Rumors have circled around Bucs tight end O.J. Howard being a potential trade target over the last two weeks. But those rumors may be squashed now, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Bucs have told other teams that third-year tight tight end is not available for a trade at this time as the trade deadline comes to a close on Tuesday.

PewterReport.com’s Scott Reynolds also said in his weekly Fab 5 column on Friday that the Bucs were not trading Howard, and that it would take a high first-round pick for general manager Jason Licht to even make a consideration.

The Bucs shot down a trade for Howard from the New England just a week ago, but it was not known whether it was because the Bucs planned to keep Howard or if the offer did not meet the Bucs demands.

The NFL trade deadline ends at 4:00 PM EST on Tuesday, leaving just over an hour left for a deal to be done.

Bucs’ coach Bruce Arians reiterated on Monday that he wanted to keep his team in tact for the rest of the year as he still wants to win now, but also said if the price is right that they would have to consider.

“If there’s a trade that helps us win right now or if it’s the price is right and the deal is real, trade for the future, then yeah,” Arians said. “But I’m all about winning and winning as many games as we can because when you sell the farm, you don’t know what you’re buying anyway. And you’re playing with a bunch of young guys that have to learn how to play again.”