Bucs Lions trade? (PFT)

BUCS-LIONS WORKING ON A DEAL

Our friends at WDAE in Tampa have tipped us off to a rumor that we're in the process of confirming that the Lions have traded the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft to the Buccaneers for the No. 4 overall pick and defensive end Simeon Rice.

A league source tells us that, while there is not a done deal, the talks are occurring regarding a flip-flop of No. 2 and No. 4. It's not presently clear whether Rice is part of the deal.

The Bucs presumably want to get in position to take receiver Calvin Johnson with the No. 2 selection, if the Raiders don't take Johnson with the No. 1.

The real intrigue on this one arises if the Raiders take Johnson. Would the Bucs then pick quarterback JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn? Or would they take left tackle Joe Thomas?

Recently, the Bucs conducted on-campus workouts with Johnson, Russell, and Quinn. They didn't include Thomas in the tour, and we've seen some evidence in the Tampa press of possible efforts by the team to bad-mouth Thomas, possibly in the hopes that he'll be available at No. 4.

It could be that the Lions are willing to make the deal to go down to No. 4 because they think they could still get Thomas at that spot. But if Johnson is the No. 1 pick, Thomas might be long gone by the time the Lions use the pick currently held by Tampa.

We're keeping a close eye on this one. Check back for more details.

 

I keep reading the Lions want Adams, not Thomas. Interesting. I wonder if the Lions are telling TB that the price will go up if they wait until the draft to trade.

 

Trading Rice makes no sense. They've already lost White to FA, now trading the other starting DE?

 

The only reason I can think of is that he's 33 years old with a $7.25M salary this year, and he's in the final year of his contract.

 

Can see AL picking JOHNSON to spite Buc's and offer him to highest bidder

This should have been a draft day deal, cards are on the table to early .

 

This would be the greatest thing to happen to the NFL in a long time.

 

The latest: from PFT:

BUCS-LIONS DEAL DEAD, FOR NOW

A source with knowledge of the situation tells us that the trade talks between the Lions and Buccaneers for a flip-flop of the No. 2 overall pick and the No. 4 overall pick are dead. For now.

But the source says that the Lions also are talking to the Redskins and Falcons about a possible trade of first-round, top-ten picks. And the Cardinals (we're told) contacted the Lions for the first time on Wednesday to discuss the spot.

The Redskins hold the No. 6 pick, the Falcons hold the No. 8 pick, and the Cardinals hold the No. 5 pick.

The source also says that the Lions are confused by the Redskins' interest in moving up, since Washington doesn't have many other 2007 picks to offer. In addition to the sixth overall selection, the 'Skins have a fifth-round pick, two sixth-round picks, and a seventh-round selection.

We're also told that the Lions prefer to make the trade before the draft. We recently heard that if no trade is accomplished before noon on April 28 and if receiver Calvin Johnson is available at No. 2, the Lions would select him and then trade his rights to the highest bidder. Apparently, the Lions have figured out that actually drafting Johnson and then sending him to someone else would open the organization up to plenty of criticism if Johnson becomes a superstar (especially in light of the team's past misadventures with top-ten receivers). It would be far better to get out of the No. 2 spot before the picks start to fly.

 

Detroit has nine picks this year already, at top of the round too (through round 5). If they deal that pick they could be loaded. I wish they'd deal with an AFC team but as long as it's out of their division CJ can't hurt them that bad, I'd probably trade.