Buccaneers offensive veteran that isn’t going anywhere

The Buccaneers need to make moves this offseason to keep the salary cap under control, but moving on from Cameron Brate isn’t one of those moves. 

Much like sources Twitter is back, so too is armchair GM Twitter. Every fan and their mother has a plan to fix the Buccaneers and keep them in playoff contention without Tom Brady, and some of these plans are legitimately good.

Having a job outside of the NFL does not mean that this person can’t have good ideas about how to handle a job that has very few sure things built in, but there is one area amongst the fan offseason plans that most people tend to struggle.

As people spend time breaking down the salary cap situation and looking at the best places to save money, tight end Cameron Brate’s name seems to pop up the most as a trade or cut candidate to save money.

Heck, there are a few plans on this site talking about moving on from Brate in the past for similar reasons, but it is time to look at this through a new lens.

First of all, the Bucs aren’t hurting for money that bad. Yes, the cap will get tight, but it isn’t like Brate is a huge drain on resources as a reasonably-priced pass-catcher with experience in big-time situations.

It is also worth mentioning that Brate is one of the few tight end pieces that the Bucs can count on to be back in 2022. Rob Gronkowski could be retired or with a different team very soon, and O.J. Howard is a huge question mark.

It makes sense that Tampa may try to draft a rookie tight end or search in free agency, but complete turnover at the position is not the best place to start. Brate is the surest thing there is at the position right now for the Bucs in 2022.

Finally, loyalty matters to this franchise. Guys like Brate that have been here for a while get the benefit of the doubt from this front office. Cameron Brate has rolled with the punches well; accepting changing roles and restructuring deals to put the Buccaneers in that position for their Super Bowl, which shouldn’t be lost on anyone.

Brate is one of the offensive players on this roster that lives under the radar and his contributions are much larger than most people seem to admit. Moves are coming to the Bucs to keep the team viable for the future this offseason, but quit banking on anything to happen with Brate.

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