Aqib Talib trade reaction: Odd time to trade cornerback

After Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded cornerback Aqib Talib and a seventh-round draft pick to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round pick, Sander Phillips at our Buccaneers site Bucs Nation was unsure about the timing of the trade.

After a tumultuous start to his career that included a one-game suspension in 2010 due to an altercation with a taxi cab driver, Talib seemed to turn his life around this offseason after the hire of new Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano before being served with a four-game suspension in October for taking the drug Adderall without a prescription:

When Greg Schiano took over as Tampa Bay head coach, it appeared he was ready to accept Talib as a "Buccaneer man." Talib supposedly did everything asked of him over the offseason and had seemingly straightened out his life. Unfortunately, he had to serve a four-game suspension for Adderall use this season.

Even with Talib's suspension, Phillips points out that the trade came at an interesting point in the season. Talib had just one game remaining on his four-game suspension and Tampa Bay in the hunt for a playoff spot this season. The trade also doesn't make sense with another defensive starter facing a suspension of his own:

Losing Talib significantly weakens the Tampa Bay secondary, which has looked shaky throughout the season. With reports surfacing that Eric Wright, now the Bucs' top cornerback, could be suspended for four games, this seems like a weird time to cut ties with the best cornerback on the roster.