Mr Irrelevant from 2021 is heading to Indianapolis
The Bucs and Colts have swung a deal involving a key special teamer for Tampa Bay as the team has traded linebacker Grant Stuard and a 2023 7th round pick to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2023 6th round pick.
We’ve traded ILB Grant Stuard to Indianapolis along with a 2023 seventh-round pick in return for a 2023 sixth-rounder.
— Tampa Bay Bucs (@Bucs) August 30, 2022
This trade brings back pretty good value for the Bucs as being able to essentially trade up in the draft at the expense of a player who may not have made the roster anyway is a solid deal.
Stuard was a special teams ace for the Bucs, but he struggled on defense and with injuries, so the Bucs gave him a fresh start.
With Stuard now being off the roster, that likely means that undrafted rookie linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi has a really good shot at making the roster after having a very productive preseason where he led the team in tackles.
The Bucs will continue to trim their roster down to 53 players by Tuesday’s 4 PM deadline and maybe they will be able to make more deals like this one to be able to acquire more depth or more draft picks as they look to shape their roster for the 2022 season.