The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had quite the drought in their long history in the NFL. After joining the league as an expansion team in 1976, the Bucs have only secured one Super Bowl championship thus far. In almost half a century, the franchise only managed to make it to the playoffs ten times. Because of their struggles, the front office have tried to make the necessary adjustments with moves to help propel their squad.
Nevertheless, here are the best Tampa Bay Buccaneers trades in franchise history.
5. Logan Mankins (2014)
After another lowly season in 2013, finishing the regular season with a 4-12 record, the Buccaneers were undergoing some changes. Tampa Bay fired their head coach Greg Schiano as well as GM Mark Dominik midway through the 2013 season and head coach Lovie Smith was hired to potentially stabilize things.
After a few questionable moves prior to the 2014 season, Tampa Bay finally made a substantial trade that would help aid their offensive woes. They traded their 2015 fourth round pick as well as TE Tim Wright for six-time Pro Bowler Logan Mankins and the nine-year vet would go on to immediately be a huge part of the Tampa Bay offense.
Mankins would go on to play and start all but one game for Tampa Bay in the next two seasons and was the main anchor of the Bucs offensive line. The NFL 2010s All-Decade Team member helped restore things in Tampa Bay as he led the revival of the franchise offense. The guard would end his two-year stint with the Buccaneers with his seventh and last Pro Bowl nod in 2015 and was pivotal in producing the 5th best offense in the league that season. He opted to retire in 2016 after 16 long years in the NFL.
4. Keyshawn Johnson (2000)
Tampa Bay proved that they had a potent defensive lineup that helped them climb all the way to the NFC Championship game in the 1999 season. Unfortunately though, their offense was lacking as they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions that year, the St. Lous Rams 12-6. This would spark the front office to make a key move to trade two first round picks (#13 and #27) to the New York Jets for 1996 number one overall pick Keyshawn Johnson.
The addition of Johnson gave the Bucs a legitimate offensive weapon in the WR spot and and debuted with 71 catches and 874 yards with eight touchdowns in his first season. After the signing of QB Brad Johnson in 2001, Keyshawn's game would only further improve as he caught 35 more passes and tallied a total of 1,266 yards in 2001.
The three-time Pro Bowler was a crucial part of the Bucs' only championship season in 2002 where he had himself one of his best seasons in a Buccaneer uniform and of course ultimately bringing home the Lombardi to Tampa Bay.
3. Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks (1995)
The Buccaneers had a bunch of draft picks entering the 1995 NFL draft which they eventually made the most out of with a series of important trades in franchise history.
First, they moved their 7th and 72nd pick to the Philadelphia Eagles' 12th pick (as well as two second round picks) which eventually ushered them to select Warren Sapp from the University of Miami. Before the first round of the draft was over, the Bucs made another trade for two of their three second round picks for the Dallas' Cowboys 28th pick which gave Tampa Bay the rights to pick linebacker Derrick Brooks from Florida State. These two defensive stars would be cornerstones in the Bucs defensive roster for years to come.
Sapp was one of the best defensive tackles to ever play for Tampa Bay. He played nine seasons for the team and tallied 400 tackles and 77 sacks which is second all-time in franchise history. He also made it to seven straight Pro Bowls from 1997-2003 and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1999.
Brooks also had himself quite a career in Tampa Bay and had an illustrious 14-year stint with the Bucs. He had a total of 1,710 tackles and ranks first in all-time team history. He also made it to the Pro Bowl 11 times and did not miss a game in thirteen straight seasons for Tampa Bay. Both Sapp and Brooks were key parts of the Bucs' Super Bowl champion squad and had their respective numbers (#99 and #55) retired by the franchise.
2. Jon Gruden (2002)
Players being traded for head coaches doesn't happen a lot in the NFL. In 2002, the Bucs made a unique move to trade that year's 21st and 53rd pick as well as the following year's 32nd pick and their 2004 45th pick (as well as $8 million in cash) to the Oakland Raiders for head coach Jon Gruden. There were a lot of questions about this huge move but after seeing the immediate results, experts have this as one of the smartest moves in franchise history.
The Bucs knew coming in to the 2002 season that they had to amp up their offense, given that their defense was already one of the best in the league and Gruden would definitely provide that. Gruden's offensive tendencies propelled the Bucs to the Super Bowl in his first season and ended up winning it all against his former team in Super Bowl XXXVII.
He finished his time in Tampa Bay after seven season and ended up as the winningest coach in franchise history with an overall record of 57-55. He was also inducted to the Tampa Bay Ring of Honor.
1. Rob Gronkowski (2020)
After shocking the world and opting out of his two-decade long tenure with the New England Patriots, iconic QB Tom Brady signed with Tampa Bay prior to the 2020 NFL season. And, in a move to complement their new playmaker, the Bucs chose to trade for Brady's long-time parter Rob Gronkowski. A move that head coach Bruce Arians has reportedly stated was masterminded by the legendary signal-caller.
The addition of these two former Super Bowl champions could prove to be a game-changer for the franchise in the coming years. The combination of these two legends have resulted to multiple titles for the Patriots and they're bringing all that experience all the way to Tampa Bay.
Gronkowski has proven thus far in his career that he's indeed one of the best tight ends in the NFL, bagging five total Pro Bowl selections as well as three Super Bowl rings to boot. The 31-year old is also coming from a year off from the league after taking a break to prioritize his health and seems to be ready (and healthy) for an incredible debut season for the Bucs in 2020. If everything falls into place, this could be the biggest trade in franchise history.
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