Cowboys Want Gerald McCoy; Does He Want Bucs?

FRISCO - Context is everything.

Sources have indicated to CowboysSI.com that the Dallas Cowboys and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy share a mutual interest in a 2020 reunion.

So why is McCoy now being quoted as saying he'd "love to come back to Tampa''?

Maybe because that was the specific question that was posed to him on a Sirius XM radio show ... co-hosted by Mark Dominik, who just happens to have been the GM for the Buccaneers when McCoy was drafted to Tampa Bay.

"I would love to go back to Tampa."

Free Agent DT @Geraldini93 on his recovery from the injury last year and how he would embrace a return to the @Buccaneers. #Buccaneers | @MarkdominikNFL | @BillLekas pic.twitter.com/9SllelKB6O
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) March 8, 2021

“I would love to come back to Tampa,” McCoy said on the show. “A lot of people kinda misunderstood what took place between me and Tampa. ... All the issues I had with Tampa, we worked out last season when I was with Carolina. . . . There’s no bad blood. I talk to (present GM) Jason Licht, I talk to the Glazers (ownership).”

McCoy, 33, did not play a down in the 2020 season because he tore his quadriceps at the very start of Cowboys training camp after signing with Dallas. A clause in his contract allowed Dallas to release him and its three-year commitment to him, so the six-time Pro Bowler is again free.

And yes, he also has continued his relationships with Cowboys players and personnel, just as he says he has with people in Tampa. Given McCoy's upbeat personality, it's likely he has also maintained friendships from his short stint with the Panthers.

McCoy mentioned that he maintains a home in Tampa, where he played for nine years. But he's from Oklahoma City and has regional ties to DFW.

McCoy told SiriusXM NFL Radio that he plans on being fully healthy by training camp, and that it will only take that long due to precautionary reasons. He said he will be "full-go'' this summer.

The Cowboys hope that is the case. The Bucs may hope that is the case as well. And if there are multiple bidders on McCoy ... well, we're sure he's hoping that is the case as well.