In an expected move, the Bucs are parting ways with veteran wide receiver Russell Gage.
Gage signed a three-year deal worth $30 million in 2022, but it turns out the third year of that deal was a team option. Pewter Report is reporting that the Bucs will not pick up Gage’s option year for the 2024 season, thus he becomes a free agent immediately. Gage was due to make $8.5 million in base salary in 2024 and was expected to have a $13,350,668 cap value had he remained on Tampa Bay’s roster this season.
Bucs Had High Hopes For Russell Gage
The team signed Gage in 2022 following their second consecutive playoff appearance. Gage was to replace the production the team lost when Antonio Brown called it “deuces” late in the 2021 season. Additionally, Gage was seen as insurance for Chris Godwin who was still early into his rehabilitation from a torn ACL. Accordingly, the team gave Gage a three-year, $30 million contract that paid him as a hybrid No. 2 / No. 3 receiver.
It was a good signing at the time as Gage had amassed 138 catches for 1,556 yards and eight touchdowns over his previous two seasons with the Falcons. And it gave the Bucs, on paper, one of the most feared receiving corps in the NFL.
Unfortunately for both Gage and the Bucs he would never reach his potential in Tampa Bay. Injuries, which had never been an issue for the former LSU receiver took hold over his two years with the Bucs. He was hampered in first training camp with the team in 2022 by a hamstring injury that would linger all season.
That injury would limit him to just 13 games, 51 catches, 426 yards and five touchdowns.
Russell Gage Re-Worked Contract To Stay With Team
Following the 2022 season, with the Bucs facing salary cap constraints Gage would re-work his deal to remain in Tampa Bay. This was not a simple restructure that you hear about often in the NFL. With two years and $20 million in cash remaining on his deal, Gage agreed to a pay cut re-working the final two years of his contract to $17 million.
Injuries would continue to haunt him though as he tore his patellar tendon during training camp this past year, relegating him to injured reserve and forcing him to miss the entire season.
The Bucs are now parting ways with Gage in a move that will save the team $6,448,000 in salary cap in 2024. For his career Gage has 244 catches for 2,491 yards and 14 touchdowns.
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