Gerald McCoy skipping day one of Buccaneers’ voluntary OTA practices

The latest in the Gerald McCoy situation is unsurprising, if not expected. When the Buccaneers get going with their voluntary OTA practices, McCoy will not be joining them, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

The practices, as Stroud notes, are voluntary. So, with the lack of clarity involving McCoy’s future in Tampa, this is far from a shock. Everyone knows the situation by now: McCoy is owed $13 million this year and the Bucs don’t have $13 million to pay him. They’d certainly like for him to take a pay cut so they could keep him and sign their rookies, but McCoy obviously doesn’t have to agree to any kind of restructured contract. With that, Tampa Bay is deciding whether or not he’s worth that much of a cap hit at this point in his career. Head coach Bruce Arians has openly questioned whether or not McCoy is what he used to be. That surely can’t make the veteran feel like showing up for voluntary practices.

Not only that, but skipping out on voluntary OTAs will also allow McCoy to avoid more questions from the media. He already seems frustrated with the situation and very recently remained guarded in an interview at the Dickie V Gala in Sarasota:

It’s hard to tell when a resolution to this whole thing is coming, but we do know that there are reports that the Browns are interested in acquiring McCoy. If a trade can be worked out with them or some other team, expect the Bucs to be interested. If not, they really have to decide whether they want to cut their 2010 first-round pick or make room to hold on to him by letting go of some other guys.

Until then, we can probably expect McCoy to remain absent from these voluntary OTAs. If there’s still no resolution before mandatory workouts/practices, then we’ll see things get very interesting. Stay tuned.