The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter tonight’s NFL draft in desperate need of an upgrade at the tackle position. With Tom Brady now their quarterback and Rob Gronkowski their tight end, the Bucs will want to make sure they provide Brady all the time he needs to stand back in the pocket next season.
But, it seems there could be a run on offensive tackles early in round one, with Ian Rapoport reporting yesterday that the Miami Dolphins may have interest in moving up from No. 5 to No. 3 to draft a tackle. Most people assumed the Dolphins would use their first pick in round one on a quarterback.
If the #Dolphins trade from No. 5 to No. 3 and take an offensive tackle, there is precedent. Some notable trades for OTs into the Top 10 since 1990 are below… and 3 of the 5 listed were for HOF tackles, per @NFLResearch pic.twitter.com/3dJyQSubLL
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 23, 2020
Should Miami pull off the stunning move, the Bucs may have no choice but to trade into the top 10 to try and get one of the four top-tackles in this class. But would they be willing to include their 2021 first-round pick to do it? They better be.
This team has a two-year championship window with Brady on board, and if the Bucs are as good as many people expect they’ll be in 2020, next year’s pick will be a low first-rounder. The Bucs will hope one of the top tackles falls to them at 14. But, if push comes to shove, that first-round pick in 2021 is definitely worth giving up if it means getting help for Brady now.
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