trade is dead. The draft is 18 days away, meaning John Idzik has two weeks to make perhaps the biggest decision he’ll ever render from the GM chair — keep him or trade him. If it’s the latter, the wheels will have to be put into motion a day or two before the draft, giving the other team a chance to examine his surgically repaired knee. But here’s the problem for the Jets: Only one serious suitor (the Bucs) has emerged. The 49ers, rumored as a possible suitor, signed CB Nnamdi Asomugha last week, albeit a modest deal.

Without a bidding war, the Jets will be hard-pressed to extract anything close to equal-value compensation. Why would the Bucs bid against themselves? Idzik could walk away, wait until Revis is healthy and try again before the Week 8 trading deadline, but that’s risky. By then, the Bucs probably will have addressed their cornerback need, perhaps with a first-round pick. From all indications, Idzik’s rebuilding plan is centered on acquiring as many draft picks as possible. His best and only bargaining chip is Revis. Would he sell off a pre-owned Cadillac for the price of a Chevy? The clock is ticking. All eyes are on the new GM, whose tenure in New York could be defined by this moment.

This is what Joe has been writing for days: First, Dominik has a backup plan; two actually. One is Eric Wright. No, he may not be a hobbled Revis but he certainly isn’t Myron Lewis, either.

Second, Dominik can pull a Bill Walsh, who drafted three defensive backs in the Niners’ first four picks of the 1981 draft, started all three and won a Super Bowl. Yeah, it helped one cornerback was named Ronnie Lott (coincidentally, the other starting rookie corner for the Niners that year was a cat named, wait for it, Eric Wright.)

Or, there is actually a third option: Keep Wright and draft a corner in the first round.

Joe listened recently to Gil Brandt and Alex Marvez, co-hosts of “Late Hits,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and Brandt was of the belief that the Bucs could wrangle Revis from the Jets for a pair of second round picks. This seems to reinforce what Cimini wrote in the article linked above, in that Idzik, Cimini writes, is trying to stockpile draft picks.

Either way, Idzik has zero leverage on Dominik.

“Keep calm.”

Might the Bucs go small-school with B. W. Webb? Could Dee Milliner slip to the No. 9 pick (owned by the Jets) and trigger a blockbuster Darrelle Revis trade?

It’s considered a deep draft class of cornerbacks in 2013, but it’s hard to find an analyst to call it a great class.

It kind of reminds Joe of this year’s free agent market for corners. You know, the one the Bucs didn’t dabble in.

Veteran NFL scout Chris Landry, who also works for various media outlets including Yahoo! Sports, joined The Steve Duemig Show on WDAE-AM 620 last week to talk all things draft and go deep into cornerback chatter. Landry’s study tells him only four cornerbacks are worth the upper half of the second round or better.

“I think there are only two guys with first-round talent, with first-round grades,” Landry said. “Dee Milliner, he just doesn’t have any holes in him. He’s just solid, well coached, good quickness, good burst out of his pedal, turn and run speed. Desmond Trufant out of Washington is really good and I like him a lot. I do think Xavier Rhodes and Blidi Wreh-Wilson from Connecticut are guys that will go in the second round. To me, those are the only four guys with top half of the second round and first round grades.

“I think there are some guys that have the ability with mid-to-late second round value. [B.W.] Webb out of William and Mary, Jonathan Banks out of Mississippi State, Jamar Taylor out of Boise are all guys that represent good value, kind of mid-to-late second round, that I think can play. There’s good depth into the third and fourth round.”

Joe will be riddled with stress if the Bucs enter the draft in 17 short days in need of a starting cornerback. That’s dangerous territory for a team expecting to the make the playoffs this season.

Of course, that worry goes out the window if Darrelle Revis and Ronde Barber are on the roster by then.

One interesting nugget Joe found out of New York last week explored what might happen if Milliner slips a bit and is on the board when the Jets are on the clock with the No. 9 overall pick. Might that opportunity trigger the Revis-to-Bucs trade?

The squeeze is on in Jersey, and it’s tighter than Chris Christie’s belt.

Per BSPN, the Jets will exercise a clause in Darrelle Revis’ contract and, potentially, punish him up to $3 million if he doesn’t join his teammates next week when Buccaneers, Jets and other players across the NFL report back to work on April 15.

They’ll shake hands, weigh-in, meet with coaches and start working out. It’s supposed to voluntary (wink, wink), per the NFL labor agreement, but not in the unique case of Revis.

But, barring a change of heart, Revis is expected to fly to New Jersey for the start of the conditioning program. He won’t be thrilled, but he has $3 million riding on it.

When Revis renegotiated his contract in 2010, following his second holdout in three years, he agreed to a clause that requires his attendance in all offseason activities — even non-mandatory workouts, sources said.

If Revis doesn’t participate in approximately 80 percent of the workouts, he will forfeit not only a $1 million workout bonus, but two other bonuses — a $1 million roster bonus (triggered March 17, but payable at a later date) and a $1 million reporting bonus at the start of training camp.

They’re tied together, providing significant financial motivation to attend. It was the Jets’ way of making sure Revis stays on his best behavior, an aspect of his four-year, $46 million contract that was kept relatively quiet — until now.

Joe sees this as the Jets playing hardball with Revis to up his trade value. However, it could backfire. If Revis gives the Jets a big “F-You,” then that would hurt the Jets’ leverage with the Bucs, one could easily assume.

