Report: Patriots Trade Logan Mankins to Buccaneers

In what can be defined as a shocker, the New England Patriots have traded Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for tight end Tim Wright and a draft pick. Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer reported the news via Twitter. 

Tampa Bay’s offensive line has been struggling all preseason after the team reached an injury settlement with veteran Carl Nicks, who simply wasn’t ready to contribute in 2014. The Buccaneers met with Richie Incognito Monday, but it is rather obvious Mankins is a much better option at this point.

Mankins, a first-round pick of the Patriots back in 2005, has started 130 games during an impressive nine-year tenure with the team. He’s earned five consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl and has started all 16 games in six of his nine years in the NFL.

It’s a major addition to a Buccaneers team that needed help at the guard position. Acquiring Mankins transforms that position from a weakness to a strength.

While it remains to be seen how valuable the pick New England received from Tampa Bay, it did acquire an interesting young tight end option in the form of Tim Wright, who impressed a great deal last year. Wright recorded 54 receptions for 571 yards and five scores as a rookie last year. He went undrafted out of Rutgers in 2013. He’s likely an insurance policy should Rob Gronkowski remain injury plagued in 2014.

According to Glazer, the deal is not yet finalized but all parties have been notified that it has been agreed to.

We will update this article once more specifics are released.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that New England will receive a fourth rounder as the draft pick compensation from Tampa Bay.

Photo: ESPN.com