Talk of the Browns’ interest in Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy continues.
Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Repository reports that the Browns “remain quite interested” in McCoy, who has not been participating in voluntary offseason work in Tampa amid talk that he and the team are preparing to go their separate ways.
A big stumbling block, however, is in the report’s reference to “money issues that have a chance to be resolved.”
Typically, resolving money issues means the player agreeing to take a pay cut. McCoy is due a $13 million base salary this season, and although the Browns have enough cap space to take that on, they may not view him as worth that kind of money.
However, it’s easy to see why McCoy might take issue with any suggestion that he should take a pay cut to facilitate a trade. He might rather tell the Bucs that if they’re not willing to pay him his $13 million salary, they need to release him and let him shop himself to the highest bidder.
The Bucs don’t have to pay McCoy anything until the regular season starts, so they’re in no hurry to get a trade done. So it may be a while before this situation has any resolution.