On the flip side, if Revis comes back and starts running during offseason workouts on his healing knee, then that will do wonders for the Jets in potential negotiations with the Bucs. And it could help a new suitor for Revis to emerge.

UPDATE: Per the Twitter feed of Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Revis will report to the Jets conditioning program.

@MMehtaNYDN: Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis will, indeed, report to Jets facility on April 15 for start of conditioning program, source confirms. … Revis had hoped to get examined by Jets doctors/trainers to make sure he is ahead of schedule… & then return to Arizona to focus on rehab … Best place for Revis to rehab is clearly with in Arizona. It’s odd Jets haven’t told him to stay there & rehab w/out worrying about bonuses

If Joe knew of a connected Hollywood producer, he’d pitch either a reality series or a soap opera after the Bucs offseason filled with cornerbacks twists and turns.

Will Darrelle Revis be traded to the Bucs or not? Will Eric Wright remain with the Bucs or not? Will Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik sign a free agent cornerback? How many corners will Dominik select in the draft, less than three weeks away?

Each and every day brings a new twist to the aforementioned questions. And Bucs fans continue to abuse their bodies in an effort to try to get past the draft, many angry beyond words Dominik hasn’t signed a lawn chair with a pulse, preferably with a name fans recognize so they can rest a bit easier at night.

Now comes word, typed by the fingertips of Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, that the Bucs allegedly want to keep Bucs’ fans favorite player of the offseason, Wright.

It’s no surprise CB Eric Wright dropped by One Buc Place to chat with GM Mark Dominik and Schiano about their plans for 2013. Wright’s $7.75 million salary is no longer guaranteed and he will need to restructure that deal to remain with the team. But given the shrinking pool of free agent cornerbacks, the Bucs clearly want to keep Wright. Had he been in this free agent group of corners — sans Adderal suspension — Wright would’ve been ranked higher than many.

The only question for Schiano was whether he can count on him to be there on Sundays.

“He has been (reliable),” Schiano said. “So he had some things that tripped him up, but he has been a reliable player. Not only here but at other places where coaches on our staff have been with him. If I didn’t feel we were good there, we would’ve already separated.

This is certainly an about face from what Joe learned just after the 2012 season. Joe was told by a suit it was a virtual certainly Wright was going to get cut because Dominik had leverage on him; Wright’s contract could be voided thanks to him popping Adderall and getting busted for it last year.

Joe is starting to believe Wright’s tenure with the Bucs depends solely on what happens with the alleged Revis trade to Tampa Bay.

With each passing day that the Bucs have not signed a cornerback, Bucs fans are losing more hair and shaving months off of their lives by chain-smoking and doing shots in the small hours of the morning, frustrated that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik hasn’t filled his biggest need.

The clock keeps ticking on another (non) roster move, and it seems to have slipped past Bucs fans because they are, rightly, so focused on cornerbacks. That would be starting tight end Dallas Clark.

Just about a month after the free agent dinner bell rang, Clark remains out there walking the streets. It stands to reason that if Dominik wanted Clark back, he’d be signed by now. That also suggests that the Bucs may be shopping for a tight end in the draft, in addition to the recent signing of Tom Crabtree.

Russ Lande of NationalFootballPost.com believes this as well. He thinks the Bucs will drop their No. 13 pick on Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame, Senior: While the Buccaneers reportedly have concerns about Josh Freemen being the answer at quarterback, they have to put weapons around him to give him a chance. Eifert is an elite receiving tight end prospect who would upgrade the Buccaneers underneath passing attack and make their offense multi-dimensional.

Now Joe’s about sick of this pap that Josh Freeman needs weapons. If that is the case, what are you trying to hide? Freeman has one of the best collections of “weapons” in the NFL! With the departures/retirements that have taken place in Green Bay in the offseason, Aaron Rodgers would kill to have Freeman’s weapons and offensive line.

So let’s stop with the “Freeman has to have weapons” nonsense talk, shall we?

Joe doesn’t dispute that the Bucs may draft a tight end. Eifert at No. 13 seems a bit high. Especially for a guy who told Joe, when Joe asked him at the NFL Combine what he needed to work on to be a complete tight end, Eifert didn’t blink an eye and stared right at Joe and said, “blocking.”

Joe’s kind of thinking Gavin Escobar of San Diego State, a clone of Eifert, would be more realistic in the second round.

One great thing about last year — granted, there were few “great” things that happened — was the emergence of running back Doug Martin.

The Bucs had not had a consistent running attack since the WD40 days, Mike Alstott’s pounding and Warrick Dunn’s escapability.

Doug Martin blasted onto the scene last to become one of the NFL’s best running backs. And he did this with a mangled offensive line.

Sophomore slumps are common in the NFL because teams adjust to rookies who shine. This was a subject in a recent NFC South chat on the servers of BSPN.

Scott (Northglenn, CO): Any reason to be concerned about Doug Martin regressing his second year? More focus on him?

Pat Yasinskas: Doubt it. He’ll have his two Pro Bowl guards back and that should make him even better.

Barring injury to Martin, there should be no sophomore slump. As Yasinskas suggested, Martin, Joe expects, very well could be improved.

Back will be a healthy Davin Joseph. Back will be a healthy Carl Nicks. Jeremy Zuttah will return to center, and there is a very real possibility the Bucs could upgrade at right tackle.

No, Martin should be just as good as in his rookie season, if not better.