Can the Buccaneers Trade Up for Jalen Ramsey?

By Alan Schechter | Apr 5, 2016

Nov 14, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Jalen Ramsey celebrates a turnover against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports /

Jameis Winston is lobbying for the Buccaneers to draft Jalen Ramsey. Can it happen?

With the NFL draft rapidly approaching, everybody is making their pitch for who should be selected by their respective teams. It’s not only the “experts”, or the staffs of the teams making up their minds. Players are staking their claim as well, and that has happened with one of the biggest members of the Buccaneers.

More from Bucs News

Jameis Winston was talking about who he thinks the Bucs should draft, saying this to the Pewter Report:

"“We (FSU) definitely have the best player in the world in Jalen Ramsey,” Winston said “People talk about his position. But Jalen is the best cornerback, safety… I will take a pay cut to play with him again. He has a fierce mentality. And the best thing about him is he is a Seminole! I have already shot him (Jason Licht) some texts.”"

Now, we know the comment is irrelevant. One, his contract has nothing to do with who they draft, and two, he can’t restructure for another three years anyway.

But, the question remains. Can the Bucs trade up to get him? We have explored the idea of trading up for Bosa, but what if the Bucs want to get the top defensive back prospect?

The answer is, it will be tough. It’s not impossible, but it would take some luck on draft day.

For purposes of the discussion, we are going to use the Draft Value chart, which assigns a point value to each draft pick, starting from the first pick being worth 3,000 points, all the way down to Mr. Irrelevant, worth two points.

The Bucs hold, as we know, the ninth pick in the first round. That pick is worth 1,350 points. Some mock drafts have Ramsey going number one to the Titans. That pick is worth 3,000 points, so it would take a trade similar to the draft day trade for Ricky Williams in order to make that happen.

Let’s make that one easy. It won’t.

Using the NFL.com mocks as a point of discussion, a couple of the “experts” have him going to the Chargers at number three. Their pick is worth 2,200 points, leaving a difference of 850 points that must be made up with other picks. With the Bucs’ second round pick, number 39, only worth 510 points, there is a difference of 340 points remaining. It would take a package of 3-4 picks in order for this trade to work.

Not likely to happen either.

Now, if he falls to number five as he does in the Chad Reuter mock, when the Jaguars go on the clock, it all of a sudden becomes a bit more feasible.

The Jaguars’ pick at number five is worth only 1,700 points, as there is a big drop-off after the top three. That leaves a mere 350 points to make up. The Bucs’ 3rd round pick is worth 220 points. So here is what that trade would look like:

In point values, the Bucs are acquiring 1,700 points, and giving up 1,570 points. So, the Jaguars are taking a hit of 200 points, which is roughly a mid-round pick in the third round. However, with this trade, the Jaguars will hold two high picks in the third round, the sixth and eleventh of the round. So, not having a pick in the middle round will not be something that the Jags will necessarily miss.

Why would the Jags be interested in trading down?

They have similar interests to the Bucs. They need help in the defensive backfield as well as in the pass rush. If the Bucs really value Jalen Ramsey, a call to the Jags would be smart. Say they value a guy like Noah Spence most, and believe he will be around at pick nine. They could move back a couple of spots, get the guy they want, and get an additional pick during day two.

Next: The Last Five Choices with the 74th Pick

Again, this one is going to take a bit of luck to happen. Ramsey is going to have to fall into the middle of the top ten for this to even have a chance. Even with that, Ramsey will have to appear very high on Jason Licht’s board for the call to be made. But if the chips were to fall, there is potential to make this happen.

Not that Jameis’ contract has anything to do with it. It was still a nice thought.