With only a few weeks until the start of the regular season, the clock is tickig for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to finalize the roster. Only one preseason game remains, but more than a few questions need answering before Week 1 rolls around.
This isn't a challenge exclusive to the Bucs, and other teams around the league are taking action in bolder ways than Tampa Bay.
On Thursday the Arizona Cardinals cut bait on former Top 10 draft pick Isaiah Simmons, sending him to the New York Giants. Not only that, but the Cardinals shipped him out for penneis on the dollar, flipping a guy the team took with the No. 8 overall pick in 2020 for a seventh round pick next year.
Simmons is the third player from the 2020 first round class to have been traded already, joining Jeff Okudah and C.J. Henderson -- both of whom were traded to the NFC South.
Trades like this often populate this final stretch of the offseason, and the Bucs have been tangentially mentioned as joining the Panthers and Falcons in trading for a former 2020 first round pick.
Buccaneers trade for former first round pick in amusing B/R proposal
Bleacher Report recently ran a piece connecting the dots between players who might need a home as rosters get finalized and teams that could provide such a thing. Usually, these sorts of pieces mention the Bucs as sellers, but Alex Ballentine actually has them buying from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson is the name mentioned.
That being said, the rationale for the trade wasn't exactly positive.
"Shaq Barrett is 30 years old and only had three sacks in eight games before suffering a torn Achilles. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has had back-to-back seasons with four sacks. The Bucs are one more injury for Barrett away from having serious pass-rush issues. Bringing in a guy like Chaisson and seeing if they can help him reach his potential is the kind of move they should do in their quasi-rebuild state," Ballentine argued.
It's nothing earth shattering, but trading for Chaisson would at least be amusing. Certainly the idea should be entertained if he can be had at the right price, which based on the going rate for 2020 first round picks wouldn't be much.
That being said, one thing is actively working against this idea panning out. Most conversations begin and end with the Bucs financial situation which remains not great. Tampa Bay has $682k in cap space at the moment, which means more than just roster space would need to be made if Chaisson was acquired.
If the Bucs deemed Chaisson someone worthy of bending their salary cap rules for, especially if he's adding much-needed edge rushing depth, then it makes sense. It's hard to see the front office budging, though, unless there's a way to minimize the potential negative impact sailing deeper into tricky financial waters would create.