Falling In Love, Embracing The Trade-Up And Bucs Draft Inexperience
April 28th, 2021
“Up, down, it’s my show, Mr. Glazer.”
Man, Joe is fired up for tomorrow night. The Bucs may have a new player and the Big Storm beer, food and fun will be flowing at Big Storm Brewery in Clearwater at Joe’s NFL Draft party.
Two things are certain about this year’s Bucs draft: general manager Jason Licht has no experience drafting this late in Round 1, and Licht and his team have fallen in love with a player or two that will be sitting there for them somewhere around No. 24 overall as Tampa Bay sits with the No. 32 overall pick.
Given how Licht has been very aggressive in past drafts, Bucco Bruce Arians has an attack-dog mentality, and the entire organization is locked in on winning immediately — again! — Joe senses Licht is salivating at the thought of trading up tomorrow for a stud talent.
Not only would it be human nature, given the state of the mighty and hungry Bucs, but trading up is relatively inexpensive and later-round picks will struggle to impact the 2022 Bucs roster.
Here’s a look at the Bucs’ draft capital entering tomorrow’s draft.
Round 1, pick 32
Round 2, pick 64
Round 3, pick 95
Round 4, pick 137
Round 5, pick 176
Round 6, pick 217
Round 7, pick 251
Round 7, pick 259
Last year, the Packers dealt just one fourth-rounder to move up four spots from pick No. 30 to No. 26.
How far up the first-round ladder could the Bucs get by, say, dealing a fourth- and fifth-round pick with their No. 32 selection? Up to No. 26 or No. 25? Before you start crying about giving up a fifth-rounder, refresh your memory of the Bucs’ fifth-rounders since 2014.
Joe is just having a really hard time imagining the power players at One Buc Palace being patient in Round 1 if one of their inevitable man-crushes is on the board at, say, No. 24.
Yeah, Sage JoeBucsFan.com columnist is screaming for the Bucs to hoard 2022 draft picks by trading down. But Joe’s thinking about a heavy foot on the gas.
Heck, Joe is even pondering how much more tradable Cameron Brate is now that he just took a pay cut. How far up could the Bucs get by throwing Brate in the pot with some late picks?
Again, this all comes back to Joe’s belief that the Bucs have fallen in love with a player or two that will be dangling out there at No. 25 or so, like an ice cold Wavemaker Amber Ale on a June evening on Clearwater Beach.
Joe referenced Licht’s inexperience in the bottom third of the draft. It’s foreign territory for him as shotcaller. Joe doesn’t believe Licht is foolish or tense, but whether he has the stomach to sit tight until the board comes to him at No. 32 is a major mystery.
DRAFT PARTY!
3,000+ Square Feet Of Covered Outdoor Seating!
Plus indoors!
Two lucky fans attending will each win a $300 American Express gift card thanks to Joe’s friends at Florida’s Elite Restoration.
Thursday night!
Giveaways, special guests, and more. Ira Kaufman and Joe will be in the house starting at 7 p.m.
Two lucky fans attending will each win a $300 American Express gift card thanks to Joe’s friends at Florida’s Elite Restoration.
(Cool Bucs giveaways, too.) Joe is fired up for a great time with Florida’s best craft beer, amazing food and great fans. Joe loves Big Storm Clearwater.
April 28th, 2021 at 6:38 pm
Just sit tight, see how the board falls, when it comes to our pick, if there is someone good – take them, if not, auction off the pick. If there someone really falling that the Bucs are in love with, then sure, go get them. Being in win now mode means you should be willing to give up future 1sts and 2nds if it means getting better now. But I don’t know who the talent is that is worth giving up a ton for – and just moving up a handful of spots for the sake of doing so doesn’t make any sense unless someone is really falling. Once you get past the first 15 picks or so, they’re all 2nd round grades anyway.
April 28th, 2021 at 6:43 pm
Oh Man! Have fun tomorrow night!! GO BUCS!!!
