Buccaneers Sign Ryan Succop
The Buccaneers have signed Ryan Succop, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. To make room, they’ve dropped fellow kicker Elliott Fry. 
Succop will now compete with incumbent Matt Gay for the top (and only) placekicking job. As a rookie, Gay struggled from close range, something that frustrated head coach Bruce Arians.
“Competition is the baseline of the NFL,” Arians said recently. “Everybody’s fighting for a job, and if you don’t perform, someone’s right there ready behind you, ready to take your spot. It’s no news to me that guys are in here competing for a shot and they’re going to bring competition in. Competition is going to breed success, and I think the potential of our team this year is super-high, and I think the kicking position is very important.”
Succop made just 1 of 6 field goals in his final Titans season, which began and ended on IR. But, before that, Succop played in every game for the Titans from 2014-18 and made at least 83% of his field goals in each of those seasons.
Buccaneers Host Ryan Succop, Cody Parkey
Saturday afternoon has brought some kicker developments. While the Titans worked out Stephen Gostkowski, the Buccaneers brought in Tennessee’s longtime kicker.
Ryan Succop visited the Bucs on Saturday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Titans released Succop earlier this year, concluding a six-season Tennessee stay for the veteran.
Saturday’s session also featured Cody Parkey, per The Athletic’s Greg Auman (on Twitter). The former Bears kicker is at the Bucs’ facility for COVID-19 testing, with Auman noting he is expected to work out for the team in a few days. The Bucs appear to be planning to add to their current kicker competition or replace one of the current participants.
Tampa Bay has not enjoyed such kicker continuity in many years. The Bucs are currently holding a competition between Matt Gay and Elliott Fry. An 11-year veteran, Succop certainly has accomplished more than the two Tampa Bay kickers. Succop, 33, kicked in only six games last season, however, with injuries impeding him at multiple junctures.
Succop made just 1 of 6 field goals in his final Titans season, which began and ended on IR. The Titans stashed Succop on their IR list to start the season because of a knee injury and placed him on season-ending IR late in the season. Prior to that rocky slate, however, Succop played in every game for the Titans from 2014-18. He made at least 83% of his field goals in each of those seasons.
Parkey’s last significant role came with the Bears in 2018, but after his “double doink” miss, the Titans brought in the veteran during their search for a stopgap while Succop resided on IR. Parkey played three Titans games last season, going 3-for-3 on field goals. Parkey, 28, was a full-time kicker in four of the previous five seasons.
The Bucs have not featured the same primary kicker in a season since the 2011-12 campaigns, when Connor Barth held that job. Headlined by its second-round Roberto Aguayo miss, the franchise has spent the better part of a decade trying to find some stability at this spot. Gay, a 2019 rookie, went 27-for-35 on field goals last year and missed five extra points. The Bucs signed Fry, who has never kicked in a regular-season game, this offsesaon.
While Succop brings considerable experience, Gostkowski is certainly the more accomplished option. It will be interesting to see if the Bucs consider Tom Brady‘s longtime teammate as well, should the Titans and the veteran kicker not agree to terms.
Bucs Exploring Extension For LB Lavonte David
The Buccaneers have had recent extension talks with longtime linebacker Lavonte David, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). David is set to enter the final year of his current contract, which will pay him a salary of $10.75MM.
Tampa selected David, 30, in the second round of the 2012 draft. He earned a First Team All-Pro bid in his second professional season, and he picked up a Pro Bowl nod in 2015. Though he hasn’t earned any All-Pro or Pro Bowl recognition since, he has consistently performed as one of the best linebackers in the league. Advanced metrics and the eye test suggest that he is generally strong against both the pass and the run, and he has averaged 126 tackles per season throughout his career.
He has also been durable. He did miss a couple of games in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, but he bounced back to play a full 16-game slate last year. He has started all 121 of the games in which he has appeared.
So it makes sense that the Bucs would want to extend their relationship with David. The fact that he is typically not called upon to rush the passer means that he will not be paid like one of the top LBs in the league, but a multi-year pact with an average annual value in the $13-14MM range wouldn’t be out of the question.
David is still looking for his first playoff appearance, and he might just get it in 2020. In case you hadn’t heard, the Bucs made several high-profile acquisitions on the offensive side of the ball this offseason and managed to keep a strong defense intact. Though question marks remain in the secondary, the front seven is stout, and David and 2019 first-rounder Devin White look like they will continue serving as one of the game’s better LB tandems for at least the next couple of years.
NFL Workout Updates: 8/24/20
Here are Monday’s notable workouts:
Arizona Cardinals
- LB Devante Bond
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
- LB Darron Lee
Las Vegas Raiders
- LB Sharif Finch, CB KeiVarae Russell
Minnesota Vikings
- LB Bryce Hager
New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR Greg Dortch, WR Shelton Gibson
Buccaneers To Sign C A.Q. Shipley
The Buccaneers are looking into one of Bruce Arians‘ former players for offensive line depth. They are hosting longtime Cardinals center A.Q. Shipley on a visit, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The team has moved fast, having agreed to terms with the veteran center, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Shipley played for three of the Cards’ Arians-led teams, landing in Arizona in 2015 and remaining on the team during Steve Wilks‘ season and Kliff Kingsbury‘s first at the helm. This marks the first piece of offseason news regarding the veteran lineman.
