Tampa Bay Buccaneers trade Jameis Winston to Cincinnati

In a shocking move, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have acquired Andy Dalton and a third round pick from the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Jameis Winston.

It has just been reported that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have traded 2015 first round pick Jameis Winston to the quarterback needy Cincinnati Bengal. In return, the Bucs will receive Andy Dalton and the Bengals’ 2019 third round pick, the 73rd overall pick in the upcoming draft.

The move not only gives the Buccaneers a new signal caller under center in Dalton, but also clears about $5 million in cap space as the former Texas Christian product is due only $16 million in 2019, compared to Winston’s cap hit of nearly $21 million. Even after head coach Bruce Arians expressed a world of confidence in Winston, the third round asset and $5 million in cap space was too much for the Buccaneers to turn down.

Entering the last year of his rookie deal, Winston is facing a make-or-break year, and it appears the Buccaneers would rather gather an asset for the former Florida State Seminole rather than roll the dice on the 25-year-old quarterback in his fifth season. Cincinnati now gets younger and potentially more talented at the quarterback position after surrendering a third round pick in the upcoming draft in exchange for Winston.

In a move that almost does not seem to make sense or seem believable, it seems like this could be some sort of April Fools’ Day prank. Maybe?

In his career, Dalton completes an average of 62% of his passes, comparable to Winston’s completion percentage. Dalton has also thrown for over 4,200 yards in two seasons in his career, averaging around 23 touchdowns per season compared to about 13 interceptions throughout his eight-year career. With the Cincinnati Bengals hire of Zac Taylor as their new head coach, it appears that he wanted his own guy…but not really.

Again, we wish you a happy April Fools’ Day, and hope you enjoyed our little tug at your leg. Jameis is still a Buccaneer and (thankfully) Andy Dalton is not.