Gerald McCoy has been one of the NFL’s best defensive tackles since he entered the league in 2010, and now it looks as if he’ll be a free agent.
It’s been reported by Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are releasing McCoy, who was owed $13 million in the 2019 season. Adam Schefter later tweeted that the Bucs were looking for a trade partner, but with no takers, McCoy was cut outright on Monday.
We have mutually parted ways with DT Gerald McCoy.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) May 20, 2019
McCoy is a six-time Pro Bowl selection and a three-time first-team All-Pro selection, albeit with his most recent one coming in 2014. He has racked up at least six sacks in each of the past six seasons, and ranks high on the list of most sacks by a DT since 2010. McCoy is also historically a very healthy player who has only missed eight games since 2013.
Two weeks ago, our own Matty F. Brown explored the possibility of McCoy fitting into Seattle’s defensive scheme.
McCoy would be an excellent addition as a 3-technique (outside shoulder of the guard) who is one of the best pass rushers from that spot in the league. On a poor defensive line, he had 6 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits and 38 pressures in 2018. The pressure number placed 19th among interior defensive linemen in the league. (All per PFF)
McCoy would be a cause of pressure on the inside that would ease the burden on Jarran Reed and add to the “quarterback disruptors” element of the Pete Carroll defense. The 32-year-old Ndamukong Suh is the fashionable name, and PFF had his pressures at 48 which placed 12th. However, McCoy figures to be cheaper. He was also on a much-worse defense and didn’t worryingly ad-lib in the scheme, unlike Suh. McCoy could be a bargain addition given no team has wanted to trade a fourth-rounder for him.
I would absolutely want to see McCoy come to Seattle, even if just on a one-year deal. He’s consistently shown himself to be a disruptive force in the interior, and combining him with the emerging pass-rush skills of Jarran Reed would drastically increase the talent and ferocity of Seattle’s ever-evolving defensive line rotation.
I’m hopeful that the Seahawks will be in the running for McCoy’s services. They have the cap space for it.