Sharks Make Trade with Steel, Bolster Talented Receiving Corp

(photo credit: Jacksonville Sharks/Twitter)

On Monday, the Jacksonville Sharks announced that they've completed a trade with the Portland Steel. In the trade, Jacksonville acquires WR Jamar Howard, while the Steel receive OL Duke Robinson.

A Cincinnati, Ohio native, Howard (age 28, 6'2", 225 lbs) is in his fourth season in the Arena Football League, spending the last two with the Portland Thunder, which the franchise was known as prior to this season. Howard was Kyle Rowley's #1 target, catching 51 passes for 711 yards and 14 touchdowns before a knee injury ended his season after just five games.

He joined the Thunder during the 2014 season after spending time with the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League. In just 11 games, Howard had 44 receptions for 664 yards and nine touchdowns. Prior to his time in the Pacific Northwest, the Cincinnati and Central Missouri star made his league debut with the Cleveland Gladiators, where he caught 39 passes for 422 yards and six scores.

Duke Robinson (age 29, 6'5", 345 lbs) is also a fourth-year vet, but did not appear in any of the Sharks' games this season.

This adds yet another weapon in Tommy Grady's arsenal, which has been hard to stop in the first quarter of the season, while Portland gets some much-needed help on their offensive line.