HEADLINE

Bucs DT McCoy: ‘I will be playing football somewhere’

Field Level Media

May 11, 2019 at 3:10 pm.

Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy vowed to get on the field this season on Friday night, but left in question whether that will be with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The six-time Pro Bowl selection, who voiced his displeasure with trade rumors earlier this week and hasn’t been attending voluntary workouts at the team’s headquarters, spoke about it with SpectrumSports 360 host Mike Cairns at the Dick Vitale Gala in Tampa.

“I will be playing football somewhere,” McCoy said.

Pressed about whether that meant in Tampa Bay, McCoy said, “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

McCoy, the third overall pick in 2010 NFL Draft, has three years left on his contract and has been a pillar on otherwise subpar defenses for most of his career in Tampa.

McCoy’s base salary in 2019 is $13 million as he crosses the midway point of the six-year, $95.2 million deal he signed in 2016. His base salary is $10 million next season and $10.432 million in 2021.

New head coach Bruce Arians might have set the rumor mill in motion, unintentionally. At the NFL Spring Meeting in Arizona, Arians said every player should be at One Buc Place for workouts in April and May if they’re committed to winning.

“I’ve gotta evaluate him,” Arians said of the 31-year-old McCoy in March. “Guy’s up there in age, it’s different. It’s usually the age when they’re getting paid the most, and production and [pay] don’t match. So we’ve gotta find that out.”

General manager Jason Licht responded to those comments and questions about where McCoy was during workouts by saying he’s “the last person I would worry about. He’s a consummate pro. He’s always been one.”