HEADLINES

Ryan Succop

Buccaneers Release K Ryan Succop

March 23rd, 2023 at 5:38pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Buccaneers have been forced to make a number of cost-cutting moves this offseason, and another one took place on Thursday. Per a team announcement, kicker Ryan Succop has been released.

The move comes as little surprise given Succop’s contractual situation. No guaranteed money remained on the final season of his deal, a three-year, $12MM pact which proved to be a worthwhile investment for Tampa Bay. Releasing Succop will result in $3.75MM in cap savings – a figure which, while relatively small, is still highly significant given the team’s financial constraints – while incurring a dead money charge of $750K.

The 36-year-old joined the Buccaneers in 2020 after five seasons with the Chiefs and six with the Titans. He won out an internal competition with Matt Gay to become the team’s full-time kicker that season, and played a key role in their regular season and playoff success. Succop made 28 of 31 field goals during the year, eclipsing the 90% accuracy mark for the second time in his career. He then missed only one kick during the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl run.

The South Carolina product followed that up with another consistent performance, and led the league in extra points made and attempted. In 2022, however, his overall accuracy dropped slightly, in large part due to his struggles from long range. Succop made 81.6% of his field goals, but went only 2-for-7 from beyond 50 yards. Despite those struggles, he holds the record for best field goal percentage (84.8%) in franchise history.

That should allow Succop to find a new home somewhat quickly, especially on a team whose offense won’t require many long-range attempts. The Buccaneers have Jake Verity on their roster after signing him to a reserve/futures contract, and he will head into training camp with at least a chance to win the full-time job for the 2023 season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/2/21

September 2nd, 2021 at 7:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Thursday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

  • Placed on IR: WR Aaron Parker

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: LB Asmar Bial

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: DT Chris Okoye, OL Tyree St. Louis

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: RB Brian Hill

Washington Football Team

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: OT Rick Leonard

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/21

August 24th, 2021 at 6:01pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here. Teams had until 3pm today to cut their rosters down to 80 players.

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Waived: QB Kenji Bahar

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: OT Casey Tucker

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: K Ryan Succop
  • Waived/injured: OT Chidi Okeke

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Buccaneers GM: I Won’t Draft A Kicker

April 3rd, 2021 at 10:38pm CST by Zachary Links

Buccaneers GM Jason Licht has learned his lesson. He’s reached for kickers twice during his tenure as Tampa’s GM, but he’s ruled out the position in this year’s draft.

“I won’t take a kicker,” said Licht, who intends to head into the fall with Ryan Succop as his kicker.

In 2016, Licht went for Roberto Aguayo in the second round, citing him as a generational talent. The Florida State product was the first kicker since 2005 (Mike Nugent, Jets) to be selected in the second round, but he made just 71-percent of his field goal attempts as a rookie. During the 2017 offseason, he was replaced by Nick Folk.

“This is the best kicker I’ve ever seen in college, my favorite kicker,” Licht said of Aguayo following the draft. “I’m not going to risk [not] getting him and then have to go through a kicking carousel again during my tenure. I want to get the best kicker. Every position, I want to get the best.”

Then, in 2019, Licht took Matt Gay with the No. 145 overall choice. This time around, he’s standing pat with Succop, who recently inked a three-year, $12MM contract extension.

Buccaneers To Re-Sign K Ryan Succop

March 17th, 2021 at 6:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Buccaneers’ re-signing binge will spread to their special teams units. The defending Super Bowl champions reached an agreement to keep Ryan Succop.

Succop agreed to a three-year deal worth $12MM, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The veteran kicker will receive $6.25MM in guarantees and $8.25MM over the first two years of the deal, per Stroud.

After cycling through kickers for several seasons, the Bucs found some stability with Succop last year. They signed him late in the offseason and saw him make 28 of 31 field goal tries. The 34-year-old specialist also delivered a perfect postseason, going 13-for-13. This marked a rebound for Succop, who struggled through an injury-plagued campaign with the Titans in 2019.

Tampa Bay’s kicker woes centered around Jason Licht’s Roberto Aguayo miss, but it has been a long time since the team has made it through consecutive seasons with the same kicker. Succop doing so in 2021 would be the first instance of this occurring in Tampa since Connor Barth from 2011-12. Succop’s contract points to him stopping this unusual stretch.

Bucs Place Donovan Smith On Reserve/COVID-19 List

December 18th, 2020 at 11:13am CST by Rory Parks

The Buccaneers have placed starting LT Donovan Smith on the reserve/COVID-19 list, per a team announcement. As a result, Smith will miss Tampa’s matchup with the Falcons on Sunday.

The 27-year-old blocker released a statement saying that he had close contact with a family member who recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Per league protocols, Smith must self-quarantine for at least five days.

Smith has never been a world-beater, but even an average blindside protector is a valuable commodity in the NFL, as evidenced by the three-year, $41.25MM contract Smith signed with the Bucs in 2019. He has been entrenched as the Bucs’ starting LT since Tampa selected him in the second round of the 2015 draft, and this Sunday’s contest will be just the second missed game of his career.

