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Gerald McCoy: ‘I would love to go back to Tampa’

The former Bucs, Panthers and Cowboys defensive tackle would welcome a chance to join the Super Bowl champs.
 
Former Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, left, then playing for the Carolina Panthers and current Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, then playing for the New England Patriots, speak at midfield following a 2019 game in Foxborough, Mass. McCoy said he would love to join Brady in Tampa Bay.
Former Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, left, then playing for the Carolina Panthers and current Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, then playing for the New England Patriots, speak at midfield following a 2019 game in Foxborough, Mass. McCoy said he would love to join Brady in Tampa Bay. [ ELISE AMENDOLA | AP ]
Published March 8, 2021|Updated March 8, 2021

TAMPA ― Gerald McCoy’s career with the Bucs ended after nine seasons when he and the team “mutually agreed to part ways” prior to the 2019 season.

Two teams and one significant injury later ― McCoy suffered a season-ending injury to his right quad tendon early in training camp with the Cowboys last year ― the Bucs’ No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft said he would love to return to Tampa Bay.

McCoy expects to be cleared by doctors to resume his career and, at 33, believes he has something to offer an NFL team, including the defending Super Bowl champs.

“I would love to go back to Tampa,” McCoy told SiriusXM NFL radio. “A lot of people, they kind of misunderstood what took place between me and Tampa and they think it was, ‘Well, he left,’ or ‘Tampa released him.’ Nah. There was more to it than that. All the issues or whatever that I had with Tampa, we worked out the last season when I was in Carolina.

“Let me kill this narrative right now. I did not go to the (NFC South rival) Carolina Panthers to get back at Tampa. If anybody thinks that football means that much to me that I would make a life decision based on trying to get back at an organization then they don’t know me. So I didn’t go to Carolina to get back at Tampa. It had nothing to do with my decision.

And there’s no bad blood,” McCoy continued. “I talked to (Bucs general manager) Jason Licht. I talked to the Glazers. You know, I text all my teammates. I texted guys all the time, especially after they win and then when they win the Super Bowl, I was really excited for those guys. With that being a situation where I could go back there, that would be great. I still have a home there. I’ve always loved Tampa. I grew up a Tampa fan as a kid. I was blessed enough to be drafted there, and I’ve always wanted to experience winning in Tampa. So it would be great to be there.”

A reunion seems unlikely, especially given the Bucs’ long list of free agents and their salary-cap situation. But if they lose Ndamukong Suh, who replaced McCoy? Well, in the NFL, you never say never.