Back on May 20th, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released star defensive tackle Gerald McCoy after nine seasons with the team. Tampa Bay’s original plan was to find a team who would be willing to give them future draft picks in return for McCoy. After failing to find a trade partner, the Buccaneers’ front office decided that at the age of 31, McCoy was not worth the remaining money he was owed on his contract.
When the news broke of McCoy’s departure, players around the league immediately started recruiting McCoy to join their team, most notably, the Browns big-name acquisition this offseason in Odell Beckham Jr. Players from the Browns, Bengals, Bills, among others, tried to convince McCoy to sign with them, but McCoy made it clear he wanted to sign with a team that was ready to be a contender now. He remains in the NFC South and now gets to play his former team twice this year.
Following comes from Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Panthers are giving DT Gerald McCoy a one-year deal worth up to $10.25 million that includes a $4 million signing bonus, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 3, 2019
Last week, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported that McCoy would use the weekend to make his final decision. By the time Monday afternoon came around, McCoy had made his decision and signed a 1-year deal with the Carolina Panthers. The deal has a base value of $4, but as Rapoport reported, it is loaded with incentives.
The full breakdown of Gerald McCoy’s deal with the #Panthers: 1 year, $4M to sign, $3M base, $500K camp roster bonus, $500K in 45-man per game bonus. Plus, 6.5 sacks for $500k, 8 sacks gets him $1.5M. 250K for Pro Bowl, $250K for playoffs. Just $4M guaranteed. Total: Up $10.25M.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 3, 2019
McCoy has been to the Pro Bowl in six of his nine seasons in the league. his 2018 stats were not quite strong enough to get him to the Pro Bowl for a seventh time, with 28 tackles, six tackles for loss, and six sacks. Coming off a down year, McCoy will look to bounce back in the 2019 season and help the Panthers reach the playoffs coming out of a difficult NFC South division.
