Tag: Russell Gage

Bucs move on from WR Russell Gage

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have declined their 2024 team option on wide receiver Russell Gage, making him a free agent

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have declined their team option on wide receiver Russell Gage for the 2024 season, making him a free agent, per Greg Auman of Fox Sports.

Gage signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Bucs back in 2022, but injuries kept him from making much of an impact over the first two years of the deal.

Both sides reworked the deal last offseason, giving the team an option for the 2024 season. Tampa Bay saves $10 million in salary, but part of that will be offset by $3.5 million in dead money from previous contract restructures, as Auman points out.

This move creates additional cap space for the Bucs, and with the return of Mike Evans and the emergence of Trey Palmer as the team’s third receiver, makes plenty of sense.

[lawrence-related id=85801]

WR Russell Gage listed as cut candidate for Buccaneers

Pro Football Focus’ list of cut candidates across the league included Gage, who joined the Bucs in 2022.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Russell Gage didn’t see any playing action in 2023 after suffering a torn patellar tendon in training camp, and it’s unfortunately possible that he won’t get a chance to make up for it in Tampa Bay for 2024.

Pro Football Focus released a list of cut candidates for each NFL team heading into the offseason, and writer Brad Spielberger chose Gage as one for the Bucs. He discussed Gage’s injury history and the work Tampa Bay has to do in the offseason with other free agents as a potential reason:

“Gage was unable to stay healthy during his time in Tampa, and the Buccaneers may have to pay up big time to retain franchise legend Mike Evans. Even if not, rookie Trey Palmer developed into a solid option in the passing game and Tampa Bay will need to reorganize its books with major paydays looming for Baker Mayfield, Antoine Winfield and Tristan Wirfs.”

It is true that Gage has struggled with injury in Tampa Bay. He missed all of 2023 with that patellar tendon injury, but he also missed three games in 2022 due to injury as well. While Gage was a solid wide receiver coming out of Atlanta, his troubles staying on the field could result in his departure with a post-June 1 cut in the offseason.

Should the Bucs indeed cut Gage post-June 1 as mentioned, they’d save $10 million on the salary cap for 2024 per Over the Cap — a big opening. If they were to do it before June 1, they’d save $6,448,000 and take on over double the dead money.

Edge rusher Shaquil Barrett is another possible cap casualty. Cutting him post-June 1 would result in saving $4,923,882 for the 2024 salary cap, opening up room as well.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Baker Mayfield claps back at Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson: “He’s gotta do a little more film study”

Baker Mayfield clapped back at Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson when Gardner-Johnson questioned Mayfield’s place in the Bucs’ passing game.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will travel to the Motor City to play the Detroit Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs on Sunday. The two teams previously played in Week 6 of the 2023 regular season — it was a 20-6 win for the Lions, and Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield did not play particularly well. Mayfield completed 19 of 37 passes for 206 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 56.8. Probably his worst game of the season. He was frequently speeding up in the pocket whether he was hurried or not. He didn’t throw with good base fundamentals, and he threw off-platform more than he needed to, which led to a lot of incompletions against tight coverage.

Maybe that’s why at least one Lions defender might be a bit overconfident right now. Defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson recently had this to say about Tampa Bay’s passing game.

“If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a good group — [Mike] Evans, [Chris] Godwin, [Russell] Gage, that’s a great group. I played against ‘em for a year. [Rams receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua) probably right rank there as one of the best groups, [as a] combo, with the running back. That’s hard. One-two punch with the running back, it’s going to give us a run for our money. Gotta be smarter than we normally are and be more quick and decisive with the calls.”

Well, that was certainly a veiled shot at Mayfield, and Mayfield didn’t waste much time forming a response. Gage, by the way, missed the entire regular season after suffering a torn patellar tendon during a joint practice with the New York Jets last August.

“[Gardner-Johnson] must be going off preseason stuff that the media was talking about,” Mayfield said. “He didn’t play our first game so I’m excited to see him. I think he’s a really good player. He has been for a while. He’s been an impactful guy on every team he’s been on. … But yeah, he’s gotta do a little bit more film study.”

In Gage’s absence, sixth-round rookie Trey Palmer from Nebraska by way of LSU has become that important third man with Evans and Godwin, catching 40 passes on 68 targets for 440 yards and four touchdowns, including this  -yard scorcher against the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round.

