At No. 5, Bucs prepare for flexibility

TAMPA — This is the week of the Nfldraft when the trade winds start to blow. Is there a real deal stirring or is it just a lot of hot air?

At No. 5 overall, the Bucs are in a prime position to make a move — either up to No. 3 with the Minnesota Vikings for Alabama running back Trent Richardson; or down i f both Richardson and LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne are gone by the time they pick in the first round.

League-wide, over the past10 years, there’s been an average of six draft- day movements in the first round.

In 2009, the Bucs moved two spots to No. 17 overall to select quarterback Josh Freeman, who remains as the team’s only starter from that class.

From a league perspective, the blockbuster trade already occurred when the Redskins sent the Rams their 2012, 2013 and 2014 first-round picks, as well as a 2012 second-rounder, for the rights to the No. 2 overall pick — Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. Stanford quarterback An- drew Luck will almost certainly go No. 1 overall to the Colts.

That takes some of the guesswork out of the equation for the Bucs, whoknow they stand to get a good player if they do nothing and exercise their No. 5 overall pick. But general manager Mark Dominik said the Bucs will be ready to deal.

"I think it’s a rare year where you know the first two picks," Dominik said. “I think we probably all know the order, too. I think it makes it a little different. But I don’t think it makes it easy. I think there’s a lot of work that goes into that to make sure you make the right pick. And the reality is you have to be prepared not only to move up, but to move back, and you can’t all of a suddensay, "What’s that pick look like?’

Trades in the first round are certainly a lot easier to pull off than they used to be. For starters, the new collective bargaining agreement has instituted a rookie salary cap.

"The top of the draft has changed dramatically," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. "You know the price, the fixed cost that you have there, you knowthat you’re going to be able to get a good player at a much different price than you had a couple of years ago."

Of course, any team that wants to do that dance has to have a partner and that’s where the trouble lies.

“I think there’s always a lot of talk right now about trading picks because nobody knowswho’s really going to be there so everyone’s trying to cover all their bases," Roseman said.

With the Redskins having already pulled the trigger on the biggest trade in the first round, there’s a general feeling that the only players which might entice teams to move up to the top five would be Richardson, Southern Cal tackle Matt Kalil or Texas A& M quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

The Miami Dolphins, who are picking eighth overall, might want to make a move for Tannehill, who played collegiate ball for new Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman.

For the Bucs, the intrigue of the first round begins at No. 3 with the Vikings, who say they’ve narrowed their choices to Kalil, Oklahoma St. receiver Justin Blackmon and Claiborne.