The Bucs will be without defensive tackle Calijah Kancey for the remainder of the season. It is a travesty for the team that seemingly had finally found the elusive four-man pass rush they had been looking for. Kancey provided the interior juice that complimented Haason Reddick's edge rush and Yaya Diaby's pocket denting while Vita Vea ate up double teams and collapsed the pocket.

With Kancey now out of the picture in 2025, there is rightful concern the four-man pass rush may not hit the level head coach Todd Bowles wants to unleash his most devious self.

I was engaged on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) about what kind of trade package it might take to secure the services of a suitable replacement via a trade, which left me asking all Bucs fans to provide your realistic (or pipe dream!) trade candidates.

Alright #Bucs fans.

This looks like a great idea for a story. Reply here with your trade hopefuls and I'll put together a story looking at what it would take!

CC: @PewterReport https://t.co/e7jZXDrM3c

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) September 16, 2025

The replies are fantastic. In total I got 10 names on various wish lists. The aim of this article is to both be informative while having fun.

Creating these trade packages, I used my valuation tools for the players involved as well as my research on the value of draft picks. To determine how the Bucs draft picks might be seen in terms of where they pick by round, I am using FanDuel's Super Bowl odds, which has Tampa Bay as the 10th-most favored team and therefore I'm assigning them the 23rd pick in the first round and so on and so forth.

Bucs Trade Scenarios – Group 1: Absolutely Not Happening

Three names popped up where the odds of a trade transpiring are near-zero.

DT Zach Sieler – Dolphins

Zach Sieler doesn't have the same quick twitch get off as Calijah Kancey, but he is an effective pass rusher. His 46 pressures last year were six more than Kancey and the two had almost identical pressure rates. Sieler would make an excellent addition to the Bucs' defensive front.

Sieler is a talented player stuck on a sinking ship. When considering a trade partner, the Bucs would look for teams that don't think they have a legitimate shot at competing this year. At 0-2 the Dolphins early record suggests they will fall into this category. Looking beyond that small sample size, the vibes in Miami are bad with head coach Mike McDaniel already being questioned about his awareness of his tenuous job security.

But the trouble with Sieler is that he just inked a significant contract extension this offseason. His three-year, $21.1 million extension puts him under contract for a total of five years. That's a very valuable asset when considering trade value. And because the majority of Sieler's 2025 cash flow is through a signing bonus that would stay with Miami, the cash flow owed to him from a hypothetical trading team creates additional surplus value.

The bottom line here is that due to his level of play and years of control Sieler is an extremely valuable commodity and Miami would be within their rights to ask for multiple first-round picks for him. But making this even less possible is that as much as Dolphins team owner Steve Ross doesn't seem to care about spending money, I doubt he would be sold on paying a $16 million signing bonus only to trade away the player he paid it to three weeks into a five-year pact.

DT Dexter Lawrence – New York Giants

Dexter Lawrence is the best nose tackle in the NFL. That's no slight to Vita Vea, but rather the highest of compliments to Lawrence who is able to keep up with some of the best pass rushers in the game despite facing double teams and working from the heads-up nose position more than anyone else in football.

Lawrence had 36 pressures last year on just 332 pass rush reps while absorbing one of the highest double team rates in the NFL. Putting him next to Vea on the Bucs front would turn them from an immovable object into an object that actively moves you. Opposing run games would quiver in fear and the Bucs would suddenly become the most feared pass rush this side of the Green Bay Packers.

Bengals QB Joe Burrow and Giants DT Dexter Lawrence – Photo by: USA Today

But this stays in the wholly unlikely realm for two reasons. Like Zach Sieler, Lawrence has multiple years left on his deal. He could command upwards of $30 million per year on the open market. And with three years of team control and only $59 million in cash owed to him, if the Giants were to make him available, the trade package required to land him would rival that of what the Packers gave up for Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Beyond the high, but fair, price to be paid there is the small matter of whether Lawrence would actually be made available. Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen are firmly on the hot seat after owner John Mara gave them one more chance to turn around the moribund franchise. They need to squeeze every possible win they can out of this season and draft assets won't help if they aren't around to use them.

As fascinating as the prospect of a Lawrence-Vea-Yaya Diaby-Haason Reddick front would be, this is the pipiest of pipe dreams.

DT Cameron Heyward – Pittsburgh Steelers

Cameron Heyward was a low-key Defensive Player of the Year candidate last year. He posted 60 total pressures and 10 sacks (as measured by Pro Football Focus) while generating pressure at an absurd 12% rate. If he still has that left in him at age 36, his experience and talent would be a welcome addition to the Bucs' line. And through the first two games of 2025 he is still pressuring at a similar rate.

Bucs OL Luke Goedeke and Steelers DT Cameron Heyward – Photo by: USA Today

Perhaps slightly more feasible than the other two, Heyward is still not likely to be moved due to his tenure with the Steelers organization as a franchise legend. There is also the small matter of this being an "all-in" year for Pittsburgh. They went out and acquired Aaron Rodgers, D.K. Metcalf, Jonnu Smith, Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey in an effort to get past their perpetual purgatory of Wild Card losses. At 1-1 they are far from throwing in the towel on the 2025 season. And teams that are legitimately trying to make a deep playoff run don't ship off resources that can help them win now in favor of future assets.

