It’s From Profootballtalk.com, So It Must Be True!

My dear fellow Buccaneer fans, who would you say is the best defensive end on the team? Or, for that matter, which Buccaneer defensive ends can you name without looking at the roster? If your answer to both of those questions was Simeon Rice, you would be correct. With Rice out of the lineup for much of the year, the Bucs had only 25 sacks in 2006, their lowest total since 1995 (I'm a stats guy, I know these things.) By comparison, the Bucs had 36 in 2005, 45 in 2004, 36 in 2003 and 43 in 2002. The entire defense suffered because opposing quarterbacks had all day to make their reads. Make no mistake, lack of consistent quarterback pressure was the primary reason why Tampa Bay lost so many games last year.

So, why oh why would there be any kind of truth to the rumor I found on Profootballtalk.com (the link is to their rumor page which doesn't use permalinks, so the relevant story will go away soon.)? In it's entirety:

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.

PFT rumors are hit and miss, but they have broken a few surprising stories in their day, so it's not entirely unbelievable. I have to say, if Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden are intent on moving up in the draft, I would rather see them lose Rice to do it rather than two or three high draft picks. Rice was presumably done in Tampa Bay after the 2007 season anyway. But if they do this deal before the draft and Oakland winds up taking Johnson anyway, it will be a huge HUGE blunder. Because the next most logical player for them to take is Thomas, and with his stock dropping slightly over the past couple weeks he would almost definitely be available at #4. They wouldn't seriously try to consummate this trade before the draft, would they? Al Davis would probably forego taking Russell just to spite Gruden if this trade went down prior to the draft.

Calvin Johnson had better be able to heal with sick with a touch or shit gold bullion or some damn thing in addition to catching 200 passes for 300 touchdowns in a season, because if he can't there's no way he can be worth all this nonsense.