RUMOR: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Open to Trading Either Starting Cornerback

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear likely to move on from one of their starting cornerbacks this offseason.

The 2024 NFL free agency period opens up this week and teams will begin making moves looking to improve off of their 2023 campaigns.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have already started to nail down some of their prior to the onset of free agency re-signing Mike Evans to a two-year deal and placing the franchise tag on Antoine Winfield Jr. Tampa Bay will undoubtedly give most of their attention to reaching a contract agreement with Baker Mayfield, but there are also other decisions that need to be made to help put together the best team possible.

Free agency won’t be the only market the Buccaneers will look to improve, as they likely will also explore the trade market. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Tampa Bay is open to moving on from one of their starting corners in Jamel Dean or Carlton Davis III.

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Per Fowler, multiple team sources have expressed to him that the Bucs are willing to move on from either of the two and could very well do so.

Both corners have spent the beginning stages of their careers in Tampa Bay and have yet to play with another team. 

Davis III was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Auburn and has been a fixture in the Buccaneers’ secondary since arriving as rookie. He has 51 games, compiling 324 tackles, nine interceptions, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries over the course of his six years in the NFL. Davis III may not be all that flashy and can somewhat be overlooked when talking about some of the best lockdown corners in the league, but he still has moments where he can be caught slipping and give up the occasional big play.

Dean was also drafted by the Buccaneers out of Auburn, just a year later and a round later than Davis III in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. It took a bit longer for Dean to become an everyday starter for the Bucs to begin his career, but he eventually became that everyday guy the team was looking to pair alongside Davis III. Dean has started in 51 games and compiled 254 tackles, seven interceptions, and two fumble recoveries. Dean isn’t quite the lockdown type of DB that Davis III is, but he does a great job sticking with his opposition and is heralded as a sure tackler in space.

If the Buccaneers do intend to trade one of their starting CBs, then they can likely look to add to that room in free agency, however, with the success the Bucs have had in the draft at the position, one could expect the Tampa Bay brass to find another high-quality guy in the draft to help build back up the room while Zyon McCollum sees more starting time outside of the hash marks.

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