Tampa Bay Buccaneers have shopped Gerald McCoy to no avail
By Cory Kinnan
To the surprise of few, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have reportedly been shopping perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.
This should come as no surprise to anyone, but NFL insider Benjamin Allbright, among others, have confirmed that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been shopping Gerald McCoy, but have yet to find a taker on the market. While McCoy is a perennial Pro Bowler, he is now 31 years old and is set to make $13 million in 2019.
For a team like the Buccaneers that have less than $2 million in cap space, $13 million of extra spending flexibility is extremely enticing. If Tampa Bay is able to find a suitor for McCoy’s services, do not be shocked to see it only bring in a day-three pick, at the most. Teams with the most cap space, looking at you New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts, would make the most sense as potential landing spots for McCoy.
McCoy was the third overall pick of the Buccaneers back in 2010 out of Oklahoma and has played every down of his career in the pewter and red. He has been named to six Pro Bowls and has been named as an All-Pro once in his nine-year career.
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Throughout his career, McCoy has tallied 79 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 54.5 sacks for the Buccaneers. He has reached the quarterback without recording a sack an additional 140 times and forced six fumbles. McCoy did take a step back in 2018 with just six sacks and six tackles for loss, but did record 21 hits on the quarterback.
At the age of 31, McCoy is still an extremely productive player in the NFL, however a cap hit of $13 million may be too much of a burden for the Buccaneers to bear in 2019. Clearing up McCoy’s salary would enable the Buccaneers to potentially sign three to four additional players to their roster.
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Look for a team set to contend for a championship to be the frontrunner for McCoy’s services. However, if the Buccaneers are unable to find a trade partner, it is likely that Tampa Bay will be forced to cut their former first round pick.