April 28th, 2021 at 6:45 pm
A third thing is true about this draft….our pick will not start.
Because of that, the “player or two” is purely speculation and actually makes little sense. Maybe a player or 7 or 8 would be more like it.
It could be a DT, OLB, ILB, S, CB, C, QB, and yes….it could be Travis.
If that is the case…..7 or 8 players….i think they will be patient and let one of them fall to them.
April 28th, 2021 at 6:49 pm
You think bucs and brate had agreement to redo his deal so he would be traded?
Not likely . Sounds a little shady which the bucs are not
April 28th, 2021 at 6:52 pm
There is no “must have” hole to fill thus there is no “must have” player. Sit tight and let the other teams act like idiots.
April 28th, 2021 at 6:59 pm
No way I trade Brate. Not only was he money in the crunch time last year, but you don’t want to send the message that if a guy takes less or restructures to stay with you, that is a better opportunity to trade him away. He has also has in the restructure, as I remember, in a couple years we can extend him. And if we lose Gronk and OJ Howard at the end of the year, he might be very much needed to keep the position somewhat intact.
April 28th, 2021 at 7:12 pm
I think picking at 32 is not much different than picket at 35, 36 or 37 which are spots Licht is quite familiar with so it is not new territory for the quality of player available but it is in that it is on day one not the start of day 2. I guess what the Bucs do all depends on who is still available on their big board when it is time for teams like Baltimore and Cleveland to pick at 26 and 27…….
April 28th, 2021 at 7:22 pm
I’m still hoping we draft an OT so we can move man beast Wirfs to LT, where he belongs, and put the rookie at RT.
Maybe we can move Durable Donnie’s lazy azz to a sucker GM to move up?
There’s a couple of good ones in the middle of the 1st round.
April 28th, 2021 at 7:28 pm
Salivating on this…. 24? I can see them going up to 20 in blockbuster trade with Chicago. Just a fan’s fantasy…
April 28th, 2021 at 7:47 pm
Trading Brate would be an extreme error because if you look closely. Brady loves Brate. Third in production during the post season. That’s a lot of dependability in a player. I understand BA’s reluctance to use TE but he should have learned to love them after last season’s outcome. Brate need not be in the equation on trading up. You got plenty of capital in the draft to wheel n deal
April 28th, 2021 at 7:49 pm
Donnie shed his plays off mentality. The man just signed a huge deal to stay in Tampa. WTF you smoking. Share it please.
April 28th, 2021 at 7:53 pm
I’d trade up as long as we keep our 2nd rd pick.
April 28th, 2021 at 7:54 pm
They can’t trade Brate, it would cause the new $2 million+ signing bonus to hit the cap immediately.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:00 pm
Joe.
My question is where are the Buccaneers in the cap? What do we have to spend on draft picks? I think the answer could lie there on what we do. Do we go big and trade our draft picks? Then again we could stock picks for 2022? There are so many good hands we can play. Any thing we do I will be slugging pink lemonade and tequila! Yelling dam rite!!! Don’t knock pink lemonade and tequila. Tampa…..Bay Tampa…………Bay……….Tampa …………Bay….. BANG BANG BANG AINT NO LOVE FOR ALL OF YALL WHO AINT FOR PEWTER PIRATES OF TAMPA BAY!
The Ghost of leeroy Selmon, Ricky Bell, Ron Hall, Vincent Jackson, Geno Hayes, Huge Culverhouse, and many more will be drinking in the beer gardens on Thursday night!
April 28th, 2021 at 8:14 pm
Good article and agree w/ some of the conjecture in it
I think this draft of any draft in recent memory makes the most sense for us to trade up. Not only would I rather get 4-5 picks out of this draft that we like instead of 7-8 picks by sitting there or trading back (as Licht has shown more of a propensity to do over the opposite in his tenure here), but not many of these draft picks are gonna make the team as what we are usually accustomed to.
