TE Kellen Winslow's trade just to improve team says Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano
When Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded eight-year veteran tight end, Kellen Winslow to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday many analysts believed that new head coach, Greg Schiano, had just sent a message to his entire team.
Winslow did not participate in the Bucs Organised Team Activities (OTAs) and his absence was touted as a big reason that the tight end’s career in Tampa Bay had ended after three seasons with the franchise.
The Buccaneers traded the tight end in return for a seventh round pick in next year’s drafts and brought in Indianapolis Colts veteran, Dallas Clark, as replacement.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Schiano said that there was no message to his players in Winslow’s trade and he let the player go to improve the team.
"There is really not a message. It's not one of those situations. The only message I want to address is we need to be the best football team we can be. Time is our enemy. We are running out of time. Teams in our division have a head start on us."
He refused to further talk about the departed tight end.
"Kellen (Winslow) is no longer a Buc. I'd like to focus on the guys that are here. When we do make decisions, I am going to hesitate to look back and really just talk about guys that are Bucs right now."
Winslow’s productivity was declining substantially in previous seasons as he ended last season with 75 catches for a gain of 763-yards and scored just two touchdowns.
The tight end was also hampered by injuries and could hardly take part in practice even though he is just 28 years old.
His replacement though has much better productivity in previous seasons.
Last year though Clark was hampered by repetitive injuries and was placed in free agency by the Colts.
Clark has now signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers and is looking forward to overcoming his recent injury problems to help his new team.
With Schiano continually ringing the changes, Tampa Bay’s roster shows signs of significant improvement with some analysts even placing the team as strong challengers for the National Football Conference (NFC) South division title.
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