A move that had been rumored as potential for a while now is finally happening. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have informed defensive tackle Gerald McCoy that he is being released, Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud hears.
BREAKING: DT Gerald McCoy has been informed by the Bucs of their plans to release him after nine seasons. The team decided not to pay him the $13-million salary he was owed for 2019.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) May 20, 2019
As Stroud points out, McCoy will not be receiving the $13 million salary he was due to earn during the 2019 season.
McCoy’s status in Tampa Bay had been one of the biggest topics since the start of the offseason. It’s no secret the Bucs are in a difficult position financially, and releasing McCoy frees up a significant amount of cap space.
McCoy will have a significant amount of suitors now that he is a free agent. Also per Stroud, prior to releasing McCoy, the Buccaneers had given his agent, Ben Dogra, permission to initiate a trade with other teams. Now that a trade isn’t possible, Dogra will re-open conversations with those potential suitors in hopes of getting his client a new contract.
McCoy, however, may be better off than the Bucs. The team had given his agent, Ben Dogra, permission to talk to other teams to find a new home for McCoy, who should attract lots of interest from contending teams
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) May 20, 2019
As for what will happen in Tampa Bay, there is a lot of work to be done by Bucs general manager Jason Licht, who seems to have already seen linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul‘s season come to an end before it could begin; while the Bucs have not made a comment that aligns with reports, various news outlets indicate Pierre-Paul could miss some or all of the 2019 season following a car accident.
As for the defensive tackle position specifically, Ndamukong Suh, most recently of the Los Angeles Rams but now a free agent, would figure to be the top on a long list of Buccaneers targets. One of the main disadvantages of releasing Suh in the later part of May means that free agency has come and (basically) gone, with most of the top free agents being off the board.
While Suh would likely cost more than McCoy (Suh is projected to earn a deal worth more than $15 million annually over the course of three seasons), he could potentially come at a discount considering he not only has waited out a long offseason, but he also faces a sudden competition at the top of the free agent market with McCoy’s sudden availability.
Also atop the list of best free agent defensive tackles are 29-year-old Corey Liuget and 30-year-old Allen Bailey.