Tennessee (Jon Robinson connection) and Colts seem like they could be potential trade partners more than the other early to mid 20’s teams that are slotted around there.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:21 pm
Definitely a strong possibility of a trade up into the early to mid 20’s.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:32 pm
I’m all for moving up that far to get your man. Moving down is ok too. We just won the Lombardi and before Brady showed up that seemed like a dream at best. I would a secondary player or maybe a LB but I’m sure they have a good plan in place. Go Bucs!
April 28th, 2021 at 8:37 pm
Let’s face it…..the possibility of trading up makes for a better draft party(s) and a more exciting viewing experience than staying put (midnight) or trading down…..no pick on Thursday…..
But, does that make it more likely we will trade up….Nope.
I do agree that we should use the later round picks 5, 6 & the 2 7s….to trade up in earlier rounds…and a trade down at 32 would give us more picks to trade back up later.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:41 pm
Lol. Slow down Joe. To sign a higher rookie contract because they love a guy that won’t likely be starting? Doesn’t sound like Licht. People get really excited about the first round, but don’t be surprised if we trade down. Trade down again in the second. Licht is so good at wheelin and dealin with a bunch of picks and the best front office in the NFL.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:41 pm
In my mind, we are ok, the way we already are!
Of course I am interested in what we do, and who we take.
But I can’t help be curious about what the Patriots are gonna do.
It seems they are sweet on the Ohio State QB, but may have to trade up to get him!
I am also curious about what John Lynch and San Francisco are gonna do.
I want to see the Penn State Pass Rusher fall to us at number 32.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:50 pm
If the Bucs are truly “all in” for doing everything possible to win consecutive Lombardi trophies (and the Glazers and Licht are of one mind on this) then, by all means we should trade up for the reasons you have given..
Me, I would rather see us trade down and find a way to acquire more “fire power” for next year’s draft when we will likely have to replace some of our departing top players. I want us to continue as a top-tier franchise even after Brady and Arians are gone. Purely as a fan I don’t want to see another 10 or 12 year drought around here!
I would be happy to see us use this draft to increase the quality of our depth for this year. We’ve got our main players back and the intangible called luck is what we are truly going to need in order to successfully repeat.
April 28th, 2021 at 8:56 pm
The 49ers dingus head coach said: He can’t guarantee we’ll all be alive tomorrow.
So, I don’t know if it’ll be possible to make a trade
April 28th, 2021 at 8:58 pm
I continue to hope for an EXPLOSIVE player with the first pick , of course that WR or RB would have to be available at 32 or within trading reach .
April 28th, 2021 at 9:00 pm
SOEbuc should probably be “LOL’ing”himself and not Joe here. Apparently you don’t realize this year and off-season are different than anything Jason Licht or our Bucs as an organization have encountered in almost 2 decades. You can throw tendencies out the window this off-season and draft. I won’t even get into the fact what we’ve done this off-season hasn’t been done since 1979 and bringing back all 22 starters from a SB team. Nor will I get into the fact we did our contracts differently than we have the entire Licht/Greenberg tenure. Not will I get into the fact that not as many of our draft picks are gonna make the team this year as in years past or what we are accustomed to. That’s all different this year.
So why trade back to gain picks (in a draft that’s not deep anyways) and extra players that won’t make the team or even be here when the season starts?! That’s silly…
Trading back only makes sense this year if we gain value by trading picks this year for more valuable picks for next year (which is part of the trade formula if you accept picks for the following year….it’s the price the team you’re trading w/ pays for trading future picks instead of same year picks, that’s just a fact). However, that doesn’t make much sense either as Brady’s and Arians’ window is very short to win more Championships. Ya know, the ultimate goal.
