It appears Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett has pretty good timing

[michael89156]

JANUARY 10, 2013


Bucs' Michael Bennett could benefit from thin free-agent market




It appears Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett has pretty good timing. And we’re not just talking about when it comes to rushing the quarterback.
 
Bennett, coming off his best pro season with nine sacks, becomes a free agent soon and will have the ability to sign with any team he desires. While he says he’d like to return to the Bucs, unless Tampa Bay strikes a deal with him before the signing period begins, other suitors might make it tough for Bennett to resist their lucrative offers.
 
This is where the timing comes in. Bennett is getting his first shot at free agency in a year in which there aren’t many great defensive end options.
 
Outside of Detroit’s Cliff Avril – the best option on the market – and aging Colts great Dwight Freeney, Bennett stands out as one of the top targets for teams looking for pass rushers in a 4-3 defense.
 
Bengals end Michael Johnson had 11.5 sacks and is very underrated, but there are already rumblings the team will use its franchise tag to retain him if the sides can’t agree to a long-term deal.
 
Whether Bennett is worthy of the kind of big-money deals we see at the very start of the signing period is debatable, but the business of football works like any other sector: It’s about supply and demand.
 
For evidence of that, look no further than Tampa Bay’s 2012 free-agent class. While cornerback Eric Wright is a solid player, he likely wouldn’t have struck a $37.5 million contract here if the cornerback market last season would have featured more options. As things turned out, he was considered the next-best available player behind Cortland Finnegan and Brandon Carr, who went to the Rams and Cowboys, respectively.
 
That said, Bennett is a very good player. His well-rounded game will appeal to teams because he can play -- in certain situations -- defensive tackle and he is quite formidable against the run.
 
Something to remember here is that things can always change. Players can be unexpectedly released from other teams, impacting the market. The draft is always a factor, too.
 
But this class of free agents won’t be as enticing as last year’s, and that’s certainly true in the case of defensive end. That can only help Michael Bennett – while working against the Bucs.
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Posted by Stephen Holder at 11:41:54 am on January 10, 2013

[The Anti-Java]

Hopefully they resign him.  We have enough needs already without having to replace him too.

[BucNY]

We need him and we  need depth.

[PassThePigSkin]

He's will stay in Tampa to much money not to.

[JDouble]

Cant we just franchise him if no deal is struck? Doesn't seem like we are in danger of losing him.

[dalbuc]

Cant we just franchise him if no deal is struck? Doesn't seem like we are in danger of losing him.

The problem is do you want to? I don't.

[QaZ]

Cant we just franchise him if no deal is struck? Doesn't seem like we are in danger of losing him.

The problem is do you want to? I don't.

If you want to pay top5 money to him, then yes. This should net him 12+, fyi Freeman gets 8 next year.

You do not need to know much about football to realize this stupid. Funny how so many guys, knowing so much about football, would be such bad GMs. Lets see how next year those guys consider a franchise tag as an option to keep Freeman, a better option than deciding about his future this offseason.

[JDouble]

Franchising a player is rarely a good financial move for a regime, but it's there if you need more time to work out a deal. Paying him more than he is worth for one year has to be weighed against losing our only proven pass rusher. It's not as simple and stupid as you think.

[chace1986]

Franchising him is not an option. The amount he would get in '13 would be about triple the salary he is probably worth.

[JDouble]

Also, franchise tag for DEs in 2013 is about $10.5, not $12+. It's still a lot. No need to exaggerate.

[JDouble]

Lastly, if he was franchised, he most likely wouldn't get that money. They would probably come to an agreement on a long term deal that paid him more appropriately.

[chace1986]

You have a link to those numbers for franchised players by position? I would think that the DE # would be a lot higher than 10.5, based upon the top 5 DEs salaries. I'm not sure if it is based off of total cap hit or base salaries, but the average of the top 5 DE cap hit is about $16.76 mil and the average of the top 5 base salaries is about $13.46 mil. 

It's risky to hope the to can strike a deal...but I suppose its risky to let him hit the market. Just gotta weigh the options. Personally, I wouldn't tag him and would just try and strike a fair deal for both sides. Probably somewhere in the $5-7mil a year range.

[QaZ]

Lastly, if he was franchised, he most likely wouldn't get that money. They would probably come to an agreement on a long term deal that paid him more appropriately.

Why should he accept your offer? The franchise tag does not have any effect on him, he will still demand the exact same amount of money as if not franchise tagged.
Refusing to sign a long term deal but the franchise tag nets him the same kind of money he would make in next TWO or THREE years combined, while having the option to sign a nice long term deal the year after the franchise tag...extra money.

[QaZ]

Acctually, can we keep him from signing his franchise tag after we tagged him?
He prolly signs it in a heartbeat.

[DEBUCSOWN]

Franchising him is not an option. The amount he would get in '13 would be about triple the salary he is probably worth.

Sure it is. We have plenty of cap space. Now for a team like the lions they can not afford to franchise cliff avril again