In a somewhat surprising move (on the surface), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have cut veteran linebacker Matt McCoy.
McCoy started the Week One game against the Cowboys after Geno Hayes clocked in late, and McCoy was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Giants.
To take his place, the Bucs have signed receiver Mario Urrutia from the pratice squad.
Given that McCoy is a vested veteran and that the trading deadline has not yet passed, McCoy could be re-signed as soon as Monday or Tuesday. Since he possibly wasn’t going to play anyway, the move allows the Bucs to essentially expand the roster by one body, creating a spot for Urrutia and dropping a guy who wasn’t going to play, anyway.
The Titans used this maneuver last year, cutting quarterback Chris Simms on a Saturday and re-signing him the following week. With the transaction coming on a Saturday, the player still gets his game check.
That said, McCoy is an unrestricted free agent, and he can sign with any team he wants. But if the Bucs have designs on bringing him back, it’s unlikely that they would have cut him if they weren’t confident he’d stick around.
It is a golden opportunity for McCoy to “Abandon Ship” before the entire thing goes under.
With NO quality QB on the roster and a HC that has never even had any experience at being a coordinator, their isn’t likely anything they can do to save this year!
If it’s allowed, it’s not a trick. Are you ever going to try and stop finding faults in innocent actions?
Sorry, the last time you talked about the Bucs you said they were cheap and trying to cut costs down. Now they voluntarily (and, legally) pay 54 guys instead of 53?
When is the trading deadline?
The surprise is that Matt McCoy was on a friggin NFL roster.
Antonio Bryant is questionable and Maurice Stovall is doubtful. Maybe, just maybe, the Bucs signed a receiver because two of their three starting wideouts might not play Sunday?
Bucs need all the help they can get.
Nobody said tricks aren’t allowed, cnelson13. Just like the hidden ball trick, the flea-flicker, or a sneak onside kick. As long as you’re confident the guy is in on it and will re-sign, it’s a good trick.
Why will he still be paid when he isn’t on the roster on game day?
The point is, it’s not a trick at all. It’s just an option.
And why does the NFL “support” this behavior by forcing teams to pay guys cut on Saturdays? I mean, if teams were forced to pay only the 53 guys on the roster during a game, the whole 53 plus x-”trick” would not work at all.
So the NFL “invented” it by itself with the CBA. And why said it was 54? could as well be 55, or 75?
He’ll definitely be around, he was cut at least once last season by the Bucs (the one time for sure was after he got a DUI) and then they resigned later in the season.