But if Heyward were to be on the market he is under contract for 2026 in addition to this year at a modest $19 million in cash. That's a desirable trade asset. But I think the Bucs wouldn't necessarily bank on the 36-year-old Heyward to play in 2026 and would likely insist on only valuing him for this year. That would make for a second round draft pick as fair value for him in a trade – but one that Jason Licht would never consider.

Bucs Trade Scenarios – Group 2: So You're Saying There's A Chance?

These players fit some of the requirements for a trade to take place, whether it be the team situation, or the contract isn't insurmountable.

DT John Franklin-Myers – Denver Broncos

John Franklin-Myers has been one of the more underrated pass rushers in the NFL for several years. It seems that everywhere he goes he ends up as part of an impressive unit. He was a part of the peak of the Jets' four-man rush powers and now he is with an equally dominant unit in Denver. Franklin-Myers, 28, would fit into the Calijah Kancey/Logan Hall role of playing a base 4i/five-technique spot and kicking into a three-technique in nickel sets. He is an incredibly efficient pass rusher and just came off of an eight-sack season while getting pressure on an absurd 13.7% of his pass rushes leading to 53 in total.

Unlike many of the above players, JFM's contract would not be a barrier to acquisition. He is due just $8 million this year and he's a free agent in 2026. He publicly sought a contract extension this offseason, but Denver opted to leave his deal as is, signifying they are ready to move on from him. He is playing well above his salary right now and Denver would look to extract that surplus value in draft capital. A third-round pick wouldn't be out of line.

The real issue here is where Denver is on the win curve. They were a playoff team last year. They have a strong chance to be a playoff team this year, especially with the AFC West now wide open due to a struggling Kansas City. There is no incentive for them to discharge a win-now asset for a down the line draft pick. Additionally, if Franklin-Myers does sign elsewhere next year, Denver could be in line for a compensation pick in 2027 depending on their own free agency plans.

DT Quinnen Williams – New York Jets

Quinnen Williams is off to a hot start this season on top of a career that was already impressive. He has 182 pressures and has gotten to the quarterback 27 times since the start of the 2022 season. What makes this slightly more realistic than Dexter Lawrence or Cameron Heyward stems from the Jets being under a new management regime. Head coach Aaron Glenn isn't necessarily beholden to keep Williams, and by virtue of being new, he has additional runway to value draft picks developing down the line.

Jets DT Quinnen Williams – Photo by: USA Today

But the 27-year old Williams doesn't come cheap. He is under contract through 2027 and is owed $64 million. Depending on the cash budget the Glazers have set for general manager Jason Licht and his team, he may be out of their price range in a literal sense. And beyond 2025, Williams would affect which players they extend in future years while accounting for his salary.

But if the team were to get the green light from ownership, a first- and a second-round pick would be the likely asking price from New York. Keep in mind that general manager Jason Licht has never parted ways with any draft pick higher than the third round (Jason Pierre-Paul in 2018) for any player before.

DT Shelby Harris – Cleveland Browns

Shelby Harris is well past his prime. At 34 years old he is a rotational player at best. But he can still provide some pass rush. Over the past three years his pressure rate has hovered around 8%. Through two games this year Harris has two pressures in 25 opportunities. That's exactly 8%. Harris has experience taking advantage of the devastation a premier pass rusher can create, as he has worked with Myles Garrett the past several seasons. That is part of what the Bucs hoped they have created by signing Haason Reddick.

Browns DT Shelby Harris – Photo by: USA Today

Harris' contract is easily absorbed. He is owed just under $2.5 million for the rest of 2025 before he becomes a free agent next year. And all it would take to bring him on is a seventh-round pick. He is easily the least impactful of the options presented so far, but the most likely as the Browns wouldn't mind moving on and there is no contractual barrier to trade.

The Wild Card

All of the options above are veteran players in their mid-20's or older. But how about a slightly different route? What about a young player on a rookie contract who may have fallen out of favor with a new leadership group? I am talking about Keion White of the New England Patriots. White is an edge by definition, but his frame – he is 6-foot-5-inches and 285 pounds – allows him to kick inside on passing downs.

He certainly has the ability to get after the quarterback. Per Pro Football Focus, White had 45 pressures and six sacks last year while generating a pressure on 10.5% of his pass rushes.

Patriots DL Keion White – Photo by: USA Today

Under new head coach Mike Vrabel White seems to have lost his starting role and fallen out of favor. Vrabel pursued three pass rushers in free agency, landing Milton Williams, Harold Landry III and K'Lavon Chaisson to pair with Christian Barmore on New England's defensive front. White may be the perfect buy-low candidate, as he brings a small track record of success, an additional year of team control after 2025, some positional versatility and a low salary.

Based on his 2025 production and trajectory he could have fetched as much as a first-round draft-pick back. But with the shine worn off in terms of Vrabel actively looking to put journeymen ahead of him I have to think the draft compensation would come in significantly lighter. Admittedly, I don't have a great read on what trade compensation might be. If it's a late Day 2 pick that screams an opportunity for arbitrage and a fantastic risk to help make up for the loss of Calijah Kancey this year and bolster the pass rush for next year.

This would be the low financial cost, high upside move I would be trying to make if I was a part of the Bucs' decision-making team.