Vital trades that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to make

Trade away tight end Cameron Brate

This move is extremely unrealistic for the Buccaneers, who recently restructured Brate’s deal to free up some cap space and keep him on the roster, but this move would be for the best if there were even a remote possibility.

The Bucs easily have the best tight end unit in the NFL with Brate, O.J. Howard, and Rob Gronkowski on the roster. In addition to these three, the Bucs have a deep pool of other options to pull from as well such as Antony Auclair, Tanner Hudson, and Jordan Leggett.

With these six options, all of whom could be on the final roster, the Bucs could move on from Brate in an effort to free up some space on the roster. His production has been stable while playing in Tampa Bay, but the Bucs could get more for less from having Auclair or Hudson in that third role.

The Bucs recently picked up Howard’s fifth-year option, so he is here to stay for the next two seasons at least, and there is a good chance the Bucs will spend money to keep Gronk on the roster with Brady for the next two seasons as well. With these two expensive players already on the roster, the Buccaneers need to find somewhere else to lessen the cap hit.

Tampa Bay could likely get decent compensation for Brate without having to put the current roster in jeopardy. The difference between Brate and Hudson on the field would be minimal, but Hudson is far cheaper. The same can also be said for Auclair because he is one of the best blocking tight ends on the roster.

Even if Tampa got a third or fourth-round pick in this trade, the cap benefit would be much larger than any other gains received in the trade.