Buccaneers: Is Cameron Brate still on the trade block?

The Buccaneers are ‘All-In’ on winning in 2020, and that could formulate another trade

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still be interested in trading away one of their top depth pieces and future prospects at tight end if the right offer arose?

Following the season-ending injury to O.J. Howard, the Buccaneers were left with three viable options at tight end which include Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and Tanner Hudson. Hudson has seen the field more lately simply because of Howard’s injury.

Now, before Howard was out for the season, there were many clamoring for a solidified player like Cameron Brate to be potentially put on the trading block with the hopes of getting another piece that could increase the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl odds.

Following the injury to Howard, though, most believed that Tampa Bay would be holding on to Brate and that seems like the most likely move, but still some fans dream of one final blockbuster level trade that could put this team in the driver’s seat.

It wouldn’t make much sense to trade Brate unless the Buccaneers are getting something massive in return

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way: From a depth perspective, it wouldn’t make sense to trade away Brate without getting something massive in return or having a fall back plan for signing a piece in free-agency.

Brate is currently on the third season of six-year deal that is worth $40 million. Since the Buccaneers don’t have a ton of cap space, they’d have to make a trade for a player that has a cap hit fairly similar to Brate’s. Though his average salary is around $7 million, Brate’s cap hit is only $4.25 million this year with the payout increasing over the course of the next three seasons.

That’s the major issue here.

Who are you going to find that’s a gamechanger that you can add to the roster and then what free-agent are you going to find or trade are you going to make to fill Brate’s depth role. It just doesn’t seem likely to happen.

Brate would’ve been a great trade target and asset just a few weeks ago, but the O.J. Howard injury almost put those talks to bed. If the Buccaneers could somehow pull off a blockbuster deal that added a legitimate championship-level piece, they might still be inclined to pull the trigger, but there’s just too much going on with the depth of that position to give up Brate without having a backup plan.

Yes, it’s fun to think about potential trades, but Brate is likely not the player to throw in the mix there.