Patriots tried to acquire O.J. Howard, Buccaneers declined

In the flurry of trades from last week, it has been reported that the Patriots made the Buccaneers an offer for O.J. Howard.

The trade deadline is vastly approaching, and we saw a swarm of deals around the league last week. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, one of those potential deals involved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the New England Patriots attempted to acquire tight end O.J. Howard; the pewter and red politely declined.

As the Bucs have failed to use Howard correctly, keeping him in to block on optimal passing situations rather than send out their massive mismatch on routes, there has been increased wonderings about the status of the former first round pick within the organization. However, the Bucs have told the Patriots, and seemingly every other team in the league that Howard is not for sale.

"“The Patriots’ decision to bring Benjamin Watson back after Matt LaCosse went to IR only further illustrates the team’s problems at Rob Gronkowski’s old spot. Eight days until the trade deadline. New England already asked, and was told no on, Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard. I’d expect they’ll be turning over rocks this week at the position” (Breer via MMQB)"

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Howard was expected to make a massive leap forward in his third season in the league, given his production in years one and two. However, we knew head coach Bruce Arians had never used a tight end in his offenses, but figured Howard was too much of a talent to remain obsolete; this has not been the case for the pewter and red offense.

As a rookie, O.J. Howard managed to record 432 yards receiving and six touchdowns on 26 catches for the Bucs; those numbers took a leap in 2018 as Howard caught 34 passes for 565 yards and five scores. This season, however, Howard has managed just a measly 176 yards on 13 catches and has yet to find the endzone.

For now, it seems that Howard is not on the trade block for the Bucs, even though he is continuously under-utilized. The Patriots called, the Buccaneers said no; now it is up to Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to actually deploy their offensive weapon in O.J. Howard.