Buccaneers wheel and deal in latest trade-filled mock draft

TRADE: Buccaneers trade 4th round pick (133), 2023 5th round pick (LAC), 2023 6th round pick to Jets for 4th round pick (111) to select Jeremy Ruckert – TE (Ohio State)

On the surface, this might seem like a lot for the Buccaneers to give up in order to move up 22 spots in the fourth round to swap with the New York Jets and leapfrog the New York Giants who themselves may be in the market for a tight end. Upon a further deep dive though, that isn’t really the case. You see, the fifth round pick in 2023 they would give up it’s the one they received from the earlier hypothetical Chargers trade, so they will still have one next year. Plus, while they wouldn’t have a sixth-round pick in 2023, they do have two in the seventh round to make up for it, and that’s before all the compensatory picks and all that hoopla set in.

Besides, if Jeremy Ruckert is still on the board, and there’s an excellent chance he will be, the Bucs need to pounce.

Rob Gronkowski is taking his sweet old time to figure out his football future, and that is ok. He has more than earn the right to do so. That said, the Buccaneers still need to plan for the future at the position considering the only tight ends currently on the roster are Cameron Brate and Cody McElroy.

Of course, Brate is solid. However, more depth is needed. Ruckert would absolutely fit the mold with or without Gronkowski in Tampa Bay. He has great hands, and is a ferocious blocker with the potential to develop into a solid throwback tight end the team, and the league has a whole for that matter, desperately need.

This trade might seem like a lot at first, but it would absolutely be worth it.