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ESPN Recommends Buccaneers Trade Up in 2024 NFL Draft
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some big needs, but could they trade up in the draft to fill them?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have occasionally been known to be a wild card on draft night — after all, they picked a player in the first round last year that they barely interacted with throughout the entire draft process. Now, the team sits at pick No. 26, and there are a number of needs to fill. But could Jason Licht and his staff trade up to secure them?
ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently put together a list of what he believes every team should do during the first round of the draft — trade down, stay put, or trade up. For the Buccaneers, he recommends trading up, and he does so while looking through the lens of a very particular need.
The Bucs are another team in the cornerback market after trading Carlton Davis to the Lions, and while they could stay put and still land help at that position, they'll have to contend with the Packers, Eagles and Dolphins, all of whom should also be thinking corner. The Chiefs (No. 32) might also be in a position to try to trade up with the Cowboys or Packers to grab a replacement for L'Jarius Sneed, which could prod Tampa Bay to get more aggressive in moving up."
While the idea is certainly possible, Licht's past has made it unlikely. He's only ever traded up once, and that was up a single pick from No. 14 to No. 13 to draft Tristan Wirfs. That ended up being a great decision, but Licht is far more used to trading down, which he's done a couple of times — he did it most recently during the 2022 NFL Draft, where he traded out of the first round to select Logan Hall with the No. 33 pick.
There's also the position Barnwell refers to. Cornerback is certainly a need for Tampa Bay, but it isn't the only one, so the Bucs could well be content to sit back and let an edge rusher or interior offensive lineman come to them. Alternatively, Tampa Bay could trade up for a different need — a player like Laiatu Latu, for example.
In reality, we simply won't know what the Bucs are thinking until Round 1 comes along on April 25.
Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2024 offseason.
