Mark Dominik- Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager is Sticking to the Plan!

Dominik, Morris and Glazers have a plan, and they don’t waiver.Breaking news: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed Nnamdi Asomugha. NO NO No, put down your twitter! Obviously that’s not true and if you’ve paid attention over the last few years you would have known that wasn’t going to happen. As I told you in a previous article “In the Trenches”, it was my opinion that the Bucs shouldn’t and wouldn’t go out and make major splashes in free agency and sign guys such as Nnamdi and Santonio Holmes. 

There are legions of Buccaneer fans who are still at this moment waiting by the computer and pouring over twitter content in hopes that the next tweet will be one that brings news of a huge signing. Those fans I guess didn’t listen to Mark Dominik at his latest press conference or pay much attention to how things have operated at One Buc since the Dominik era began. Dominik’s plan since his arrival has been pretty simple. Put a lot more emphasis on the overall draft not just the first few rounds, develop the talent that was brought in through the draft and then reward those players that excel. Nowhere in that plan does it say to sign a 30 yr old corner that has plans to star in movies while trying to win a Lombardi Trophy. That certainly isn’t a knock on Nnamdi as he is a great corner, but is any corner (Nnamdi, Revis, Joseph, Samuels) worth the kind of money that Nnamdi is going to command. In my opinion absolutely not, unless you’re a stone’s throw from the Super Bowl and Bucs fans while I think were on the verge of something special down here in Tampa I don’t think were as close as about 5-8 other teams are.

Please read more for Steven Thompson’s Mark Dominik/Free Agency article!

The Bucs on the other hand have gone about this crazy free agency in their own modest way. Dominik and the Bucs haven’tThe Dom doesn’t hold PC’s for big name FAs been quiet at all contrary to what many Bucs fans think. Mark got to work right away signing his top 3 draft picks in a matter of hours. Getting Bowers, Clayborn, and mason in camp on time was a priority and that was evident as the Bucs were one of a few teams to sign their top picks to contracts, and still are as most teams still haven’t agreed to terms with the majority of their picks like the Bucs have. After signing their top picks Dominik turned his attention to a Raheem favorite Quincy Black, signing him to a 5 year 29 million dollar contract. Soon following the signing of Black, Dominik was out at a local restaurant in Tampa with Davin Joseph, Jeremy Trueblood, and Raheem Morris discussing the new offensive line philosophy and how each would fit into that philosophy. While it’s not official yet (wait check your bottom line, could be now) multiple sources have said the Bucs have agreed to terms with both those players. Is there still time for the Bucs to
change course and sign someone like Nnamdi or Jonathan Joseph, sure there is but I wouldn’t wait on twitter like it’s going to happen.

Dominik could care less about hot top of the line expensive FAsAnother shocker, to some anyways was that the Bucs apparently have said no
thank you and goodbye to Barrett Ruud and will most likely insert new MLB draftee Mason Fastor or FA Tyrone McKenzie in the starting lineup. In my eyes this is just a part of the plan and shows that the Glazers and Dominik are looking to the future and not necessarily the short term. A lot of fans will be upset with this and say that the Bucs are close and the Glazers are just cheap but it’s kind of hard to argue with the success that Dominik has had on and off the field. The Bucs could be on the threshold of the playoffs but there are quite a few teams I would put ahead of them for a championship. I’m not saying this plan that Dominik and the Glazers have is the right or wrong way to go about building a team and perennial winner all I’m saying is its clea
r as day this organization has a plan in place and is staying close to the guidelines it set up. Whether or not this plan is successful will probably determine Mark Dominiks time in Tampa, it certainly did for Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen who had the exact opposite approach to free agency and the draft.