You’re post is silly illogical. You gotta think more subjectively homie. It’s not always black or white or the same way all the time 🙏
April 28th, 2021 at 9:07 pm
I’d rather they throw in OJ.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Who are you willing to trade up for? I say Azeez from UGA. Otherwise sit and see how things fall. If there isn’t someone for the value trade back 4-8 spots and pick up a 3rd rounder because you’re getting a 5 year contract instead of a 4 year. Then use your new high 3rd pick and some of your lower picks in rounds 5-7 to move back into the 2nd.
So what do you do with three 2nd round picks between 36 and 65? Payton Turner DE from Houston, Quinn Meinerz G/C from Wisc-Whitwater and a CB. Then use your late 3rd round pick for a DT such as Alim McNeil from NC State, OT James Hudson from Cincinnati or maybe a RB like Michael Carter from UNC. Look for the other position in rd 4 and if you have a 6th round pick go get Ian Book from ND. All of these 1-3 round players could be good role players in 2021 with potential to start in another 1 or 2 years.
What didn’t you address? LB depth. Oh well, you can’t get everything.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:18 pm
JGhotier you sure do mention a lot of things you said you weren’t going to mention hahaha. Had to read it twice but I won’t mention that lmao.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:23 pm
Spotrac usually has a good handle on that.
Teams generally want to stash away $10 million to pay for draft picks and players you sign off the street throughout the season to replace injured players.
Don’t fret about the cap too much. The slimy Saints were tens of millions over the cap last year and the NFL didn’t shut the team down.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:25 pm
Cainishere – I said “get into”, not mention
Mention and to get/delve into are very different degrees of discussion
But your comment was funny and I get your point, haha!
April 28th, 2021 at 9:31 pm
Tyler Johnson
April 28th, 2021 at 9:35 pm
Where do the Pats pick? You know BB wants to trade down. It’s in his DNA and he loves TEs.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:38 pm
Carlos “Boogie” Basham might fall to 32. He’s an athletic and explosive edge. He can learn behind Shaq and JPP
April 28th, 2021 at 9:43 pm
That would not be a good look if they traded Brate after he agreed to a pay cut. Trade O.J.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:44 pm
In the draft after the first time the Bucs won the Super Bowl (I love writing that!), they didn’t have a first round pick because of the trade for Gruden. The idea then was to get depth in the trenches. That didn’t work out too well, but I think that it is a sound strategy.
April 28th, 2021 at 10:28 pm
Brate takes a pay cut and then you trade him???
That will make you stink to future players.
April 28th, 2021 at 10:33 pm
JGotier
Licht’s philosophy is to build through the draft. Probably has a plan already mapped out for the next three to four years. He’s not crying about “oh we’ll plunge in a few years” like some of these chumps. All these guys will likely be depth. This year. You think he’s not thinking about the future??? Everybody is on a short term deal. It’s Bucs big board BPA that they got mapped out for the next three to four years, not Keipers year 2021. And Licht and BA and Bowels and Tom and the rest of their scouts are dynamite in the draft. So when people say we’re drafting for depth, they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. The best depth are players that can step in and look like starters.More than less players that the Bucs think have talent to come in and sit and learn under a number of FHOF I can’t even count on short contracts sounds better to me.
But whatevs…Let’s trade up for a RB or bust QB, right?
April 28th, 2021 at 10:35 pm
The Bucs probably don’t win the SB without Brate. Stop with the “he’s dispensable” chatter. And it would be the absolute slimiest thing to ever do, he commits to playing for less on his contract so you can sign AB t helps him get his second trophy to catch from Tom…….and then you trade him? What an abomination that would be. And how that looks to the team, to the other starters and keys who all sacrificed. Please, Joe, tell me you were being sarcastic to make the point.
April 28th, 2021 at 10:44 pm
bojim
Yep.. Not sure if OJ has ever finished a season. He’s the trade bait.
April 28th, 2021 at 10:44 pm
SOEbuc, I salute you sir. Excellent take.
