Buccaneers Acquire 59th Pick From Chiefs
The Buccaneers have acquired the 59th selection from the Chiefs, tweets Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. In return, the Chiefs will land the 74th and 106th picks, according to the NFL Network. Surprisingly, the Bucs will choose Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo, reports Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Aguayo is the highest-drafted kicker since the Jets used a second-rounder on Mike Nugent in 2005. The Buccaneers had the third-worst field goal percentage in the NFL last season at 72.5 percent and finished toward the bottom in extra-point success rate (91.5%), so upgrading was in order on paper. However, after the team replaced Kyle Brindza with Connor Barth in October, its kicking performance improved significantly. Barth hit 23 of 28 field goals and only missed one extra point on 26 attempts.
Aguayo missed nine kicks during his three-year college career, though five of those came last year on 26 tries. During his best season, 2013, he nailed 21 of 22 field goals, won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker, and earned first-team All-America honors.
Buccaneers Cut Eight Players
- Perhaps clearing room to add a few extra undrafted free agents at the conclusion of the draft, the Buccaneers announced today that they’ve waived eight players from their 90-man roster. The players receiving their walking papers are as follows: wide receiver Andre Davis, linebacker Darius Eubanks, guard Antoine Everett, safety Gerod Holliman, defensive tackle Derrick Lott, safety Kimario McFadden, linebacker Jermauria Rasco and cornerback C.J. Roberts.
Bears Acquire No. 9 Pick From Buccaneers
After the first seven teams in the draft tonight made their own picks, the next two have been traded. The Buccaneers have sent the No. 9 overall pick to the Bears, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
Per Jenna Laine (Twitter link), Tampa Bay gets a fourth-round pick (No. 106) from Chicago, in addition to the Bears’ first-round pick (No. 11). The Bears will use the ninth overall pick to select Georgia outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, tweets Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
Floyd has been rising up draft boards in recent weeks — indeed, perhaps no player has accrued more buzz over the past few days. Many teams around the top-1o were rumored to be in on Floyd, including the Buccaneers, Bears, and Giants, so it makes sense that Chicago would aim to move ahead of New York. With the Bears, Floyd figures to team with Pernell McPhee in getting after opposing quarterbacks. He’ll join Jerrell Freeman, Danny Trevathan, and Akiem Hicks as part of a remade Chicago defense.
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, will get a bit of a financial windfall by moving back to No. 11. As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com notes (via Twitter), the fifth-year option for picks made outside of the top 10 is equal to the average of the third through 25th-highest salaries at a given position. Had Tampa stayed at No. 9, a fifth-year option would have been equal to the transition tag figure, always a higher number.
Pauline’s Latest: OTs, Steelers, Packers, Bucs
League insiders believe that as many as six offensive tackles could be selected in the first round of tonight’s draft, according to Tony Pauline of WalterFootball.com. Laremy Tunsil, Ronnie Stanley, Jack Conklin, and Taylor Decker are the obvious names, but Jason Spriggs, Le’Raven Clark, and Germain Ifedi are also candidates to go off the board tonight. The clubs that have put the most research into offensive tackles, per Pauline? The Colts, Packers, Seahawks, Broncos, Panthers, and Steelers.
Let’s check out the latest draft rumors, all courtesy of Pauline:
- Among the teams hoping to trade down tonight are the Falcons, Colts, Vikings, and Jets, according to Pauline. On the other side of the coin, the Cardinals, Panthers, and Broncos may like to trade up. Denver, presumably, would be targeting a quarterback in a trade-up scenario.
- The Steelers will consider a cornerback at pick No. 25, but they’ll also look at offensive tackles, writes Pauline. Pittsburgh returns Alejandro Villanueva at tackle, and signed Ryan Harris this offseason, but an upgrade wouldn’t be out of the question.
- The Packers might also like to find a new left tackle, says Pauline, as Green Bay would like to transition incumbent David Bakhtiari to left guard.
- If pass rusher Noah Spence is still available at the end of the first round, a club might trade back up in order to draft him, per Pauline. The Buccaneers are one team to watch in such a situation.
Buccaneers Eyeing Leonard Floyd At No. 9?
- Georgia linebacker Leonard Floyd is generating big buzz heading into the draft, according to Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Floyd, he says, could be a candidate for the Jaguars at No. 5, the Buccaneers at No. 9, the Giants at No. 10, and the Bears at No. 11. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) says that he appears destined to go inside the top ten. Schrager (link) hears that a team with a top 10 pick scheduled a meeting with Floyd on Tuesday to get one last look.
Draft Rumors: Texans, Pats, Bears
The latest draft rumors from around the NFL:
- Texas A&M cornerback Brandon Williams worked out privately for Texans coach Bill O’Brien and also visited the Steelers, Patriots, and Bears, Wilson tweets. Williams bench pressed 225 pounds 18 times at the NFL scouting combine and is said to be turning heads with his athleticism. Wilson writes that the A&M product, who had 34 tackles and seven passes defended in 2015, is drawing third/fourth round grades from scouts.
