Gerald McCoy was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a cost-cutting move, so where could the six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle land in free agency?
In the doldrums of the NFL offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers injected a little bit of excitement into the league as the team made the decision to “mutually part ways” with defensive tackle Gerald McCoy after nine seasons. Throughout his nine years in Tampa, McCoy earned All-Pro honors three times in addition to garnering six Pro Bowl nods. As such, the 31-year old immediately set the free agent market on fire.
According to a report from Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, up to 10 teams have already expressed interest in trying to sign McCoy. Given his talent and productivity with 54.5 sacks over his career, it wouldn’t be a shock if there are even more teams than that looking to bring him on.
The interesting factor with McCoy will certainly be the money that he’s looking for. Tampa chose to ultimately cut him because they didn’t want to pay his $13 million salary in 2019. Thus, one would figure that his deal with any new team would need to be in that ballpark to get a deal done.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five of the best landing spots for Gerald McCoy now that he’s on the free agent market.
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans have been hearing some promising reports regarding 2019 first-round pick Jeffery Simmons as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered this offseason. There is at least a chance that the top-10 talent in this class will be able to return to the field sometime in the middle of the season. Considering that the Titans have been looking for a consistent presence at that spot beside Jurrell Casey, it would stand to reason why they want Simmons in the fold.
Having said that, the Titans should be wary about rushing the rookie out of Mississippi State back into the fold. While there is no questioning his talent, they would be better served letting Simmons take the year off to fully recover and learn from his teammates before fully bringing him into the fold in the 2020 season. With that strategy being the wisest course of action, bringing Gerald McCoy in would be a great idea.
According to Over the Cap, the Titans still have north of $30 million in cap space to work with. As such, landing McCoy wouldn’t be a financial issue at all for Tennessee. Considering what he would then bring to the defense, giving the Titans a viable force next to Casey, something that they’ve clearly been lacking up front and could use as they look for a young pass rush group to develop, Tennessee should be working to make a deal happen.