Getty Gerald McCoy considered a return to Tampa Bay before heading west to Las Vegas.
One-time Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy showed interest in returning to the Bay but ultimately chose to play for a former Bucs legend instead.
McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowler, signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on Aug. 4, coached by former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden who now coaches the Raiders. McCoy played for the Bucs from 2010 to 2018, just after Gruden coached the Bucs from 2002 to 2008 and won a Super Bowl in 2003.
The Bucs’ former first round pick from Oklahoma said he wanted to return to Tampa in March, but that became harder as the team re-signed all of its starters from the Super Bowl run.
“I would love to go back to Tampa,” McCoy said on SiriusXM NFL Radio in March.
“I would love to go back to Tampa.”
Free Agent DT @Geraldini93 on his recovery from the injury last year and how he would embrace a return to the @Buccaneers.
McCoy will take his skills and experience west instead where he will join a deep position group with potential starters Quinton Jefferson and Johnathan Hankins according to ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. The Raiders also have two former first-round picks in Solomon Thomas and Clelin Ferrell.
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McCoy Was a Force in Tampa
McCoy emerged as a force up front early on in Tampa in 2010. He made three sacks, two forced fumbles, 28 tackles, and five pass deflections in his first season with the team. He became a Pro Bowler for the first time in 2012 when he had 30 tackles, five sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two pass deflections.
His prowess rose to All-Pro first team level in 2013 as he posted a career-high 9.5 sacks with the Bucs. He also had 50 tackles, a fumble recovery, and four pass deflections that season.
McCoy finished out his time in Tampa through the 2018 season with 297 career tackles, 54.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and 22 pass deflections. He made the Pro Bowl in six of nine seasons with the team.
Tampa released him in 2019, and NFC South Division rival Carolina snatched him up. He had 37 tackles, five sacks, and two pass deflections for the Panthers in 2019.
“They (the public) kind of misunderstood what the situation between me and Tampa (was),” McCoy said on SiriusXM. “They think it was ‘well, he left or Tampa released him.’ There was more to it than that. All the issues and whatever that I had in Tampa, we worked out last season when I was in Carolina.”
“Let me kill this narrative right now. I did not go to the Carolina Panthers to get back at Tampa,” McCoy added. “If anybody thinks that football means that much to me that I would make a life decision based off of trying to get back at an organization, they don’t know me.”
Tough 2020 For McCoy
After Carolina, McCoy signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 but never played a game for the team after a quad injury during practice in August 2020. The Cowboys released him, and McCoy didn’t play in the 2020 season.
“I actually tore the quad tendon, and the tendon controls the flexion of your knee, so I actually had to learn how to bend my knee all over again and learned how to basically walk again with normalcy,” McCoy told SiriusXM.
McCoy added that he anticipated being ready when NFL training camps commence.
McCoy Keeps Ties to Tampa
McCoy shared his excitement for his former Buccaneers teammates amid the team’s Super Bowl LV victory.
“The love I have for these men is incredible, and I can’t think of a more deserving group,” McCoy wrote. “Congratulations to the entire Buccaneers organization. Enjoy it now and go get y’all another one!”
McCoy similarly expressed how much the Bucs organization still means to him during his SiriusXM interview. He also said he still owns a home in the area
“I talk to (general manager) Jason Licht, I talk to the Glazers, you know, I text all my teammates. I text these guys all the time, especially after they win,” McCoy said on the show. “I’ve always loved Tampa.”