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Gerald McCoy

DT Gerald McCoy Retires

April 14th, 2023 at 8:59am CST by Adam La Rose

After 11 seasons and 12 years in the NFL, Gerald McCoy is stepping away from the game. An announcement from the defensive tackle on Friday confirms that he is retiring (video link).

The 35-year-old played with three franchises but will of course be best remembered for his nine-year stint as a Buccaneer. It was in Tampa Bay that he began his career, facing substantial expectations as a third overall pick. He made an immediate impact as a rookie with three sacks, and soon built off that production to become one the league’s most disruptive interior linemen.

McCoy earned a Pro Bowl nod for the first time in his career in 2012. That was the beginning of a six-year streak in which he was named an all star; during that time, he also earned one first-team and two second-team All-Pro honors given his consistent production as a pass rusher. McCoy’s best season came in 2013 when he notched 9.5 sacks and 50 tackles, but he posted no fewer than five sacks in a season through 2019.

That was the year McCoy made the move to Carolina, where he stayed for one season. His continued strong level of play earned him a three-year deal with the Cowboys, but the Oklahoma product suffered a quadriceps tear which cost him the entire 2020 season. Dallas released him before he suited up for them, leading McCoy to his final destination in Vegas. That one-year tenure included another major injury and a PED suspension, marking a forgettable ending to an otherwise decorated career.

McCoy’s 54.5 sacks with the Buccaneers rank fourth in franchise history, while his career total of 59.5 place him 25th amongst active players. He amassed just over $126MM in total earnings, meaning his career was a fruitful one in several regards. Rather than attempting one final comeback in a rotational role, he will turn his attention to the next chapter of his life.

DT Gerald McCoy Suspended Six Games

September 29th, 2021 at 8:44pm CST by Ben Levine

Gerald McCoy is already out for the 2021 campaign, but that didn’t stop the NFL from handing him a suspension. The Raiders defensive tackle was slapped with a six-game ban today, reports ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez (via Twitter).

McCoy was banned for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He’ll begin serving the suspension immediately.

“I love the game of football and have nothing but respect for the players, fans, and this league,” McCoy said in a statement (via Twitter). “I’ve given my all to this game and worked my entire career to compete, train, and rehabilitate at a high level with integrity. It is with great disappointment that I recently learned I tested positive for a banned substance – something I was prescribed to take to help with scar tissue and tendon strength from a previous injury. In no way would I ever intentionally take anything to help with performance or gain a competitive advantage. This was an honest mistake, but it’s something I take full responsibility for. I apologize to my family, the NFL, my teammates, and the fans and ask humbly for your forgiveness.”

McCoy was already sidelined for the entire 2021 campaign after suffering a season-ending injury during Week 1. However, it sounds like McCoy was punished for using a substance that helped him rehabilitate a previous injury…perhaps the torn quad that prevented him from taking the field for the Cowboys in 2020.

McCoy earned six Pro Bowl nods with the Buccaneers and performed as one of the NFL’s best defensive lineman in the 2010s. He spent 2019 with the Panthers, appeared in all 16 games, and registered five sacks, giving him 59.5 for his career.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/15/21

September 15th, 2021 at 5:07pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Raiders’ Gerald McCoy Done For Year

September 15th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Zachary Links

Raiders defensive tackle Gerald McCoy suffered a season-ending injury on Monday night (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). This was the expected news after the veteran was carted off the field on Monday night.

The Raiders haven’t formally announced McCoy’s injury, but they did say it was a knee injury during the Monday Night Football telecast. It’s yet another season cut short for the former multiple-time Pro Bowler. Last year, a torn quad prevented him from taking the field for the Cowboys.

Before all of that that, McCoy earned six Pro Bowl nods with the Buccaneers and performed as one of the NFL’s best defensive lineman in the 2010s. He spent 2019 with the Panthers, appeared in all 16 games, and registered five sacks, giving him 59.5 for his career.

McCoy was set to serve as a rotational defensive tackle behind Johnathan Hankins. To keep the run defense in tact, the team will call on Solomon Thomas, Darius Philon, and new addition Damion Square.

Raiders G Denzelle Good Tears ACL

September 14th, 2021 at 4:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders came out of their nationally televised opener 1-0 but are down at least one key player for the season. Denzelle Good suffered a torn ACL, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter).

Good spent most of last season as a starting guard for the Raiders, and the team used the veteran blocker as a starter Monday. Good was set to start opposite Richie Incognito, having won Las Vegas’ right guard gig. Incognito missed Monday’s game due to injury, thrusting second-year guard John Simpson into the starting lineup opposite Good. It would appear Simpson will stick in that role.