Maybe the confusion has to do with Gardner-Johnson missing that Week 6 game — he suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, and didn’t play again until Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings. But that also does free up more time for film study…

Tampa WR Russell Gage injury opens the door for rookie Trey Palmer

Trey Palmer has been impressive since joining the Bucs and should be able to replace Russell Gage.

On Wednesday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice. This is unfortunate for Gage as he was having a very strong camp and looked to be ready for a strong season. But Gage’s injury opens the door for Bucs rookie wide receiver Trey Palmer.

Tampa picked Palmer in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft and trust us when we say they got a steal. The knock on Palmer coming out of Nebraska was drops but the Bucs have seen none of that since he joined the team.

Palmer looked especially strong on Wednesday in a joint practice with the New York Jets. Palmer had maybe his best day of training camp and showed no fear going against Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner. One thing that has truly stood out with Palmer in the NFL has been his ability to get up to top speed in just a few steps and get past cornerbacks with ease.

The Bucs have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on the outside but Palmer could move inside to the slot where Russell was lined up to play.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Bucs injury update on Day 2 of OTAs

Here are the Bucs players currently hampered by injury as OTAs continue.

[connatix div_id=”3f8b015acdd24c648befc5d5dac47469″ player_id=”afe1e038-d3c2-49c0-922d-6511a229f69c” cid=”7cbcea0d-4ce2-4c75-9a8d-fbe02a192c24″]

It is Day 2 of the first set of OTAs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and some players are dealing with injuries as the offseason is underway.

FOX Sports’ Greg Auman reported on the team’s injuries on Wednesday, from those who are at OTAs and not practicing to those who are not at OTAs due to their injuries.

Here are the players who are at OTAs, but not practicing due to injury:

  • RB Chase Edmonds
  • RB Sean Tucker
  • DB Duron Lowe
  • TE Dominque Dafney

And here are the players not at OTAs due to injury:

  • G Aaron Stinnie
  • WR Russell Gage

RB Chase Edmonds had an ankle injury last November that could still be keeping him out of OTAs, though his exact injury is unknown. RB Sean Tucker is still dealing with the issue that was flagged at the NFL Combine and is expected to be cleared for training camp. WR Russell Gage’s injury is a new development, as QB Baker Mayfield spoke about it on Tuesday, and Stinnie tore his ACL in the preseason in 2022, so it’s possible he could still be recovering from that — that isn’t confirmed, however.

Tampa Bay will certainly hope that these players will be ready by training camp, though it’s hard to give a timetable for a few of them since their injuries are undisclosed at the time.

Baker Mayfield says WR Russell Gage had ‘little bit of an injury’ last week

Mayfield revealed the info speaking to media after the first day of OTAs on Tuesday.

[connatix div_id=”3f8b015acdd24c648befc5d5dac47469″ player_id=”afe1e038-d3c2-49c0-922d-6511a229f69c” cid=”7cbcea0d-4ce2-4c75-9a8d-fbe02a192c24″]

WR [autotag]Russell Gage[/autotag] appears to be dealing with another injury as OTAs begin for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

QB Baker Mayfield spoke to media on Tuesday after the first day of OTAs, and ESPN reporter Jenna Laine tweeted that he revealed that Gage is dealing with what he called “a little bit of an injury” at the moment. Gage was absent from OTAs (as were numerous healthy players, it should be noted) and the specifics of his injury are not currently known.

Gage struggled with injuries during his first year in Tampa Bay. He saw the IR for five weeks in the regular season dealing with a hamstring issue, and he suffered a concussion and was hospitalized during the team’s Wild Card matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. The Bucs will hope this injury is nothing serious, as the wide receiving depth behind Gage is fairly thin in Tampa Bay.

While it is currently unknown what injury Gage has or how long he will be sidelined, perhaps Mayfield’s addition of “little bit” could be hopeful for the second-year Buc to return sooner than later.

Russell Gage appears to have changed numbers ahead of second season with Bucs

New Bucs draft pick Trey Palmer may have to try out a different number in the pros.

[autotag]Russell Gage[/autotag] might be wearing a new number when he first lines up in 2023.

Gage, who wore No. 17 for the Bucs last year, was spotted in a gallery the team posted wearing the No. 3 alongside fellow WR Chris Godwin, who appeared to still be wearing the No. 14. No. 3 was last held by kicker Ryan Succop before the kicker was released by Tampa Bay earlier in the offseason.

