Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gerald McCoy will not hold out of camp
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (93) against the Buffalo Bills. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is one of the best defensive players in the game, and he was an absolute monster last season at the heart of the team’s defense. He, Darrelle Revis, and Lavonte David are three of the best players at their respective positions, and the Buccaneers had all three of those blue-chip guys on their defense last year. Alterraun Verner is now the Buccaneers No. 1 CB at a fraction of the price, but David and McCoy remain. Nowadays, McCoy has a talented DT next to him in former Seattle Seahawks underrated stud Clinton McDonald, who was also signed at a bargain price by the Buccaneers.
McCoy, however, won’t be a bargain for the Bucs in the future, and he isn’t exactly a bargain right now with a cool $10.295 million set to come in during the final year of his rookie deal. The 26-year-old Oklahoma product wants- and deserves- a mega extension as one of the game’s best defensive players, and new head coach Lovie Smith stated that a new deal for McCoy is a priority for the team. The question is, when will he get it?
According to the Tampa Tribune’s Roy Cummings, Gerald McCoy stated that he has no intention of holding out of training camp in this contract year, even if he and the Buccaneers don’t have positive talks over the next few months. That’s re-assuring news, and it sounds like what happened to the Miami Dolphins with veteran defensive tackle Randy Starks, who made it clear that he wanted an extension but played nice in the offseason of his contract year; he re-signed with the ‘Fins last month after the Atlanta Falcons signed Paul Soliai. I can’t see the Buccaneers letting McCoy hit the free agent market, and it will be interesting to see if he makes more than Ndamukong Suh, who is another top-notch DT from the same draft class (both were incredibly touted prospects that year).