2020 has actually been a solid year for him relative to his usual performance, at least if you believe the advanced metrics. Pro Football Focus thinks favorably of both his run-blocking and pass-blocking this season and considers him the 39th-best tackle in the league out of 80 qualified players. Josh Wells will likely get the start in Smith’s absence.

There is some good news to pass along, however. Specialists Bradley Pinion, Ryan Succop, and Zach Triner, who all found themselves on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier this week, have been activated. According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, one of those three players tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week, and the other two were placed on the list as close contacts. However, it appears that the positive test was a false one.

In order to guard against the possibility of losing their primary punter, kicker, and long snapper, the Bucs brought in free agent P Dustin Colquitt, K Brett Maher, and LS Garrison Sanborn for visits, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets. It doesn’t sound like there is a need to sign those players now, but Tampa may be keeping them on speed dial just in case.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/15/20

December 15th, 2020 at 5:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: S Derwin James; James remains on IR

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

  • Waived: CB Brandon Williams

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buccaneers Sign Ryan Succop

September 1st, 2020 at 9:20am CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers have signed Ryan Succop, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. To make room, they’ve dropped fellow kicker Elliott Fry. 

Succop will now compete with incumbent Matt Gay for the top (and only) placekicking job. As a rookie, Gay struggled from close range, something that frustrated head coach Bruce Arians.

“Competition is the baseline of the NFL,” Arians said recently. “Everybody’s fighting for a job, and if you don’t perform, someone’s right there ready behind you, ready to take your spot. It’s no news to me that guys are in here competing for a shot and they’re going to bring competition in. Competition is going to breed success, and I think the potential of our team this year is super-high, and I think the kicking position is very important.”

Succop made just 1 of 6 field goals in his final Titans season, which began and ended on IR. But, before that, Succop played in every game for the Titans from 2014-18 and made at least 83% of his field goals in each of those seasons.

Buccaneers Host Ryan Succop, Cody Parkey

August 29th, 2020 at 5:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

Saturday afternoon has brought some kicker developments. While the Titans worked out Stephen Gostkowski, the Buccaneers brought in Tennessee’s longtime kicker.

Ryan Succop visited the Bucs on Saturday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Titans released Succop earlier this year, concluding a six-season Tennessee stay for the veteran.

Saturday’s session also featured Cody Parkey, per The Athletic’s Greg Auman (on Twitter). The former Bears kicker is at the Bucs’ facility for COVID-19 testing, with Auman noting he is expected to work out for the team in a few days. The Bucs appear to be planning to add to their current kicker competition or replace one of the current participants.

Tampa Bay has not enjoyed such kicker continuity in many years. The Bucs are currently holding a competition between Matt Gay and Elliott Fry. An 11-year veteran, Succop certainly has accomplished more than the two Tampa Bay kickers. Succop, 33, kicked in only six games last season, however, with injuries impeding him at multiple junctures.

Succop made just 1 of 6 field goals in his final Titans season, which began and ended on IR. The Titans stashed Succop on their IR list to start the season because of a knee injury and placed him on season-ending IR late in the season. Prior to that rocky slate, however, Succop played in every game for the Titans from 2014-18. He made at least 83% of his field goals in each of those seasons.

Parkey’s last significant role came with the Bears in 2018, but after his “double doink” miss, the Titans brought in the veteran during their search for a stopgap while Succop resided on IR. Parkey played three Titans games last season, going 3-for-3 on field goals. Parkey, 28, was a full-time kicker in four of the previous five seasons.

The Bucs have not featured the same primary kicker in a season since the 2011-12 campaigns, when Connor Barth held that job. Headlined by its second-round Roberto Aguayo miss, the franchise has spent the better part of a decade trying to find some stability at this spot. Gay, a 2019 rookie, went 27-for-35 on field goals last year and missed five extra points. The Bucs signed Fry, who has never kicked in a regular-season game, this offsesaon.

While Succop brings considerable experience, Gostkowski is certainly the more accomplished option. It will be interesting to see if the Bucs consider Tom Brady‘s longtime teammate as well, should the Titans and the veteran kicker not agree to terms.

Titans To Release K Ryan Succop

March 13th, 2020 at 11:45am CST by Sam Robinson

Ryan Succop‘s six-season Titans run will wrap up with a release. The Titans will move on from their longtime specialist, according to TitansOnline.com’s Terry McCormick (on Twitter).

This move will produce more dead money than cap savings ($2.1MM/$2MM), but Succop struggled last season for a Titans team that largely made its late-season push without the assistance of the field goal component.

Succop, 33, made just 1 of 6 field goal tries after coming off IR midway through last season. He did not kick in the playoffs for the Titans, who were set to pay him $3.4MM in 2020. The Titans placed Succop on IR for a second time in 2019, ending his season in December.

Tennessee signed ex-Cleveland kicker Greg Joseph to a three-year extension and used him in the playoffs, so some large writing was on the wall for Succop with the Titans. A knee injury initially sent Succop to IR in August, and he never re-established his usual form prior to IR trip No. 2.

The former Chief, however, made at least 86% of his field goal tries in four of his six Titans seasons and has 10 years’ experience. This will be Succop’s second stay in free agency. The Chiefs cut him 2014, pivoting to Cairo Santos. Succop quickly landed with the Titans, with whom he signed two contracts.

Load More Posts