NFL Mock Draft: Bucs pull off three trades in 7-round prediction

With NFL Mock Draft SZN in full swing, let’s take a look at what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could do if they make a few trades to load up on picks. 

The NFL Draft is almost here, but part of the fun in getting there is sifting through various mock drafts to get an idea of what might happen.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there are a few different ways things could break. Re-signing Jamel Dean meant not needing to use the No. 19 pick on his replacement, which opened a few different doors for the front office.

In the spirit of that, we decided to put together a mock draft that leaned into realistic trades the Bucs could make. The team doesn’t have any fourth-round picks this year, something we took into account in making some trades, and there isn’t a huge need to stand pat at No. 19 overall.

For this mock draft we used PFF’s simulator; all trades were approved by the computer’s algorithm and had a greater than 75 percent chance of being accepted (no lame forced trades).

Three trades were made, none involving players. Here’s the original list of Buccaneers draft picks before we made some trades. The picks in bold are the ones that were traded in this mock draft simulation:

• Round 1, Pick 19
• Round 2, Pick 50
• Round 3, Pick 82
• Round 5,153
• Round 5, 175 (Comp. Pick)
• Round 6, 179 (From Houston Texans)
• Round 6, 181 (From Indianapolis Colts)
• Round 6, 196th
• Round 7, 252 (Comp. Pick)

Some picks acquired were used later in deals during the draft, and are marked as such in the rounds they were traded.

Jump to a Round

Round 1 | Round 2
Round 3 | Round 4
Round 5 | Round 6
Round 7

NFL Mock Draft with 3 multi-pick trades for Buccaneers

Round 1

Buccaneers trade No. 19 pick to Minnesota Vikings

Pick acquired from Minnesota Vikings

Two players that were on the board when we made this trade weren’t when the Bucs went on the clock yet it created a dream scenario for the team. Offensive tackles Broderick Jones from Georgia and Tennesse tackle Darnell Wright would fill obvious positional needs for the Bucs up front. The idea was that if Tampa Bay traded back and added a few more picks to play with, one of these guys could still be there.

Moving back four slots is risky, though, and both Jones and Wright went off the board. That simply made the decision to draft Brian Branch even easier.

Branch is among the top defensive prospects in this year’s draft class and is already being mocked to the Bucs at No. 19. If Tampa Bay can trade back and still get him, that would be an absolute steal for the front office. The departures of Keanu Neal and Mike Edwards depleted the depth at safety, leaving only Antoine Winfield Jr as a viable starter. The Bucs signed Ryan Neal away from Seattle, but drafting Branch to form a safety duo with Winfield is an embarrassment of riches.