The number would be the third Gage has worn in his NFL career, as he wore No. 14 during his tenure with the Atlanta Falcons. He’d also become the first member of Tampa Bay’s current receiving corps to wear a single-digit number.

The Bucs drafted Nebraska wideout Trey Palmer in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft, and he wore No. 3 during his time at Nebraska — if he was hoping to continue that trend in the pros, it appears that Gage may have beat him to it.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbw5aerff6ff182 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

Predicting the Bucs’ 2023 starting offense after the first wave of free agency

There is still a QB contest to be had and an LT to sign, but things are getting clearer in Tampa Bay.

Despite entering free agency with less cap space than any team in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have actually managed to not only keep their team intact but add pieces to round out the roster. In fact, very few of the Bucs’ starting spots on offense should be much of a mystery.

Many of last year’s offensive starters are set to return, but not all. The most obvious subtraction is quarterback Tom Brady following his retirement, but it was the offensive line that saw the greatest attrition. The Bucs cut left tackle Donovan Smith and traded right guard Shaq Mason. This created much of the cap space the Bucs desperately needed, but left the offensive line in a rebuild mode.

Most of the likely starters are already on the roster. General manager Jason Licht clearly had a plan in mind before the offseason began to not only get the cap under control but also ensure the Bucs largely had a workable roster.

Here are the Bucs’ likely starters on offense following the start of free agency:

The Bucs are officially under the salary cap

It took a while to get there, but wideout Russell Gage’s recent restructure has the Bucs under the cap.

It was a long journey to get there, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are finally out of the red when it comes to their salary cap woes.

The team entered the offseason around 55 million dollars over the cap, but a series of releases and restructures has finally gotten it under the line — the final piece was wideout Russell Gage’s restructured contract, which moved some of his capital into a signing bonus and added some additional void years to further lower his cap hit.

The release of offensive tackle Donovan Smith and the restructures of four key players in defensive tackle Vita Vea, cornerback Carlton Davis, wide receiver Chris Godwin and center Ryan Jensen were also instrumental in making progress towards clearing space. On top of that, the Bucs will get some more space once free agency begins, as the impending releases of running back Leonard Fournette and tight end Cameron Brate have not yet counted towards the team’s current cap.

Other impending releases are expected to further alleviate matters, but Tampa Bay could still look to sign a veteran quarterback despite its continuing work to create more space.

How did the Bucs go from $57 million over the cap to under it?

See how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to clear enough space to get salary cap compliant in time for the start of the new NFL league year

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began this offseason $57 million over the 2023 salary cap. And yet, just days away from the start of the league year, the Bucs are the cusp of cap compliance.

How exactly did they do it? Fox Sports’ Greg Auman summarized all the steps Tampa Bay took to get in under the tag just in time, including multiple contract restructures, another reworked deal, and a big release.

One might assume the Bucs would have to put on a fire sale of the roster, chopping contracts like debt-ridden lumberjacks. In fact, the Bucs only cut one player on the way to cap compliance: left tackle Donovan Smith.

“But what about Leonard Fournette and Cam Brate,” one might ask. While both players are reported to be on the chopping block, details in their contracts prevents the Bucs from cutting them before the start of the league year (via Auman):

The majority of the Bucs’ cap savings came from restructures, namely from players who received extensions last offseason: wide receiver Chris Godwin, cornerback Carlton Davis and center Ryan Jensen. As the only veteran under contract beyond 2024, defensive tackle Vita Vea was an obvious candidate for a restructure.

Why did the Bucs opt to push money down the road instead of cutting or trading players? They didn’t have much choice.

Tampa’s efforts to keep their championship window open with Tom Brady over the past three years forced the Bucs to deploy a lot of bonus money and void years in their veteran contracts. As a result, the Bucs would not be able to cut or trade many of these players without incurring massive dead cap hits, all but invalidating the reason for cutting or trading the players in the first place.

There is no greater example of this than Tom Brady’s contract. To keep his cap number manageable, the Bucs tacked on four void years to his contract. The consequences of this decision is that all money in those void years hit the Bucs’ 2023 books, representing a whopping $35 million cap hit for a retired player.

Reworking WR Russell Gage’s contract was the last move the Bucs needed to get them to cap compliance. As with some of the restructures, Tampa added void years to Gage’s deal. The ever-increasing cap and the possibility of extending some of the players with void years makes similar cap issues in the future less likely.