Trading Donovan Smith?
March 7th, 2023
Trade bait to a champion?
Now this is just speculation thrown out by a well-plugged-in reporter, but if it has a shred of accuracy, it suggests folks around the league may view fan favorite Donovan Smith differently than many Bucs fans.
Albert Breer of SI.com had a post-combine notebook in which he documents how the Chiefs did not place a franchise tag on left tackle Orlando Brown.
As a result, Brown could sign with another team when the free agency dinner bell rings on March 15, the first day of the new league year a week from tomorrow.
Many reports say the Bucs are planning to throw Smith to the curb as a cap casualty. Breer believes the Chiefs might be able to get their left tackle cheap by calling Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and swinging a deal.
It’s an interesting thought and if a team that knows how to build a roster like the Super Bowl champion Chiefs is interested in Smith, that tells Joe the league views Smith in a different light. So many Bucs fans wanted Smith run out of town the moment he was drafted in 2015.
Joe isn’t sure what Smith could fetch in return from the Chiefs. A fourth-round pick, perhaps? The Bucs are in no position to eat much of Smith’s contract which would likely result in better ransom.
With an extra fourth-round pick, the Bucs could turn around and use that as ammo to trade up in the first round and grab Hendon Hooker.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:07 am
What do Bucs fans know about Smith’s play? We only watched him each week during football season for 7 years. Don’t believe your lying eyes.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:10 am
“so many Bucs fans wanted Smith run out of town the moment he was drafted in 2015” …..Not me. I waited til I saw him erase points from the scoreboard or take plays off and get our QB killed.
And Hooker is the next Drew Lock or Jacoby Brissett. Pass.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:11 am
OK, so there’s a “fan narrative” regarding Smith. Lets put that in perspective. During one of the last Buc broadcasts, a stat was thrown out after another bone-head OL penalty. That stat was that Donovan Smith leads ALL offensive linemen in penalties since 2015.
Secondly, he had some strong seasons followed by horrible seasons. Meaning that he is inconsistent, which is an understatement.
You don’t have to be a stat nerd. Just watch him play. He’s “average” at best.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:12 am
Why would anyone trade for this guy when everyone knows hes going to get released and then pay him peanuts. I agree they should at least try to trade him but they should not have let the cat of the bag that he was going to be a cap casualty. A 4th round pick would be nice but Hooker won’t go in the 1st round maybe middle or late second.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:15 am
We don’t need to use extra picks to trade up…….NONE OF THEM.
We need players….cheap players…..so Jason, listen up….if you get extra picks, use them to pick players.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:17 am
Fan Favorite. LOL. Nice one Joe
March 7th, 2023 at 8:20 am
Smith is just like any other player, with half the teams in the league thinking “we can fix him”. Really hope we are able to get something for him, and wouldn’t be surprised if Smith had a rebound year after responding to getting kicked to the curb by the Bucs. Much like his small improvement for two years with the Bucs though, it’s highly unlikely to last.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:22 am
Hooker in round 1 is ridiculous. He’s a project, he’s 26, and suffered a knee injury late in the year. No way do I let a dead man walking coach and possible gm draft a qb. Next year is the year. Always draft best player available. Especially since we have many holes to fill.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:26 am
@ Joe
Trade up in the first round for QB Hooker?
Did something change over the weekend?
In most of the mock drafts I have seen Hooker is a 2nd-3rd round pick…
Is he considered a high first round pick now?
March 7th, 2023 at 8:30 am
@ TBBF
I agree.
If anything we need to move back in the first round and pick up 2 more picks in the top 100.
Wasting any picks to move up is silly given the Bucs current situation.
We need as many cheap, young and healthy players as possible out of this draft.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:34 am
Trade up in round one to draft Hooker who is going in the 2nd round of every mock draft?
March 7th, 2023 at 8:38 am
I can’t disagree with it
March 7th, 2023 at 8:48 am
If the Bucs can trade him for a pick and his money is off the books, then great. I guess it depends on any salary cap hit the Bucs might take by trading him vs. releasing him.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:51 am
I thought most projections had Hendon Hooker not even going in the 2nd round.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:54 am
Hooker will be drafted in the first two rounds, probably in the 2nd round because of his injury. Hooker was running sprints at the Tennesse training facility yesterday so I think he is going to be ok.
March 7th, 2023 at 8:55 am
Imagine:
Hendon Hooker
Baker Mayfield
Gardner Minshew
In our QB room lol?
March 7th, 2023 at 8:55 am
Trade UP for Hendon Hooker LOL man is storm brewery open already!
March 7th, 2023 at 9:04 am
Maybe the Chiefs think they have a better coaching staff?
March 7th, 2023 at 9:05 am
Eric, you literally took the words right out of my mouth. Either that or Joe has hit the peace pipe this morning. Early.
March 7th, 2023 at 9:16 am
Allbuccedup … ‘Why would anyone trade for this guy when everyone knows he’s going to get released and then pay him peanuts.’
True, but a trade puts your trading partner in control of the situation rather than having to compete with 30 other teams for the player’s services. For a solid team that needs a LT, a 4th Rnd pick & a few shekels is a small price to pay.
