Should Ryan Succop Stay Or Should He Go?

“Ryan was very efficient this year, but we’ve got to be able to kick longer field goals than we’ve kicked,” Bowles said on his radio show in January. “I think we’ve got to get past 47 yards, be able to kick from 50, 55 yards as well.”

Succop quite simply can’t kick from beyond 50 yards anymore. This past season, he was 29-of-31 on field goals from 49 yards and in, but he went just 2-of-7 on field goals from 50 yards and beyond. There’s a real lack of range there, and it can leave points out there for Tampa Bay. Getting a kicker who can deliver those 50- and 55-yarders would help an offense that will be assuming a new identity in 2023.

Not to mention, releasing Succop would net the Bucs some cap savings. He has a dead cap hit of just $750,000, and Tampa Bay would save $3.25 million in cap room by parting ways with him. And given the current situation, $3.25 million in cap space is nothing to scoff at.

So, there are reasons to believe that Ryan Succop’s tenure as the Bucs’ kicker could be coming to an end. But there are also a couple of reasons to wonder if Tampa Bay might hang on to the veteran kicker for the final year of the three-year contract he signed after the team’s Super Bowl season in 2020.

Ryan Succop’s Accuracy Inside 50 Yards Is “Very Valuable” To Bucs

While speaking with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week, Bucs general manager Jason Licht seemed to dispel any idea that Bowles’ words in January meant anything for Ryan Succop’s future.

“Well yeah, in a perfect world, we’d like to have [Ryan] Succop to make some long kicks too, but he is pretty darn accurate inside of 50 [yards], so that’s also very valuable too,” Licht said.

So, is playing up Succop’s accuracy inside of 50 yards a hint from Licht that the Bucs aren’t ready to look for a new kicker just yet?

It’s worth acknowledging the caveat that, in that same media session, Licht said running back Leonard Fournette still has “several years” left as a three-down back in the league (though he never said those years would be with the Bucs). Not long after, word emerged that the team plans to release Fournette in the coming weeks.

Was Licht praising Succop in the same way, only to turn around and release him for the cap savings in the coming days or weeks? Perhaps not. Because, as Bucs fans remember all too well, finding a reliable kicker isn’t exactly easy. For almost a decade, Tampa Bay endured something of a kicking curse. Then, Ryan Succop came along.

After signing with the Bucs in September 2020 and winning the kicking job from 2019 fifth-round pick Matt Gay, Succop went on to set a franchise record for points in a single season. He stabilized the kicking position as Tom Brady stabilized the quarterback position and played a key role in Tampa Bay’s run to Super Bowl LV.

Succop remained steady in 2021, coming close to the single-season points record he set in 2020. And while he wasn’t able to muster up the leg strength to make long-range kicks in 2022, he was 12-of-12 on kicks between 40 and 49 yards, 7-of-8 on attempts between 30 and 39 and 10-of-11 from 20 to 29 yards out.

It’s easy to see why jumping back into the search for a new kicker might give the Bucs pause. They have plenty of other needs to worry about to begin with, of course. Maybe they’re better off sticking with Succop for his age-37 season, which is also the final year of his contract. Then, they can try to find another consistent kicker — perhaps with more range — heading into 2024.

It’s not like Tampa Bay hasn’t found itself in this position with Ryan Succop before. Look no further than last offseason, when the Bucs had Jose Borregales compete in training camp and the preseason to potentially unseat Succop. Borregales had the stronger leg, but his accuracy wasn’t where it needed to be. So, the team sacrificed range for accuracy and stuck with Succop.

The Bucs could do so again. Bowles could realistically rely on Succop to remain dependable from 49 yards and in while declining to put him in too many unfavorable situations from beyond 50 yards.

But it would take some tweaks to the way he manages the game. That means going for it in more fourth-and-short situations rather than settling for long field goal attempts. And, as much as it might draw some boos from the home crowd, it could also mean punting the ball away when it’s fourth-and-medium or fourth-and-long near midfield in an effort to pin the opposing offense deep. We know Bowles is open to doing that, as he is the type of coach who will almost always trust his defense.

Yes, as both Bowles and Licht have said, it would be ideal if the Bucs could conceivably make kicks from long distance. But they might not be in any hurry to risk reliability for it. And that could mean year four for Ryan Succop in Tampa Bay.