April 28th, 2021 at 10:47 pm
I’m probably watching the first ten picks, then doing something else. Great position to be in, where your pick is last and the draft is boring😄
April 28th, 2021 at 11:04 pm
Ian Book ND I keep seeing his name and it seems that theres more than a few fans who think we should select him.
Can anyone explain what they like about Book?
April 28th, 2021 at 11:36 pm
SOEbuc
I know what Licht’s philosophy is. I’m saying (and as Joe has alluded to all off-season)….this is a very different offseason than normal for literally a MYRIAD of different reasons. Any other year, you are spot on dude. Also, your takes are well thought out, nor are you wrong on some of them (except your last sentence, “More than less players………………sounds better to me” sentence as a whole is almost incomprehensible) Just saying factor in that these are completely different circumstances than JL or our Bucs organization are used to this century. This is not your typical off-season or by the book/standard philosophy happenings this off-season (the aforementioned reasons above being just part of the reasons).
Not hating on you at all, but if you don’t see the differences of this year compared to any other year (historical or Bucs related), that’s on you. This ain’t standard, it’s not typical, it’s not gonna be your quintessential JL or NFL draft. It just ain’t.
Respect to your opinion though and not being disrespectful 🙌
Even though most analysts and journalist agree, at least you got your fanboy follower Swampbuc on your side and “saluting you”
Btdubs…..When did I ever say “trade up for a RB or bust QB”? It’s ok to discuss and disagree, but don’t be that guy just blurtin’ sh!t out
April 28th, 2021 at 11:37 pm
Thankfully Joe is not running this team. Go back and watch all of our playoff games and watch how Cameron had impact plays at very important moments in each of those games. Arguably we are not in the Super Bowl without Cameron brate and people keep talking about trading him LOL he’s the only tight end I would not trade. Luckily coach and GM are smarter than the rest of us and that’s why they are keeping Cameron. They know what they got. Dude is smart and has some of the best hands in football
April 28th, 2021 at 11:57 pm
JGotier
“I know what Licht’s philosophy is. I’m saying (and as Joe has alluded to all off-season)….this is a very different offseason than normal for literally a MYRIAD of different reasons.”
Lol. That’s just funny to me cus my boy Joe and I have had many disputes this
Whatevs…Less than 24 hours
GO BUCS!!!
April 29th, 2021 at 12:11 am
Are you reading your sentences dude?!
You’re just getting silly now
“Joe and I have had many disputes this”….”I can’t even count on short contracts sounds better to me” ??
I see what’s going on here now. You take ‘er easy bud. It’s ok to disagree, have comprehensible discussions about it, not be so stubborn in your one-way only opinions and be subjective
You stated JL’s normal philosophy as to reasons to disagree (and that’s ok), but open your eyes to the difference this year over any other in history and remember,….JL, Bucs and Greenberg also had a certain philosophy and approach to the off-season and the way they do contracts here in his tenure, but OBVIOUSLY we did things completely different and took a DIFFERENT approach under this FO regime this year.
You’re blind and too stubborn to recognize the differences and approach
We haven’t even talked about how much COVID and new protocols and rules have affected this off-season and Draft either.
Salute sir and go Bucs!
April 29th, 2021 at 12:30 am
When you don’t have needs, you dont trade up. Period. What, trade away capitol for a 5th RB? 4th WR? 3rd OLB? 3Rd ILB? 4th DT? 4th CB? 4th S? 3rd G or T? Backup to the goat?
You trade up, you’re not accounting for someone leaving in 2022, you’re pushing them out the door at that position. And not drafting a special teams ace in the 4th round with said pick that helps you go for 2 this year.
It’s emotional, not logical, and thus unwise. Someone will fall where BPA meets future need at one of maybe 4-5 options, but let them come to you. Be cool Licht, be cool!
April 29th, 2021 at 10:59 am
JGotier
Yes. Typoz and automatic corrections on JBF haunt me nightly.