The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears did some house cleaning along their offensive lines today, as the Buccaneers reunited themselves with Sean Mahan, and sent former fourth-round pick Dan Buenning to Chicago. Each transaction involved undisclosed 2009 draft picks, as reported by ProFootballTalk. Mahan was signed to a five-year deal by the Steelers following the 2006 season and was, by all accounts, a tremendous flop trying to continue the Steelers' legacy at the center position. He lost his starting job this preseason to Justin Hartwig and was going to be the teams primary backup at center and guard.
I imagine the Bucs will be looking at him, for the most part, as a guard -- his main position in his first stint with Tampa -- as they signed free-agent center Jeff Faine this past off-season to a $37.5 million deal. Of course, that's simply speculation on my part.
To make room for Mahan, the Bucs then sent Beunning, their fourth-round pick in 2005, to Chicago. It's a little odd, seeing as how Mahan and Beunning both possess the ability to play center and guard (though, it's up for debate as to how much Sean Mahan can really play center), while Mahan is slightly older, makes more money, and may or may not be as good. It all comes down to the picks the Bucs are swapping.
