{"id":422019,"date":"2026-10-08T07:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/422019\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T07:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:04:49","slug":"tampa-bay-buccaneers-linked-to-trade-for-7-million-steelers-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/422019\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Buccaneers Linked to Trade for $7 Million Steelers Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pittsburgh-steelers-v-tampa-bay-buccaneers-tampa-florida-august-11-mason-e1791385630715.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been named as a top suitor of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>There is no secret that the Tampa Bay <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Buccaneers<\/a> need some help to save their season. At the moment, the team is winless in four games to start the 2026 campaign. While the situation is not positive at the moment, Tampa remains just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/standings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">two games out of first place<\/a> in the NFC South.<\/p>\n<p>With 13 games remaining on the schedule, there is time for the Buccaneers to turn things around. General manager Jason Licht, however, will likely have to make a trade or two in the coming weeks. The quarterback position is undoubtedly Tampa\u2019s biggest concern at the moment. Starter <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Baker Mayfield\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/baker-mayfield\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"513670\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Baker Mayfield<\/a> remains out with a dislocated thumb.<\/p>\n<p>NFL expert <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/50090537\/sources-baker-mayfield-return-hinges-qb-grip-football\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Adam Schefter recently reported<\/a> that the star quarterback will be sidelined for up to six weeks. With this in mind, the Buccaneers are likely in the market for another player in this position. While Licht can explore various options, <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25507024-2026-nfl-trade-block-big-board-entering-week-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox<\/a> is now naming Tampa as the top potential landing spot for <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Mason Rudolph\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/mason-rudolph\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"513671\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mason Rudolph<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As Knox points out, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could take advantage of the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> QB situation. Along with Rudolph, Pittsburgh <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/team\/depth\/_\/name\/pit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">also has Will Howard and Drew Allar<\/a> sitting behind veteran <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Aaron Rodgers\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/aaron-rodgers\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"513672\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aaron Rodgers<\/a>. Tampa, on the other hand, has been forced to start undrafted rookie <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Jalon Daniels\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/jalon-daniels\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"513673\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jalon Daniels<\/a> in Mayfield\u2019s place. Rudolph is in his final season of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/25175\/mason-rudolph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">two-year, $7.5 million contract<\/a> with the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay Buccaneers Could Land Mason Rudolph for Cheap Price<\/p>\n<p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6449329 size-inline\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/tampa-bay-buccaneers-v-pittsburgh-steelers-nfl-preseason-2025-pittsburgh-pennsylvania-e1791385709447.jpeg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph is linked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\"\/>GettyMason Rudolph has faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the preseason twice before.\n<\/p>\n<p>All indications point to the Steelers being willing to trade away Rudolph. In fact, Jason La Canfora <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/jason-la-canfora-nfl-preseason-week-3-diary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">recently reported<\/a> that Pittsburgh is \u201cvery open\u201d to offloading the veteran quarterback. The Steelers are apparently willing to move on from their former starter due to the two youngsters currently in place.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be willing to take a chance on a relatively inexpensive trade. According to Knox, Tampa would likely only have to give up a 2027 sixth-round draft pick to acquire Rudolph. If so, the current Steelers quarterback could fill in for Mayfield in the near future, and then become the star\u2019s backup later in the season.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing in Rudolph should boost the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. Daniels, although a very small sample size, already has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DaniJa03.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">three interceptions in 30 total pass attempts<\/a>. Tampa coaches likely assumed they would not have to turn to the rookie so soon. Rudolph, on the other hand, has 37 total <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"NFL\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"513669\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> games (20 starts) under his belt. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RudoMa00.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">also performed quite well<\/a> in his lone playoff start in 2024 with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<p>Tampa Previously Urged to Target Steelers QB<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were linked to Rudolph. FanSided\u2019s Kristopher Kline recently <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/mason-rudolph-steelers-trade\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">urged Tampa to strike a deal<\/a> with Pittsburgh for the veteran quarterback. Much like Knox, Kline also claimed that the Buccaneers could make the trade for a sixth-round draft pick.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Tampa will have to stick with Daniels for their October 8 matchup against the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/dallas-cowboys\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>. Buccaneers head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/buccaneers\/onsi\/todd-bowles-makes-his-qb-decision-for-buccaneers-cowboys-matchup-jalon-daniels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Todd Bowles recently confirmed<\/a> that the rookie will once again take the reins for the Thursday night affair. Nevertheless, Tampa will have plenty of time to make a trade before their next matchup. Interestingly, the Buccaneers host the Steelers on October 18.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/christophermoore32\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Christopher Moore<\/a> Christopher Moore has been a Heavy.com contributor since 2025. With over a decade of experience in the industry, he has published thousands of articles reporting on multiple professional sports. He was previously a sports writer for World Soccer Talk, the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and the Maryland Sports Blog. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/christophermoore32\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Christopher Moore<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty There is no secret that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need some help to save their season. At&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-422019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}