If you get an NFL general manager this time of year to even share what he is having for dinner, that would be a major scoop. The status of Gerald McCoy for 2019 is one of the cards Jason Licht seems to be holding closest to the vest. The Buccaneer GM would not definitively state that Gerald McCoy would be back for the 2019 season. As tweeted by Greg Auman who covers the Buccaneers for The Athletic who sent the tweet out stating:
Licht specifically declines to say Gerald McCoy definitely will be back for 2019. Says he likes McCoy, that he’s under contract.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) February 27, 2019
This is either big news, or no news depending on whether you fancy yourself a poker player, or not.
Do the Bucs deem that Gerald is worth the $13M it will cost to keep the outstanding defensive tackle in a Buccaneers uniform for the 10th year. There are definitely other teams that see that same value. Maybe a team that won’t be transitioning to a 3-4 defensive hybrid philosophy, and will find even greater value in a lineman who can still rush the QB at the pro bowl level and be willing to trade.
Even if the plans all along are to keep McCoy, if a slight of hand on the Buccaneers true intentions make the phone ring even once with a trade offer, then the game has to be played, and the biggest relief Tampa Bay can take is the thought that with the GM is paid to lose sleep on these decisions. Between now and the draft it is in Jason Licht we trust.
