Buccaneers Place J.R. Sweezy On IR
The Buccaneers announced that they have placed guard J.R. Sweezy and linebacker Adarius Glanton on injured reserve. Glanton had surgery on his broken leg on Monday night. Sweezy, meanwhile, should be able to avoid surgery for his lower leg injury, according to head coach Dirk Koetter. 
Sweezy signed a five-year, $32.5MM deal with the Buccaneers in 2016 but he was forced to miss all of last year with a back ailment. This year, he stayed healthy for the majority of the season until a new injury caught up with him. In April, the Bucs reworked his deal to give them some additional protection against potential health issues.
By starting in all 14 games to date, Sweezy has likely satisfied the contract escalator in his deal that will restore his base pay to $6.5MM in 2018.
Bucs Picked Up 2018 Option For Jason Licht
Jason Licht is under contract through the 2018 season thanks to an option Buccaneers ownership picked up in his contract recently, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Tampa Bay GM did not receive a contract extension, per Stroud, but did see a 2018 option picked up at some point during this past offseason. This ties Licht to the Bucs through next season but does so somewhat loosely, Stroud writes, adding it’s uncertain how significant a role Licht will have in hiring the team’s next head coach.
The Bucs are expected to move on from Dirk Koetter after two seasons, with Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk calling this a “certainty.” With Licht having fired Lovie Smith and promoted Koetter, he may not be safe. It could well depend on what the next Bucs head coach thinks of the job Licht has done.
In place for four seasons as Tampa Bay’s GM, Licht will have seen his teams finish with sub-.500 records in three of those campaigns. Their playoff-absence streak will stretch to 10 after this season. This campaign’s current 4-9 mark may look the worst, given what was expected of a team believed at one point to be on the rise.
Stroud notes the GM’s latest draft — which produced O.J. Howard, Justin Evans, Chris Godwin and Kendell Beckwith — should work in Licht’s favor, while the 2016 second-round selection Roberto Aguayo — whom ownership lobbied for — will stick to the executive’s resume. Of course, Licht is tied to the mercurial Jameis Winston as well. But it’s probably still too early to pass definitive judgment on the Bucs’ starting quarterback at this point, his 2017 struggles notwithstanding.
Jameis Winston Addresses Rift With Koetter
On Sunday, reports surfaced from NFL.com’s Ian Rappoport that the relationship between Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and head coach Dirk Koetter was “not in a good place.” Winston addressed the reports before the team’s Week 15 showdown with Atlanta, saying, “there’s nothing to see here,” according to NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman. 
Winston told reporters, including the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud (Twitter link), “When you lose, people are always trying to find something to nitpick and nag at, and definitely attacking the relationship of a head coach and a quarterback is a way to get this locker room in a panic. We don’t condone that at all.”
Rappoport attributed the fractured relationship to Winston not feeling supported properly when he was playing through an injury early in the season. Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken added his own thoughts to the source of the issue:
“You know what the strain is? The frustration of being 4-9. That’s a frustration. When you put everything into it, what you’ve got is a quarterback that’s very competitive, a guy that wants to be great and has had a frustrating year, probably some things on and off the field, and a head coach that does an unbelievable job coaching our players and quarterback. And that becomes news? Holy cow! News flash! We’ve got a strain in our relationship. There’s not one person that can’t say that’s ever happened before. That is a flat-out joke that that even becomes news.”
