Analysis: Alex Magee Trade

On October 10th, 2010, Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik pulled the trigger on a trade which brought defensive end Alex Magee to Tampa.

The details of the deal:
Tampa Bay:  Gets DE Alex Magee; Gets Chiefs 2011 NFL Draft 6th round draft pick
Kansas City:  Gets Buccaneers 2011 NFL Draft 5th round draft pick

This trade filled in the only gap in the Buccaneers 2011 NFL Draft slate, providing them with (at least) one choice in each round.  The hole in the 6th round in 2011 was created by the 2009 draft day trade with the Cleveland Browns to move up two spots in the first round to select QB Josh Freeman.

Let's break down the components of the Magee trade in particular.

Tampa Bay
Alex Magee is currently listed as a defensive tackle on the latest Buccaneers roster.  The 6'3", 298 pounder was originally selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft (the same draft and round in which the Buccaneers selected DT Roy Miller).  Magee went on to play in 15 games his rookie season (starting 1) and recorded 6 tackles, 2 assists, and 2 sacks.  Magee started 2010 with Kansas City, appearing in 2 games and recording 2 tackles and 2 assists.  After arriving in Tampa, Magee went on to play in eight of the remaining twelve games of the 2010 season and recorded a duplicate of his entire rookie season (6 tackles, 2 assists, 2 sacks).  Magee played college football at Purdue University and was also part of an Illinois 7A High School State Championship team at Oswego High School.  According to Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris, Magee was a player the Buccaneers had targeted in 2009 (video, first minute or so).

The Buccaneers used the Kansas City Chiefs 2011 NFL Draft 6th round pick to select Allen Bradford, a running back from the University of Southern California.

Kansas City

The Chiefs picked in the 5th round, Pick #4 (135th overall), and selected quarterback Ricky Stanzi, 6'4", 223lbs from the University of Iowa.  This pick was originally acquired from the Denver Broncos during the 2010 NFL Draft.

Dominik gave up two 7th round picks in the 2010 draft to get the pick which he dealt to the Chiefs.  The Broncos used those two 7th round picks to select DB Syd'Quan Thompson (played in 13 games last season) and DE Jammie Kerlew (Kerlew is currently not listed on the Broncos offseason roster).  For comparison, Tampa Bay drafted Cody Grimm, Dakota Watson, and Erik Lorig in the same draft, same round.

The 5th round pick Dominik kept in the 2011 NFL Draft was used by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to draft S Ahmad Black from the University of Florida.

Analysis
As far as players go, it comes down to the value of Alex Magee and Allen Bradford versus Ricky Stanzi.  Since Bradford and Stanzi have yet to play an NFL down, the trade cannot be graded on player production yet.  We'll have to revisit that in the future.

As far as value, the Buccaneers come out with a 5th round pick and an experienced defensive lineman, while the Chiefs come out with a 5th round pick, period.  Add in the possibility of the Buccaneers getting a 3rd round talent for what amounts to two 7th round draft choices and you see Tampa Bay came through this looking really good.  Dominik has proven to be a very shrewd personnel man and this trade does nothing but polish that image.

The real test will be in training camp this upcoming season.  Will Magee stick on a team which has spent a great deal of draft capital on the defensive line?  Will Bradford pierce a backfield loaded with veteran as well as youthful talent?  Will Stanzi make the Chiefs roster, and if so at what position?

So although the final analysis of this trade cannot be fully realized yet, the tendency leans heavily towards the Buccaneers getting the better end of the bargain.

Buccaneers Get Another Piece Of The Puzzle

Tampa Bay General Manager Mark Dominik has spent the season looking for additional draft picks by stealing players from other team's drafts.  He may have acquired another one just before the 2010 trade deadline.

Late Tuesday, Dominik pulled the trigger on a trade with the Kansas City which sent a draft pick to the Chiefs with the Buccaneers getting a draft pick and defensive end Alex Magee.

Details of the draft picks were not disclosed.

Magee was the second-ever draft pick (3rd round) for Kansas City GM Scott Pioli who was hired during the 2008 offseason (as was Buccaneers GM Dominik).  A defensive end out of Purdue, Magee is about 6'2" and nearly 300 lbs.  His addition to the Young Core Defense makes DE the largest single group of young players on the defense.

Will he play end for the Buccaneers?  The Chiefs play a 3-4 scheme and Magee was playing defensive end.  In the Buccaneers Tampa 2 system, Magee has the size to play tackle or could continue to play end. 

It has already been documented how Tampa Bay GM Dominik has rebuilt the defensive end position on this team with the waiver wire in less than one season.  Is this possibly the first move to shore up this position with higher draft position talent?

As with the rest of the youth on the team, only time will tell.  And we'll be watching!

Bucs Pluck Reggie Brown From Eagles

Yesterday the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded away a 6th round pick in the 2011 draft to Philadelphia for wide receiver Reggie Brown.  Brown (6' 1", 197 lbs, 6th NFL season) was a second round pick of the Eagles in the 2005 draft.  Brown's career statistics show he has been a productive receiver each year with a high water mark of 46 catches for 816 yards in his second season in the NFL.  Some injuries in 2008 and a young and improving core or receivers in Philadelphia (Jason Avant, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin) made him expendable.  Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik may have been able to wait until free after the draft to see if the Eagles released Brown from his contract.  However, the Buccaneers are in a position to absorb Brown's contract so to avoid a bidding war Dominik moved early and offered a late pick next year.

One thing you want with a young team is a player who loves the game.  Reggie Brown certainly has, at least, a great sense of humor:


Combine that with a guy who's been man enough to go over the middle since college:


Reggie Brown appears to be that physical-type player Coach Raheem Morris has said he wants on this team.  One other bit of trivia:  if you check the video on Brown's NFL.com statistics page, you'll see he was the benefactor for the longest pass thrown by Micheal Vick in 2009 (and help set up Vicks only passing touchdown of the 2009 season).

Brown is not part of the young core offense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  He is more likely to replace some of the production lost when Antonio Bryant became an unrestricted free agent.

Welcome to the Buccaneers, Reggie!