This will be Shipley’s age-34 season. While the former seventh-round pick made his regular-season debut in 2012, he entered the NFL as a 2009 draftee. He has started 70 career games, including 16 last season.
Shipley’s best seasons came under Arians, with Pro Football Focus grading him as one of the game’s top centers during the Cards’ 13-3 season in 2015. Last season, however, PFF assigned him the 29th overall grade among snappers. The former Steelers draftee was, however, coming off an ACL tear — one that sidelined him throughout the 2018 campaign. Arians was with Pittsburgh when the franchise drafted Shipley 11 years ago.
Still, Tampa Bay did not previously possess much in the way of interior-line depth, featuring a host of UDFAs behind its starters. Ryan Jensen is set to enter his third season as the Bucs’ starting center.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/20
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: CB Duke Thomas
Buffalo Bills
- Placed on reserve/retired list: CB Ike Brown
Cleveland Browns
- Placed on IR: C Casey Dunn
Denver Broncos
- Placed on IR: LB Justin Strnad (wrist)
Indianapolis Colts
- Placed on IR: TE Ian Bunting
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DL Chris Smith
- Waived/injured: LB Nick Usher
Miami Dolphins
- Waived/injured: LB Curtis Weaver
New Orleans Saints
- Placed on IR: ST Johnson Bademosi
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: WR Spencer Schnell
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: S Walt Aikens
Bucs’ T.J. Logan Likely To Miss Season
T.J. Logan just can’t catch a break. Per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Logan sustained a patellar tendon injury in yesterday’s practice and is likely to miss the season (Twitter link).
A fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2017 draft, Logan missed his entire rookie campaign due to an injured wrist. He got some work as a kick returner in 2018, but Arizona waived him before the start of the 2019 campaign.
The Bucs claimed him off waivers, and he became Tampa’s primary return specialist, handling 13 punts and 13 kickoffs. Unfortunately, a thumb injury suffered last December cut his season a bit short, and now he will have to wait until 2021 to get back on the field.
A running back by trade, Logan had a good chance to reprise his role as the Bucs’ kick returner in 2020, and he may have had the opportunity to see some time as a change-of-pace option in the backfield. He has nine receptions and five rushing attempts in his career.
Making matters worse is the fact that the injury came from friendly fire. Per Patrik Walker of CBS Sports, linebacker Quinton Bell tackled Logan from behind during a non-tackling period of practice, drawing the ire of his teammates and head coach Bruce Arians.
As James Palmer of the NFL Network tweets, Arians has indicated that rookie RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn could get a shot at return duties. In addition to Vaughn, a third-round choice, and seventh-rounder Raymond Calais, the Buccaneers signed veteran LeSean McCoy to buttress their rushing attack, fronted by the inconsistent Ronald Jones.
Buccaneers Sign DT Kyle Love
The Buccaneers have agreed to sign veteran DT Kyle Love, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Love, 33, has spent the last six years as part of the defensive front for the division-rival Panthers.
Love entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in 2010. He spent three seasons with the Patriots, appearing in 41 total games before he was waived with a non-football illness designation due to a diabetes diagnosis. Love appeared in only three contests from 2013-14 while playing for the Chiefs, Jaguars, and Panthers, but he’s since reestablished his career with Carolina.
In the past three seasons, Love has appeared in at least 37% of the Panthers’ defensive snaps. For what it’s worth, however, Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics ranked him near the bottom of the league’s interior defenders.
Still, Tampa Bay does not have a ton of defensive line depth behind its starting trio of Vita Vea, Ndamukong Suh, and William Gholston, so Love will add some valuable experience to the rotation. He has 15 sacks and four forced fumbles in his career.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/10/20
We’ll keep track of the latest minor moves here:
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: FB Bronson Rechsteiner
Carolina Panthers
- Claimed: DT Bruce Hector (from Eagles)
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: G Michael Dunn, G Jovahn Fair
- Released: TE Nate Wieting
Dallas Cowboys
- Released: WR Kendrick Rogers
Green Bay Packers
- Claimed off waivers (from Detroit): WR Travis Fulgham
- Waived: DE/LB Jamal Davis
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DT Taylor Stallworth
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DL Carl Davis, DL Caraun Reid
- Released: CB Kobe Williams
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed off waivers (from Cleveland): TE Nate Wieting
Philadelphia Eagles
- Retired: LB Jatavis Brown
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: CB Brian Allen, RB Anthony Jones
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived/Injured: WR Travis Jonsen
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/9/20
We’ll keep track of this weekend’s minor moves here:
Cleveland Browns
- Claimed: DB M.J. Stewart. (from Buccaneers)
Detroit Lions
- Released: WR Travis Fulgham
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR Ricardo Louis, WR Chester Rogers
New York Giants
- Signed: CB Ross Cockrell