Bucs Rumors: Winston, McCoy, Monken

Here’s the latest out of Tampa:

• The Buccaneers say they’re looking for a new head coach, but not looking for a new starting quarterback. “Jameis Winston will be here. We have him under contract for a year,” GM Jason Licht said (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times). “He has done some amazing things for a young 24, turns 25 in a week, quarterback. He’s accomplished more than most of the elite quarterbacks have at his age throughout that time span. There’s a lot to like about Jameis. Jameis will be here next year.” The Bucs picked up the fifth year option on Winston’s contract, which should keep him in place for another season at a rate of $20.92MM. Of course, the option is guaranteed for injury only, so the Buccaneers could theoretically get out of the deal.
• Licht cannot guarantee that defensive tackle Gerald McCoy will be back with the team in 2019 (Twitter link via Stroud). “We have a lot of tough decisions to make,” Licht said. Thanks to the seven-year, $95.2MM contract extension he signed with the Bucs in 2014, McCoy is slated to be back with the team in 2019 at a $13MM cap number. However, it is a non-guaranteed deal. Despite Tampa Bay’s problems on defense and McCoy’s injury trouble, he still turned in a decent year for the Bucs. McCoy graded out as the No. 27 ranked defensive tackle in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.
• Licht says the Buccaneers will not consider in-house candidates for the head coaching job, as Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. That automatically rules out offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who may be up for the Jets job.