Though some Tampa Bay fans want to see a deal get done, it wouldn’t make much sense for the Buccaneers to trade for Leonard Fournette.
ESPN reported Monday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren’t expected to offer a trade for Jacksonville Jaguar RB Leonard Fournette, despite speculation.
Fournette, who is under contract for one more season, would be just a $4.16 million hit to the cap this season and there have been reports that the Jaguars have been marketing the talented running back around to see what options may be available.
The problem, though, is that Fournette is expected to make a sizeable amount of money once his contract runs out and would basically be serving as a one-year rental for the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay, according to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, reportedly believes there is plenty of depth in the 2020 NFL Draft and that absolutely is the case. The Bucs could use a second or third round pick and get a quality running back who would be locked up for the next few seasons.
That would be much more beneficial to the franchise than using a one-year rental to pair alongside Ronald Jones II.
Many have speculated that the Bucs could somehow take on Fournette’s contract with a trade to Jacksonville that would send the Jaguars’ No. 9 overall pick to Tampa, as well.
While a trade like that could certainly be beneficial to the Buccaneers, it wouldn’t make much sense to the Jaguars to trade back in the draft and give up their star running back without quite the amount of capital in return.
In the end, the best option for the Bucs is to continue with their original plan. They’ve evaluated some of these talented running backs in this deep draft class and it should be expected that they’ll use one of those mid-round picks to fill the need and address the position.