Predictions for every Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp battle

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TUCSON, AZ – SEPTEMBER 22: Place kicker Matt Gay #97 of the Utah Utes kickes a 26 yard field goal against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half of the college football game at Arizona Stadium on September 22, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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.

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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.

Prediction: Gay wins the job as the Buccaneers hype up a non-existent camp battle.

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