Good, 30, went down on the Raiders’ first drive. They moved recent addition Jermaine Eluemunor into the lineup opposite Simpson. The Raiders re-signed Good this offseason, giving him a two-year commitment at $4.18MM on average.

A former Colts draftee, Good hovered as a depth option between the 2016 and ’20 seasons. After spending the ’16 season as a primary Indianapolis starter, Good served as a backup in Indy and Oakland. However, the Raiders kept blocker around since claiming him off waivers late in the 2018 season. They were forced to use him as a regular following Incognito’s September 2020 injury. They will now hope Incognito can return from his latest injury soon.

Jon Gruden expressed concern Good, Yannick Ngakoue, Marcus Mariota and Gerald McCoy suffered serious injuries. It is not known if that is the case for the latter trio, though Good’s prognosis provides an ominous sign here. McCoy was carted off the field Monday night.

Contract Details: Allen, Alexander, McCoy, Barkley

August 11th, 2021 at 6:47pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Let’s catch up on the details of some of the high-profile contracts given out recently:

  • Josh Allen grabbed all the headlines by inking his mega-extension with the Bills. In an interesting piece, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com breaks down how it compares to the huge deal Patrick Mahomes recently signed with the Chiefs. For starters, Allen got a $16.5MM signing bonus, while Mahomes only got $10MM. Further, “the early cash flow for Allen is vastly superior to the Mahomes contract,” Florio writes. That’s because Mahomes’ deal is more back-loaded, while Allen is for example due $47MM in the second year of the pact. Mahomes’ contract is still worth more annually, but only because of the extra years at the end that his has. Through the first eight seasons of their respective deals, the compensation is nearly identical. Allen will clear $284.55MM through eight years, while Mahomes will get $285.33MM through the first eight years of his.
  • Last week the Saints agreed to terms on a one-year deal with linebacker Kwon Alexander, and now we have all the financials. We heard at the time it was worth “up to” $3MM. It turns out to have a base value of only $1.127MM, not too much above the minimum for a player with his service time, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football tweets. He got $387.5K in guaranteed money. Alexander will get another $200K if he plays 50% of the snaps in 13 games, another $300K for 15 games, and another $400K for 17 games. He also has another $972K in other unspecified playing time incentives. New Orleans cut him back in March to save $13MM in cap space, so even if Alexander hits all his incentives he’ll have taken a fairly hefty pay-cut. That’s unfortunately what happens when you’re coming off an Achilles tear like Alexander is. He started all seven games that he played for the Saints last year before going down.
  • Alexander wasn’t the only big name defensive player to sign last week, as defensive tackle Gerald McCoy also latched on with the Raiders. His one-year deal with Las Vegas is worth up to $2MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. He got a signing bonus of $150K and also has incentives worth $750K. The six-time Pro Bowler missed all of 2020 with a torn quad. Once one of the best interior linemen in the league, he turned 33 back in February.
  • Matt Barkley resurfaced with the Titans to give them some insurance behind Ryan Tannehill, and he got $1.1MM on a one-year deal, Rapoport notes in the same tweet. Rapsheet didn’t specify, but it seems unlikely that much if any of it was guaranteed. Tennessee apparently wasn’t happy with only having Logan Woodside behind Tannehill. Shortly after signing Barkley, they released Deshone Kizer. Woodside and Barkley will now battle it out for clipboard-holding duties.

Raiders Sign Gerald McCoy

August 4th, 2021 at 7:44pm CST by Zachary Links

Well, that was fast. Shortly after meeting with him on Wednesday afternoon, the Raiders have agreed to sign defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Raiders have since confirmed the deal via press release.

The veteran made the most of his workout, showcasing the skills that made him a star player in Tampa. McCoy earned six Pro Bowl nods with the Buccaneers and performed as one of the NFL’s best defensive lineman in the 2010s. On the flipside, he’s 33 years old, and his last Pro Bowl selection came in 2017.

McCoy found his way to the Panthers in 2019 after his Bucs release. He appeared in all 16 games, registering five sacks — making it 59.5 for his career. McCoy would join the Cowboys in March of 2020, only to see a torn quad end his season before it began.

All in all, McCoy has 139 appearances (all starts), 352 tackles, 59.5 sacks, 79 tackles for loss, 24 passes defensed, six forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries. If he stays healthy, McCoy could have an opportunity to lead the Raiders’ experienced interior group. Jon Gruden already has Johnathan Hankins, Solomon Thomas, Quinton Jefferson, and Darius Philon on hand.