March 7th, 2023 at 9:31 am
Maybe we can trade him for Ronald Jones, straight up!!
March 7th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Trade up in the first round for Hooker? I have yet to see a single mock draft that has Hooker in the first round. Some mock him as late as the 3rd round.
March 7th, 2023 at 9:54 am
First off if the Bucs were offered a 4th rd pick they should jump on it. To me I’d take the highest pick offered. Even if its only a 7. Also I would not draft Hooker at all nor Richardson for that matter. I don’t think either one will be as good as Trask. I would draft McKee or Hoerner before either one of them.
March 7th, 2023 at 10:03 am
chris weinke 2.0
March 7th, 2023 at 10:24 am
If you can trade him and get something do so. Anything is better than nothing if we just release him. It also will help even more with the cap.
March 7th, 2023 at 10:35 am
If you can’t get Hooker with a 2nd or 3rd round pick wait until next year. There are a lot more quality quarterbacks in the 2024 draft. You will able to get good quarterbacks as late as the 3rd round next year.
March 7th, 2023 at 10:42 am
Trade him to houston for Davis Mills the texans are going to draft a quarterback and sign a veteran quarterback so they don’t need him anyway. He has experience good or bad.
March 7th, 2023 at 10:45 am
Joe says, “trade up in the first round and grab Hendon Hooker.”
Hooker in the first round? He’ll still be recovering from an ACL injury plus he’s already 25 years old. I mean, I think he can be had in the second round.
March 7th, 2023 at 11:09 am
Not sure why any team would trade for a below average tackle when he’s going to be released anyway.
March 7th, 2023 at 11:25 am
Herndon Hooker???? Hey everyone, just keep in mind the Joe(s) were ALL IN FOR JOHNNY FOOTBALL!!! Remember that?
March 7th, 2023 at 11:56 am
Sufferingsince76
“What do Buc’s fans know about Smith’s play?”
The same thing they knew about Donald Penn, Etc. That played Left Tackle for the Bucs
Not s**t! So many Buc fans so horribly clueless about O-line play.
If they knew about O-line play- they would have known last year was gonna be a bad season, instead of being so surprised n lol m
Nnph x b pop.
The hardest position to fill on a team is QB. The second hardest is LT. Thats why they are drafted at the top of the first round- along with pass rushers(3rd).
If you Think Donovan Smith is a horrible player- see how fast he gets snatched up if we cut him.
March 7th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
Donovan Smith is going to have a new job about 5 mins after the Bucs cut him. The issue with him is that fans are morons, and don’t know what they’re watching. When your OC has Smith lined up one-on-one for enter game with the NFL’s best pass rusher (like Cleveland for example), then that defensive player is shutdown all day until late in the 4th quarter, then these idiot fans think the LT stinks. In reality, it was a pretty impressive job shutting him down all day, and it’s on the OC for not giving that guy help. That’s why Leftwich was fired, he didn’t make adjustments, and did stupid stuff like that.
As for Smith, over his career, he’s been a completely average player, who, until recently, never missed any playing time. Average means just that, he’s average. He doesn’t stink, he’s not awful, he’s average. And fans are so stupid, they think if you don’t have a super star at every position, they need to be cut and replaced.
March 7th, 2023 at 12:33 pm
Donavon Smith is now a liability at LT. I do feel he could move inside and play LG for at least a year or two on a restructured 2 year contract that pays about 3-4 mil per year. I’d rather them trade him and rebuild the lines and defensive backfield.
March 7th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Joe, by your reasoning, the same then holds true for Ronald Jones & Justin Watson.
March 7th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
“Trade up in the first round and get Hendon Hooker”? How can you run a football website and be so foolish?
March 7th, 2023 at 1:18 pm
Nobody is trading anything for him other than maybe a late round pick and that’s a huge stretch. Why would anyone give up good assets to go after a bad tackle on a bloated contract? What incentive is there to help a competitor who is already strapped for cap space?
March 7th, 2023 at 1:25 pm
Only idiots think Durable Donnie and JayMiss are good.
March 7th, 2023 at 1:31 pm
Regarding Hendon Hooker: See Tua Tagovailoa.
Hooker is a poor man’s Tua. When he played at VT he was a “good” QB but got injured. When he played at Tennessee, a “great” QB…but got injured. He can be a good QB if developed but I would be concerned with the injuries and durability.
Definitely NOT a 1st round pick, maybe not even a 2nd.
March 7th, 2023 at 1:50 pm
Trade up for Hooker?!
Stop smoking Joe!
March 7th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
DoooshLaRue Says:
March 7th, 2023 at 1:25 pm
Only idiots think Durable Donnie and JayMiss are good.
——-
That’s rich coming from someone who thinks Chris Meyers is the best play by play guy in the industry.
March 7th, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Why in the Hell would Donovan Smith to Guard, and tske a paycut,
When he can make 4 times that at Left Tackle?????
Because he likes us???
Ridiculous.
March 7th, 2023 at 2:11 pm
I would be pretty happy if the Bucs got any trade offers for D. Smith.
March 7th, 2023 at 2:21 pm
He gone