The Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking Duke center Graham Barton in the NFL Draft on s Thursday has a Robert Hainsey trade looking “imminent” this weekend.
Hainsey, who has a year left on his four-year, $4.8 million rookie contract, has been the starting center for the past two seasons, but it looks like his time is ending as JoeBucsFan.com wrote on Friday. The Buccaneers could get something for Hainsey now rather than later and avoid the fifth-year option or a free agency loss in 2025.
JoeBucsFan.com suggested that “a team with concerns at center might be eager to cough up a late fifth-round pick or a sixth-rounder for Hainsey” in the draft. That would add depth for the Buccaneers at another position instead of center where the team has made efforts all offseason.
“In March, the Bucs signed young veterans Ben Bredeson [Giants] and Sua Opeta [Eagles] in free agency,” JoeBucsFan.com wrote. “Bredeson, 26, has starting experience at center and guard. He was an early fourth-round pick in 2020 and the Bucs are paying him solid money on a one-year contract. Opeta, 27, is a guard. They are sure to compete to start at left guard.”
“So after drafting Graham Barton in Round 1 to play center last night, the Bucs now have a lot of bodies on their interior offensive line and there may be at least a couple of teams interested in Hainsey at center,” JoeBucsFan.com continued.
Tampa Bay drafted Hainsey in the 2021 draft for his versatility, and he got thrust into a starting role when now-retired Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen went down. Hainsey started 37 career games in place of Jensen for 2022 and 2023, but the Buccaneers had the league’s worst running attack for that stretch.
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht Not All Set on Graham Barton Playing Center
Amid JoeBucsFan.com’s speculation, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht acknowledged Barton’s versatility. The former Duke star had 39 career starts in college and received All-American honors twice.
“We had him [as a] center, but he can play guard,” Licht told reporters on Thursday. “He did a pretty damn good job playing tackle, too. So, there’s a lot of versatility there with him. We had him targeted. To be honest with you, the whole time we were crossing our fingers that he would make it to us and he did, so that’s good.”
Graham Barton Has ‘Tenacious Playing Style’
Barton fell to the Buccaneers at No. 26 in the first round of the draft on Thursday in Detroit. Tampa Bay took the first and only center in that first round. Pro Football Focus gives Barton an 88.7 grade.
“He’s got a tenacious playing style that we like. He’s a very good athlete, he’s a very good technician,” Licht said. “He played center his freshman year – COVID year, when there was an injury – they threw him in there, really without any practice, during training camp and all that stuff at center.”
“He went in there and really played lights out, we thought, ‘Center.’ They kicked him out to left tackle because he’s the best athlete on the team, which typically happens in college, so we like that,” Licht added. “He reminded me a little bit – and a lot of us – of Ali [Marpet]. He had some Ryan Jensen in him, which is a very good thing, too, and the personality of Tristan Wirfs, so he had some pretty good lab work there.”
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