July 20th, 2026
Will only be better.
The gap must be bridged.
We are in the dead period of the NFL calendar a week away from the start of training camp. There is no shame in admitting it.
As a result, follicly-challenged Billy Barnwell of BSPN decided to gauge what sort of price could be fetched on the trade market for each team’s best players.
So, if Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht hit his head on something today and lost his mind, putting wide receiver Emeka Egbuka on the trade block, what would he get for Egbuka?
Barnwell believes Egbuka could bring in more than just a first-round pick.
It was a tale of two halves for the 19th pick of last year’s draft, as Egbuka had 101-, 115- and 163-yard games in the first half of the season, then failed to top 65 yards in any single contest over the final two months. Is Egbuka the guy who was on pace for a 1,288-yard season through Week 9 or the one who produced at a 555-yard pace afterward? This trade projection splits the difference between those scenarios.
Joe guesses Egbuka, by the time February rolls around, will be worth more than that. Just a hunch that there were a couple of factors that dragged Egbuka down in the second half last year.
The first was Egbuka never recovered from a bum hamstring he suffered against the 49ers. NextGen Stats, per Ben Solak, documented Egbuka never recaptured his speed after that injury.
The other reason Joe is giving Egbuka a pass? A combination of his quarterback getting banged up and with Mike Evans out, defenses began to key on him. So Joe tends to believe Egbuka will be better this year and his value will rise.
And he ain’t going anywhere, busy season or not.