Buccaneers trade Johnthan Banks to Detroit Lions

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the verge of waiving cornerback Johnthan Banks, but wound up trading him to the Detroit Lions for a 2018(!) seventh-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

This is a fairly common tactic every year: say you’re waiving a player, don’t actually put him on waivers yet, and then wait to see if someone makes a last-minute offer. And the Bucs got a pick out of it for a player who hasn’t played a snap on defense this year, and whose contract runs out this season. Not too shabby.

The Bucs originally drafted Johnthan Banks in 2013 and he played all but two games in his first two season, but fell out of favor in his second season under Lovie Smith — and new defensive coordinator Mike Smith has no use for him whatsoever, despite a pretty solid preseason on his part. That happens, especially with a fairly scheme-specific player like Banks: somewhat slow, but tall and physical.

The Bucs are reportedly signing running back Mike James to replace Banks.