Gerald McCoy would likely sign for less to play for the Cleveland Browns
By Dan Justik
Free agent defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has said he wants to play for a winner, and he would reportedly sign for less to play for the Cleveland Browns.
The Cleveland Browns could soon learn the decision of if free agent defensive tackle Gerald McCoy will be joining their up-and-coming defense.
McCoy has already visited the Browns last week and the meeting reportedly went “great.” McCoy is taking his only other reported visit on Tuesday with the Baltimore Ravens and could make his decision soon after.
There are other teams trying to lure McCoy, with one team even reportedly offering a $11 million deal. However, the belief is the Browns and Ravens are on the short list of teams McCoy wants to sign with and they could be viewed as the favorites.
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Although McCoy is just coming off a contract paying $13 million per year, money is not the biggest concern for McCoy. It has been widely reported McCoy’s priority with the next team he signs with is that they will be a contender.
In his nine seasons in the NFL, McCoy has never played in a playoff game. And because the 31-year-old is entering the back-end of his career, this will be the best time for him to pick the team he believes is in the best position to reach the playoffs, and potentially further.
Winning is so important to McCoy that he will reportedly sign a smaller deal so he could join a contending team. Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reported Tuesday that McCoy would “likely” sign for less in order to join the Browns, who he believes could do some big things in 2019.
"“One team offered $11 million, a source told me, but McCoy doesn’t want to sign with that team because it’s not a contender. Winning is of utmost importance to McCoy, who’s never made the playoffs in his nine seasons, and he’ll likely take less to play for the Browns because they’re built to win big this season.” – Cabot, Cleveland.com"
The Browns still rank towards the top of the league in cap space despite all of their additions this offseason. That is mainly because of the amount of money they rolled over from last year’s cap, increasing the amount of money they have to spend this offseason.
So even though they can pay “market price” for McCoy, it would be smart of them to sign him to as cheap of a deal as possible in order to save some of their cap space for future seasons. The only issue is if McCoy has a good visit with the Ravens, and it could result in him asking the Browns to bump up their offer.
Next. Browns believe in the Scottish Hammer. dark
There is still plenty of uncertainty with the McCoy situation, but the Browns appear to be in a good position. Adding McCoy could help transform their defense and could even push them into the playoffs and beyond. And if McCoy takes a smaller deal with Cleveland, he will certainly hoping that would be the case.