Wednesday morning, Adam Schefter reported that the Tennessee Titans have given star pass rusher Harold Landry permission to seek a trade. The soon to be 29 year old veteran has had 19.5 sacks over the last two seasons. This is a valuable asset for a team that is clearly rebuilding after earning the first overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
This is timely news for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are in the market for a pass rusher. This was made clear yesterday when General Manager Jason Licht and Head Coach Todd Bowles spoke to the media. Both emphasized the importance of getting pressure with just the front four and not relying so much on the blitz.Â
The Bucs have been linked to several pass rushers so far this offseason. Players like Myles Garrett and Trey Hendrickson have been brought up regularly by local media over the last few weeks. Now, Landry is another available name to be considered.Â
A Natural Fit For The Buccaneers
In fact, I would say that this is the top name to be considered. When you consider things like cost and fit, there isn’t a more natural match for the Buccaneers than Landry. And with the Bucs entering a Super Bowl window they would be a great fit for Landry who likely wants a chance to win a championship. This is a perfect match between team and player.
The best part about a Landry trade is that he likely won’t cost an arm and a leg to acquire. Where the conversation starts with at least one first round pick for some of the big names on the market, that likely won’t be the case here. Much like with the Jason Pierre-Paul trade from a few years ago, Licht could probably send a third round pick back to Tennessee to get this deal done.Â
Remember that Pierre-Paul was also traded to the Buccaneers as he was entering his age 29 season. It’s also important to note that Landry has been more productive over the last two years than what Pierre-Paul was, so the price might be a little higher here in terms of trade value. On top of that, the Bucs sent an earlier pick (69th overall) than what they would be sending this year in a potential Landry trade.Â
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At 6’2 and 252 lbs, Landry is the ideal mold of a 3-4 outside linebacker. He’s also proven himself at the NFL level in coverage as well as a run defender. These are both things that will matter to Todd Bowles.Â
He will also bring a veteran presence to a very young edge room in Tampa. Yaya Diaby and Chris Braswell only have three years of NFL experience combined. Landry knows what it takes to thrive in this league as well as what it takes to make the postseason, which he’s done three times in his career.
But more than anything, Landry is the pass rusher that this defense needs. In the last three years that he’s been on the field he’s had no less than 14 tackles for loss and double digit sacks in two of the three seasons with the only exception being last year when he had 9.0 sacks. That is a proven sample size over a long period of time.
Will Landry solve all the Buccaneers pass rusher problems? No, of course not. In fact, I would still advocate for drafting a pass rusher early in the draft. However, this can be an excellent piece of the puzzle and bring the Bucs a pass rush element and a veteran in the room that they are currently lacking.
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