Buccaneers Reportedly Look to Trade Tight End Winslow

Buccaneers Reportedly Look to Trade Tight End Winslow
Fitzgerald Cecilio

Tampa Bay, FL

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reportedly looking to trade tight end Kellen Winslow and if there is no taker, they may be willing to let go of the eight-year veteran for nothing.

Winslow said in a radio interview that he was informed by the Buccaneers that they looking for a team interested in his services.

"They're not looking for my services this year. (Coach Greg Schiano) said he'd help me out with a trade. It's kind of shocking, but that's what it is," Winslow told Ross Tucker of SIRIUS NFL Radio.

Winslow said his failure to participate in offseason workouts with the team played part in the Buccaneers' decision to trade him.

"(Schiano was) kind of upset that I wasn't there with the team working out in the offseason and then the first week of OTAs. You know, look, I've been there the last three years and I've had a successful career so far. You just don't get rid of one of your best players because of that," he said.

Winslow was surprised with the reason given by the team, saying he has participated in a team event before in this preseason.

"There was a previous minicamp -- I went to that. It was a three-day minicamp and then, I came back down to San Diego to train, and I was going to start back with the team today," he said.

League sources have it that the Bucs have offered Winslow to the Chicago Bears but the talks fizzled out.

Sources also said that Tampa Bay is eyeing the services of former Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark to replace Winslow.

The veteran tight end worked out for the team last week, and the Bucs are expected to offer him a contract.

Winslow joined the Bucs via trade with Cleveland in 2009. A sore knee prevented him from practicing frequently last season but he appeared in all 16 games and caught 75 passes for 763 yards and two touchdowns.

The Colts released Clark, who will turn 33 next month, on March 9 as part of a massive veteran purge following the release of franchise icon Peyton Manning.

Clark spent nine years with the Colts, catching 427 passes for 4,887 yards and 46 touchdowns. In 2009, he became the second tight end in NFL history to have 100-plus receptions in a season and was chosen for the Pro Bowl.