The Buccaneers entered the 2017 season with high hopes thanks to a young offense that appeared on the verge of breaking out. That hasn’t happened and it is easy to see why the team’s star quarterback would be frustrated. Whether the stain is the record or the lack of support, it’s a story that might not go away too soon.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/15/17
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Activated from injured reserve: LS Aaron Brewer
- Claimed off waivers: CB C.J. Goodwin
Minnesota Vikings
- Promoted to active roster: TE Kyle Carter
- Placed on injured reserve: TE Blake Bell
New York Giants
- Promoted to active roster: S Ryan Murphy
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived off injured reserve: DE Evan Panfil
Gerald McCoy Will Attempt To Play Through Injury
- Although he initially feared he suffered a torn biceps in Week 14, Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy wants to play out the rest of the season, reports Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. McCoy has torn his biceps two other times during his NFL career, but he believes he’ll be able to play through the pain this time around. The Buccaneers are evidently willing to let him do so in what has become a lost campaign, as the club made a transaction on Tuesday without putting McCoy on injured reserve. Despite Tampa Bay’s problems on defense, McCoy has been as stout as ever, as he grades as the league’s No. 5 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/12/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Jonathan Anderson, DL Caushaud Lyons
- Waived: DB Alex Carter
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: OL Korren Kirven
Houston Texans
- Waived: WR Devin Lucien
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Matt Hazel
- Waived: CB Taurean Nixon
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: T Dillon Gordon
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Russell Hansbrough
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: T Storm Norton
- Waived: S Jack Tocho
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Ryan O’Malley, DB Tim Scott
New York Jets
- Signed: RB Jahad Thomas, QB Joel Stave
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: FB Jalston Fowler
- Waived: CB Trovon Reed
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LB Nigel Harris
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/12/17
Today’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Designated to return from injured reserve: QB Jeff Driskel
Cleveland Browns
- Signed off Jets‘ practice squad: OL Geoff Gray
- Waived: DE Tyrone Holmes, WR Bryce Treggs
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted to active roster: DE Isaac Rochell
New York Giants
- Signed off Chiefs‘ practice squad: OL Damien Mama
New York Jets
- Promoted to active roster: RB Akeem Judd
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB/DE Bryan Braman
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted to active roster: DT Garrison Smith
- Waived: DT Rodney Coe
- Waived from injured reserve: T Justin Senior
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted to active roster: LB Riley Bullough
- Waived: CB Deji Olatoye
Bucs’ Brent Grimes Pondering Retirement
Brent Grimes is still playing football at a high level, but he’s not sure if he’ll continue in 2018. The Buccaneers cornerback says he’ll consider retirement in the offseason. 
“I haven’t thought about it. When the season’s over, I will,” said Grimes (via ESPN.com’s Jenna Laine). “I’m playing right now. I’m thinking about the Falcons and then who we’ve got after that — the Panthers, I think, I’ll be thinking about them. And then [the Saints]. When it’s over, I’ll be thinking about stuff like that.”
Grimes has been slowed by a shoulder injury this year, but he has still managed three interceptions and a top-60 ranking from Pro Football Focus among qualified cornerbacks. Last year, he led the league with 17 pass breakups. The 34-year-old might not be a No. 1 CB type anymore, but he’s still starting caliber.
After eleven years in the league, Grimes won’t be hurting for money if he walks away. Then again, the allure of winning his first ever Super Bowl ring could bring him back to the field.
Grimes’ two-year deal expires at the end of the year, meaning that he is scheduled to reach free agency in March.
Buccaneers’ Gerald McCoy Done For Year?
It is believed that Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has torn his biceps, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The injury would almost certainly end McCoy’s 2017 season. 
In theory, one can play through a minor biceps tear without undergoing surgery. But, even if McCoy opts against surgery here, there’s little incentive for him to return to action between now and the end of the year. After Sunday’s loss to the Lions, the injury-riddled Bucs are 4-9 with zero hope of reaching the playoffs.
McCoy has been here twice before, suffering biceps tears in 2010 and 2011. Since then, McCoy has been largely healthy and exceptionally productive. He earned five straight Pro Bowl nods from 2012 through 2016 and also made First-Team All-Pro in 2013. Recovering from a biceps tear can be dreadful, but McCoy has proven that he can bounce back just fine.
Thanks to the seven-year, $95.2MM contract extension he signed with the Bucs in 2014, McCoy is slated to be back with the team in 2018 at a $12.75MM cap number.
Relationship Between Jameis Winston, Dirk Koetter Not In A Good Place
- Per Rapoport, the relationship between Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter and quarterback Jameis Winston is not in a good place, and part of that tension stems from Koetter’s predictable play-calling. Indeed, as ESPN’s Jenna Laine tweets, defensive assistants from opposing clubs have said that Tampa Bay’s offense is as predictable as it gets. Koetter, though, could be fired at the end of the season, so the team may not have to deal with that strained relationship much longer.