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Bucs Need to Trade for a WR
By Jonathan C. Mitchell on October 8, 2008

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t sure when they will get Joey Galloway back and that puts a huge damper on the offense. They have no options for the deep ball other than Dexter Jackson who has yet to recieve a snap. So what do they do? Pray for Galloway to heal? Nah. They must make a move before next Tuesday’s trade deadline and the sooner the better.

It has been speculated that these recievers may be available: Roy Williams (DET), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (CIN), Chad Johnson (CIN), and Torry Holt (STL).

I think any will be a significant upgrade over the pass dropping machines known as Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton but at what price?

Chad Johnson’s price tag will be high and the Bucs will shy away due to his foot problems. Holt’s price tag and age may be the same reason the Bucs won’t pursue and he might not be available anyway. T.J. Houshmandzadeh is a free agent next season but again the price might be huge. What about Roy Williams? He seems to have grown out of favor and the Lions could really use some help on defense (they could use help everywhere actually).

Here is what I propose: The Bucs send strong safety Jermaine Phillips to the Lions in return for Roy Williams.

The Lions could use Phillips right away and move Dwight Smith off of SS. Head coach Marinelli would love to have Phillips as he was on the sideline with him with his days in Tampa.

Roy Williams may not be the deep threat that Galloway is but he is a significant upgrade over any of the Buccaneers current options and he is a big target that has better hands than both Buc starters. The Bucs and Lions could expand this deal to include two other available guys: Brian Kelly (CB) and Dewayne White (DE), but that would mean at least one conditional draft pick be included.

With the loss of Phillips the Bucs can put future stud Sabby Piscitelli in as the starter (assuming he is fully healed which I think he is; he practiced today with no pain) and I believe he is an instant upgrade over Phillips and that is no disrespect to Phillips.

The Bucs need to make a move. They have plenty of room under the salary cap to add payroll so there should be no excuse other than not wanting to mortgage the future by giving up a first rounder.

If the Bengals were reasonable in their price for Houshmandzadeh I would say the Bucs have to make that move. He is a free agent and they could offer Phillips and a 3rd rounder but the Bengals will probably insist on a 1st rounder even though they won’t win this year and Houshmandzadeh will walk at the end of the year.

The clear answer is to go to the new GM of the Lions and to former coach Marinelli and work out a deal for Williams and include the hard hitting Phillips to get talks starting. The Bucs must make a move for a WR or their chances of winning this year are minimal.

-Jonathan C. Mitchell

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