Raiders Meet With DT Gerald McCoy

August 4th, 2021 at 4:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

After suffering a season-ending injury in August 2020, Gerald McCoy has resurfaced on the NFL radar. The Raiders brought Pro Bowl defensive tackle in for a visit Wednesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

McCoy signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys in March of last year but saw a torn quad end his season during Cowboys camp. The Cowboys released McCoy, and he spent last season out of football. This marks the 10-year veteran’s first known connection to a team since that development.

While McCoy is a six-time Pro Bowler from his quality run with the Buccaneers, the last of those nods came in 2017. The former top-five pick was one of the NFL’s best defensive linemen during the 2010s, but he is now 33. Although the veteran D-tackle missed all of 2020 due to injury, he displayed durability for most of his career leading up to that point. McCoy started 16 games in Carolina in 2019 and missed just eight games from 2012-18 with Tampa Bay. And he exited his Panthers season with 59.5 career sacks.

The Raiders have a host of veteran presences at defensive tackle. They return Johnathan Hankins and added Solomon Thomas, Quinton Jefferson and Darius Philon in free agency. Las Vegas did not spend any draft choices on this position this year.

NFC East Rumors: Rivera, Sanders, Cowboys

August 25th, 2020 at 4:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ron Rivera announced last week he is battling lymph node cancer. The new Washington HC will attempt to coach the team through his treatment process, though Jack Del Rio is in place as the emergency fill-in. Rivera will undergo a mixture of chemotherapy and proton therapy, and John Keim of ESPN.com notes the veteran coach’s treatment schedule will feature five per week over a seven-week period. Upon hiring Del Rio, Rivera prioritized having someone with head coaching experience on his staff — which he did not have in Carolina. Del Rio served as an acting head coach for part of the 2013 season, leading the Broncos while John Fox recovered from heart surgery.

Here is the latest from the NFC East:

  • Gerald McCoy‘s Cowboys tenure may not be over. Despite the organization taking advantage of the injury protection it included in the Pro Bowl defensive tackle’s contract, and releasing him months after he signed the three-year deal, McCoy would like to play for the Cowboys in 2021, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News tweets. The 10-year veteran indicated he will help the younger defensive linemen still on this year’s Cowboys roster, Ed Werder of ESPN.com adds (via Twitter). McCoy underwent successful quadriceps surgery last week, per Watkins.
  • A key component in the fantasy drafts taking place worldwide this week, Miles Sanders is currently not practicing with the Eagles. And the team has been vague as to why. Philadelphia’s starting running back is dealing with a “lower-body injury,” according to the team. However, the second-year back is expected to be ready to play by Week 1, Tim McManus of ESPN.com notes. Having lost Jordan Howard in free agency and seeing the Seahawks sign one of their UFA targets, Carlos Hyde, the Eagles are set to rely on Sanders more than they did last season. The Eagles were also interested in Devonta Freeman, and while the ex-Falcons Pro Bowler remains available, the team is going with Boston Scott and Corey Clement as its backup backs at this point.
  • Graham Gano‘s Giants deal is worth up to $2.5MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Giants guaranteed their new kicker $1MM. This is more money than the team gave Chandler Catanzaro, whose Giants stay lasted barely three weeks. Gano has 10 years’ experience, though he missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Cowboys Release Gerald McCoy

August 18th, 2020 at 4:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

It does not appear Gerald McCoy‘s three-year Cowboys contract will make it into Year 1. Following the veteran defensive tackle’s quadriceps injury, the Cowboys are releasing him, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

An injury waiver exists within McCoy’s deal, and Schefter adds the Cowboys are using this mechanism to release McCoy (Twitter link). While a standard release would have cost Dallas $7MM, the franchise will move off this contract and pay out just $3MM.

The former top-five pick was due $9MM in guarantees on the three-year, $18MM pact he signed in March. The Cowboys, however, are off the hook for McCoy’s $2.5MM 2020 base salary and $750K roster bonus, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweets. The team inserted this waiver into McCoy’s contract after determining he had a pre-existing quadriceps condition, Gehlken adds (via Twitter).

McCoy is not expected to play this season. He suffered a torn quad earlier this week. The Cowboys have been busy on their defensive line this offseason, adding Dontari Poe, Aldon Smith and Everson Griffen. But McCoy was slated to be a key player for the Cowboys this season. The team has already moved on, with the release showing up on the league’s transaction wire.

The Buccaneers released McCoy last summer, and the six-time Pro Bowler found his way to the Panthers. McCoy played in 16 games last season, registering five sacks to give him 59.5 for his career. His best hope of adding to this total will be a return to health in advance of his age-33 season in 2021.

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