TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a new kicker in 2023, with the Bucs’ salary cap purge now including the release of Ryan Succop, the team announced Thursday.
The move saves the Bucs $3.75 million in salary cap space.
Succop, 36, had been with the team for three seasons. Prior to his arrival, the Bucs averaged 78.4% on field goals from 2009 to 2019 — last in the NFL. With Succop, Tampa Bay averaged 84% — fourth best in the NFL — from 2020 to 2022.
But coach Todd Bowles expressed a desire to improve the Bucs’ long-range kicking game after last season and that wasn’t Succop’s forte. He made 2 of 7 attempts from 50-plus yards in 2022; whereas, he went 12-of-12 on kicks of 40-plus yards.
Succop nailed the game-winning kick in the Bucs’ season opener against the Dallas Cowboys in 2021. He also made four field goals and an extra point in the Bucs’ 19-16 overtime win over the Arizona Cardinals in 2022.
In 50 games for the Bucs, he went 84-of-99 on field goal attempts and 132-of-141 on extra points. His 384 points scored ranks eighth in Bucs history and sixth among kickers.
Since 2009, the Bucs have had 13 players attempt at least one field goal in a regular-season game, tied for the most in the league with the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers, according to ESPN Statistics & Information research.