Predictions for every Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp battle
By Cory Kinnan
Kicker
Cairo Santos came into Tampa Bay midway through last year after the Buccaneers parted ways with Chandler Catanzaro and did a respectable job kicking the ball. To reward him, the Buccaneers extended Santos to a one-year deal this offseason for right around the league minimum.
They also, however, utilized a fifth-round pick on Utah Utes’ kicker Matt Gay this past April, and Gay has been gaining a ton of hype this offseason. In the words of the Tampa Bay Times’ Thomas Bassinger, Santos is a “dead man kicking.”
Gay went 85-for-85 on extra points during his collegiate career, and made a career 86 percent of his kicks for the Utes as well, going 56-65 in his career. Last year he went 26-31 for Utah as he built his draft stock up to becoming a fifth rounder.
Teams do not use a draft pick on a kicker just to cut him later in training camp, especially not one as high as a fifth rounder. Gay will be handed the kicking job for the Buccaneers, barring his leg falling off or a complete inability to make a single kick throughout training camp and the preseason.