Proposed Trade Has Buccaneers Landing Texans Starting Cornerback

Bruce Arians Buccaneers

Getty The Buccaneers could land Texans cornerback Terrance Mitchell at the trade deadline.

NFL trade deadline season is in full effect and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be in the market for another cornerback.

The Buccaneers currently have three cornerbacks sidelined due to injuries, including the recently signed Richard Sherman. With Sherman out at least two weeks and Sean Murphy-Bunting and Carlton Davis III sidelined with no definite timetable to return, the Buccaneers’ most glaring weakness just became more obvious.

With the trade deadline set for November 2, help may be on the way, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. Barnwell proposes 10 realistic trades before the deadline and one of them sees the Buccaneers landing Houston Texans starting cornerback Terrance Mitchell for a 2022 fifth-round draft pick.

“Most competitive teams don’t need wide receivers right now, but just about every team needs cornerbacks, and there aren’t going to be many starters available,” said Barnwell. “The Texans, as always, are the exception. Mitchell has bounced around the league a bit, but he has allowed an 82.2 passer rating in coverage and forced three fumbles in five games so far this season. Mitchell also forced three fumbles a year ago with the Browns. He might not have the Peanut Punch, but teams are going to want to add a player who can create a takeaway in a tight game.”

Barnwell goes on to add that while Mitchell is not an elite corner, he could play the role of top corner for the Bucs while their true starting cornerbacks recover from injury.

“The Buccaneers would settle for just about any ambulatory cornerback at this point,” said Barnwell. “Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting are both on injured reserve, and free-agent addition Richard Sherman left last Thursday’s win over the Eagles with a hamstring injury. Mitchell is versatile enough to line up either inside or outside. While he’s not going to be the top corner on a Super Bowl team throughout the postseason, he could be Tampa’s best corner for a few weeks until their stars return.”

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Mitchell Has Played Better Than Sherman in 2021

It’s true that Mitchell isn’t a dominant starting cornerback by any means, but he’s been better than one of the Buccaneers’ starting cornerbacks.

The 29-year-old holds a 59.8 grade in coverage this season while allowing receivers to catch 59.3% of passes thrown his way, according to Pro Football Focus. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s top corner since Week 4 has been Sherman, who has posted just a 48.1 coverage grade and has allowed a reception on 76.9% of passes thrown his way, according to PFF.

Mitchell has been a superior corner compared to Sherman despite playing on one of the worst teams in the league with a less-talented defensive lineup.

As Barnwell mentions, Mitchell isn’t a guy that you want to rely on during the postseason — but he’s a good short-term fix.

Especially when one considers all it would cost the Buccaneers is a late draft selection during the 2022 NFL Draft.


Arians: Ronald Jones Won’t Be Traded at Deadline

While the Buccaneers may be buyers during the trade deadline, they definitely won’t be sellers.

According to head coach Bruce Arians, the Buccaneers will not be trading running back Ronald Jones — despite the idea he’s been in the team’s doghouse.

Said Arians during media availability on Wednesday, October 20.

“No, not at all,” Arians. “It’s a long season, and just that scenario that happened last year, and still with COVID — you can’t have enough good players.”

Jones had been the Buccaneers’ go-to back for much of the 2020 season, but after testing positive for COVID-19 and suffering a quad injury, Leonard Fournette has emerged as the team’s starting back since last year’s postseason run.

Fournette has taken 59.8% of the offensive snaps (256 snaps) this season while Jones has taken just 18.9% of the snaps (81 snaps). Jones’ number of snaps even pale in comparison to third-down back Giovani Bernard (85 snaps).

With that being said, Jones represents a great insurance policy for the Buccaneers as they look to win another Super Bowl.

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