Former Buccaneers DL Gerald McCoy Says He'd Love To Return To Play In Tampa

The Buccaneers and veteran defensive tackle Gerald McCoy have had a relationship since Tampa Bay drafted him as the third overall pick in 2010.

McCoy has been a solid lineman since then, but the two sides decided to part ways last year.

Now McCoy is interested in coming back to the Bay. The 33-year-old is on a tour telling anyone who will listen he wants to be back with the Buccaneers.

“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, 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.”

McCoy played in and started all 16 games for the Panthers a year ago, with five sacks and a pair of defended passes.

It remains to be seen what type of money McCoy is looking for to keep playing, and if the Bucs are interested in paying him to come back.