- Michigan linebacker James Ross is drawing interest from the Colts, Raiders, Ravens, and Lions, Wilson tweets.
- Temple wide receiver Robby Anderson had visited the Packers, Browns, Bengals, Chiefs, and Raiders, Wilson tweets. Anderson caught a career-high 70 passes for 939 yards on his way to an all-conference selection in 2015. The 6’3″, 190-pound receiver ran a 4.28 second 40-yard-dash at his Pro Day.
- The Buccaneers and Chargers worked out Iowa State receiver Quenton Bundrage, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (on Twitter). Bundrage, who posted a 4.5 second 40-yard-dash time, finished his senior year with 41 receptions, 548 yards, and one touchdown as a senior. He missed the 2014 season with a knee injury.
- Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton is drawing late interest from the Texans, Vikings, and Cardinals, Wilson tweets.
Nate Chandler, Brandon Mosley Try Out For Bucs
- The Buccaneers will bring in offensive lineman Nate Chandler and Brandon Mosley as tryout players for their three-day minicamp this week, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Chandler can play both tackle and guard.
Bucs To Sign Storm Johnson
- The Buccaneers have signed running back Storm Johnson to a two-year contract, as Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The former Miami, UCF, and Jags tailback is now slated to compete for the backup running back job this fall in Tampa. The former seventh-round pick had some hype behind him in Jacksonville but never broke out in the way that coaches and fantasy owners hoped he would.
Stanford's Kevin Hogan Meets With Bucs
- Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan visited the Browns, Chargers and Ravens, tweets NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The Eagles, Buccaneers, Titans and Raiders also visited the signal-caller at school.
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Josh Norman Updates: Friday
Thursday’s reports on cornerback Josh Norman suggested that Washington and the 49ers were the frontrunners for the former Panther, with both teams discussing five-year contracts. Norman is headed to D.C. first, which could give Scot McCloughan‘s club the upper hand in negotiations, but nothing has been finalized yet.
Here are the latest Friday updates on Norman’s situation, with new items added to the top of the list throughout the day:
5:47pm:
- Norman is down to Washington and the Saints, who are making a legitimate push for him, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link). The Saints have the second-lowest cap space in the league ($3.44MM), so they’d have to get creative to sign Norman, Schefter adds (on Twitter).
4:32pm:
- Norman did file the necessary paperwork on his agent switch, but there are still some logistics to work through as the corner tries to avoid having to wait five days to sign somewhere, per Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter links).
- The 49ers are “in deep” for Norman, tweets CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports (on Twitter) that they and Washington are in a two-team race for his services. However, Michael Silver of NFL.com doesn’t expect San Francisco to make a serious run at signing Norman (Twitter link).
3:16pm:
- Norman has family with him at Washington‘s facility, including his mother, reports John Keim of ESPN (Twitter links). That would seem to bode well for the team in its attempt to reel in Norman.
1:32pm:
- Norman is in Washington as the team’s facility now, and it would be a surprise if he left without a deal in place, according to Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
- Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears that, in addition to Washington and the Niners, there are three more teams who are “strongly in [the] running” for Norman. Two of those clubs are the Jaguars and Buccaneers, per Cole’s source. Based on the Jags updates below, it doesn’t sound as if Jacksonville is a probable landing spot for the star cornerback.
12:44pm:
- Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) would be surprised if Norman lands with any team besides Washington or the 49ers, and adds that the deal is expected to be worth upwards of $15MM per year, which would make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. Norman will likely reach an agreement by Saturday, says Cole.
- The Titans have been cited as a potential suitor for Norman, but after exploring the possibility, the team won’t be in the mix, says Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones also confirmed, unsurprisingly, that Norman’s price tag is too rich for his team (Twitter link via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
- Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com lays out a few reasons why the Panthers may have decided to move on from Norman.
- Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell, who acknowledged his team has interest in Norman (as noted below), admitted that the two sides are far apart on the cornerback’s perceived value. Caldwell added the Jags haven’t made a formal contract offer, and talks didn’t progress to the point where a possible visit was discussed (all Twitter links via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union).
11:18am:
- Norman is scheduled to arrive in Washington and begin his visit with the team this afternoon, as Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. Per Anderson, Norman is inclined to keep his options open and explore other opportunities, while Washington will make a strong effort to sign him before the visit ends.
- As Mike Jones and Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post explain, Norman informed his agent – Michael George – on Wednesday that he was firing him, but the paperwork for that move has yet to be filed with the NFLPA. If Norman were to officially fire George and move forward with agent Ryan Williams, he would have to wait five days before negotiating a new contract. As long as both agents are technically representing him, Norman can enter into contract talks immediately.
- Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell confirmed today that his team has “continuing interest” in Norman, and is doing its homework on the standout cornerback (Twitter link via Tad Dickman of the Jaguars).
- Lions wide receiver Golden Tate would “love” the chance to be teammates with Norman in Detroit, but GM Bob Quinn has been noncommittal about the idea of pursuing the corner, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.