The PFF tribe speaks.
Joe is a huge fan of Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. But as Joe has typed for months, Joe isn’t sure how in the world Styles gets past Dallas.
(Hey, Styles being on the board after No. 10, funnier things have happened. Like a dude whose own father put out a video on Twitter of his first-round-pick graded son in a bong mask. That stunt cost his son tens of millons are dollars. And then there was the time Tristan Wirfs was the fourth offensive tackle picked. Joe’s just sayin.’)
So if the Bucs are hellbent on getting Styles, they will very likely have to trade up.
So the PFF tribe is looking at each team’s best trade asset if the need to move up happens. For the Bucs, John Kosko believes the monthly fee for the Bucs to move up would be running back Bucky Irving.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: HB Bucky Irving
Given their lack of other tradable assets, the Buccaneers could consider moving Bucky Irving for draft capital. His strong rookie season makes him an appealing option, and the relative ease of finding productive running backs later in the draft supports the idea.
With ongoing issues along the offensive line, reallocating value from the running back position could help address more pressing needs.
Joe doesn’t think trading Bucky is on the table at all. For one, if he returns to his rookie production, Bucky is one of the best backs in the game.
But looking at the big picture, Joe is more than confident opposing general managers saw Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht sign Kenneth Gainwell and bring back Sean Tucker.
That either tells folks the Bucs think Bucky is damaged goods or something else. At best, the Bucs aren’t 100 percent sure Bucky will return to his rookie ways. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have paid both Gainwell and Tucker.
Besides, the great Sage of Tampa Bay sports, Ira Kaufman, told Joe in a recent podcast that Licht absolutely should not trade next year’s first-round draft pick. If, Ira said, the Bucs go south this year, that first-round pick in 2027 is going to be very, very valuable in more ways than one.