Russell Gage will stay within the NFC South subsequent season however will get passes from Tom Brady as an alternative of Matt Ryan.
The free agent recipient intends to signal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a three-year, $30 million contract that features a assured $20 million, a supply informed ESPN Jeremy Fowler.
The Buccaneers additionally addressed a serious want for guard Tuesday, capturing Chuck Mason of the New England Patriots for the 2023 Fifth Spherical, a supply informed ESPN’s Discipline Yates.
The Buccaneers inherit the remaining two years of Mason’s contract, which calls Mason to earn a base wage of $6.5 million in 2023 and $7.5 million in 2023.
The Buccaneers had slots in each beginning guard positions after Alex Cappa agreed to signal with the Cincinnati Bengals and Ali Marbet introduced his retirement.
With no Antonio Brown, the Bucs have been slipped into third place for receivers final season behind Professional Bowlers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, which turned obvious after Brown was dismissed from the crew and Goodwin injured his knee on the finish of the season. Tyler Johnson hasn’t blinked and has had bother at occasions when taking over a bigger workload.
Gage had back-to-back seasons over 700 yards with the Atlanta Falcons in 2020 and 2023 as his position elevated after Julio Jones was injured in 2020 and Calvin Ridley missed 12 video games final season to deal with his psychological well being.
After sustaining an ankle damage in Week 2, Gage, 26, missed three video games and even when he got here again, he wasn’t wholesome till the second half of the season. He featured over the past two months, accumulating 11 passes for 130 yards in opposition to the Buccaneers on December 5. He additionally had 9 receptions for 126 yards and a landing on the finish of the season in opposition to the New Orleans Saints.
Gage set one of the best jobs in yards per reception (11.7), catch proportion (70.2%) and yards per purpose (8.2) final season.
The 6-footed, 184-pounder striker had 193 catches on 287 targets from 2,065 yards and 9 touchdowns in his 4 seasons with the Falcons after being drafted within the sixth spherical in 2018.
Mason, 28, reunites with Brady after spending the primary seven years of his profession with the Patriots. Mason performed 103 common season video games (98 video games) and 13 playoff video games (all begin).
His void can be vital on the Patriots’ offensive line, because the crew has already misplaced beginning with left keeper Ted Karas in a free company for the Bengals and beginning proper sort out Trent Brown stays a free agent.
Coping with Mason, the Patriots fill a void on the draft board (they did not have a fifth participant) and their picks complete as much as seven. However maybe most significantly, they earned $6.3 million from the wage cap house. The Patriots have been a bit tighter this season, so house will assist them.
Mason joined the Patriots as a fourth-round choose of the Georgia Tech crew in 2015. He performed in a running-based assault in faculty, however developed right into a dependable passing guard within the NFL as effectively.
ESPN’s Mike Reese, Gina Lynn, and Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.
