With just over a week before the 2026 NFL Draft gets underway, Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht says the team's draft board is about 95% complete, with maybe just a few more conversations remaining with Head Coach Todd Bowles to firm up the rest in the coming days.
At the top of that board, surely, is a group of prospects the Buccaneers would be most thrilled to see still on the board when they go on the clock at pick number 15 next Thursday night. Some of those prospects may be barely realistic, such as Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey or the Ohio State linebacker duo of Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles. The point, however, is that there is a finite number of players on that list of top options, and if none remain at pick 15, that's when another strategy potentially becomes worth considering.
At his annual pre-draft press conference on Wednesday, Licht fielded a question about the possibility of the Buccaneers trading down in the first round, worded specifically to ask if the Bucs might be more likely to trade down this year than in previous drafts. Licht made it clear that this is something he and his staff have mocked out in their months of preparation for this year's proceedings.
"In a lot of scenarios that we're working through, yeah," said Licht. "You have a group of players that you say, 'No matter what, if this player's there, we're taking [him].' If there's a group of three, then maybe you can go back one or two to ensure that you get one of your three. But the part of that that makes it difficult is you've got to find a trade partner. It's not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes teams just don't want to move up. They don't want to give up picks, and I understand why."
Indeed, the tricky part in envisioning trade-back scenarios for the Buccaneers or any teams in the middle of the first round is identifying the players that might motivate a team five or 10 spots back to be aggressive and move up. It is not a quarterback class that is going to inspire a lot of activity, and while a lot of teams are likely in the market for edge rushers and offensive tackles, there's enough depth at those positions to encourage teams to wait and let the draft come to them. Perhaps an early run at either position or action among the blue-chip receivers will change some team's motivations once the picks begin.
The next question is how far the Buccaneers would be willing to move down, which likely hinges on the tier groups on their draft board. Obviously, moving 10 or more spots down is going to bring back more draft capital, and that can be very enticing, but it could come at the expense of a whole tier of players. That will be a balancing act for Licht if there are any callers on Thursday night.
"Yeah, you have to kind of draw a line as to how far you would go down, but it depends on how many players that you have in different pods on your draft board that would you be willing to move down," he said. "Is it worth it? This pod here, we kind of view them as 'X,' so if we move past them we're not going to get that, we're going to get the next level. But is it worth it because we are going to pick up a whatever-extra pick? Those are the exercises you have to go through."
Licht and company have done those exercises by now and already know what it would take to entice them into any level of trading down. Still, things can change based on which players come off the board with the first 14 picks and which ones remain available. New opportunities could arise or certain contingency plans could be eliminated. That is not something Licht can truly know until the draft actually begins.
"I wish I could give you the answer on that," said Licht when asked about how active he thought the trade marke would be on the first two days of the draft. "I could say, 'Sure,' but based off experience the things that you think are going to happen don't. I think that's what makes the draft fun, for me at least, that you have to expect the unexpected. If that's something that we're expecting, sometimes it doesn't work out that way. I know there's going to be a lot of players in that second, third, fourth, fifth, even sixth, seventh rounds, just the way the board stacks up, the way it works this year. Maybe a little top-heavy but once it hits a certain point you've got really kind of similar level players at different positions throughout the entire draft. That's one thing that we are excited about."
Licht has traded down in the first round three times during his tenure as the Buccaneers' general manager. In 2016, the Bucs traded with Chicago and moved back from pick nine to pick 11 before drafting Vernon Hargreaves; the return was a fourth-round pick. In 2018, the Bucs traded with Buffalo and moved back from pick seven to pick 12 before drafting defensive lineman Vita Vea; the return was two second-round picks. And in 2022 Licht traded all the way out of the first round, swapping with Jacksonville to go from pick 27 to pick 33; the return was fourth and sixth-round picks.
While Licht has frequently made very good use of small trades on Day Two to secure specific players, such as Luke Goedeke and Cody Mauch, the Buccaneers haven't made a single trade on draft weekend in either of the past two years. Maybe Licht will get the itch again this year…perhaps as early as the first round.
