Buccaneers 'excited' about 'excellent' tight end group

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht indicated tight end O.J. Howard is not on the trade block.

What It Means:

"Why wouldn't you want to have many weapons at that position?," Licht said. "We have an excellent tight end group right now." The Buccaneers currently have Howard, Rob Gronkowski, and Cameron Brate under contract, leading to plenty of speculation that Howard will be traded. The former first-round pick isn't expected to yield the same capital, so a deal likely wouldn't be made until Day 2 or 3 of the draft. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported Wednesday that there's a "distinct possibility" Howard still lands with the New England Patriots. Brate could also be dealt.

Howard recorded 32.8 yards per game and 13.5 per catch last season after recording 56.5 per game and 16.6 per catch in 2018. He averaged 5.6 FanDuel points per game (TE33) but was pretty efficient, ranking 6th in yards per target (8.7) out of 30 tight ends with at least 45 targets. In 2018, Howard led that same group with 11.8 yards per target.