The McCoy Carousel

Round and round we go with the Gerald McCoy saga. At first, it seemed that all signs pointed to McCoy’s fate being sealed and that he would never play another down in a Bucs jersey.
However, Bucs GM Jason Licht had a few interesting words in a recent press conference.

ESPN’s Jenna Laine asked Licht about the cap situation, and if the Bucs would have to make roster moves to free up cap space.

His answer was,

“There’s always ways” and “We don’t have to” (make roster changes). Now, this doesn’t guarantee McCoy will stay in Tampa, but it does, however, leave a door open to a possibility of it. I’d expect that we will get a solid answer to the McCoy situation this June when mandatory workouts begin.

Despite hearing that McCoy had asked a local jeweler to remove his number that he was in fact not going to be on the team and likely to have a new number on a team that could have Super Bowl implications, you just never know what may end up happening. Licht and Arians could free up some money so they can keep him and pay their draft picks, or McCoy could accept a pay cut to continue playing for a team that he loves in a city he fought in the trenches for 10 seasons.

As far as we can tell, the rumor that about the Browns being interested in McCoy and that trade for Duke Johnson was possible, is just that, a rumor.

The Browns are keeping Duke Johnson. None of our insiders heard any talks coming out of One Buc involving the Browns and a McCoy trade. But you never know as the offseason ticks on. One injury could make all the difference.

See what ESPN’s Tony Grossi has to say about a McCoy to Browns Trade:

“At first glance, it seems a logical exit strategy for the Browns – include Duke Johnson to Tampa Bay in some kind of trade package for defensive tackle McCoy. Now to the fine print: McCoy is scheduled to make $13 million in 2019, $12.5 million in 2020 and about $13 million in 2021. Clearly, Bucs coach Bruce Arians wants to move McCoy, 31, who is arguably past his prime and clogging up Tampa Bay’s strapped salary cap. McCoy conceivably would not start ahead of Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson. So, do you think John Dorsey wants to pay a rotational tackle $13 million? Of course not. If Dorsey is interested in adding McCoy to the rotation, he might call Tampa Bay’s bluff and wait for the Bucs to release him and then sign McCoy to a significantly smaller contract. Even then, I’m not so sure this is a match. Now, if the Browns suffered an injury to the defensive tackle position, McCoy would be a nice get.”