By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired a new defensive coordinator for the 2019 season, one who wants to run a 3-4 defense. That was bad news for former Eagles defensive end Vinny Curry.
Injuries hampered Curry in 2019 and the veteran eventually lost his starting job to former Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib. That combined with the switch to a new defensive scheme lead to the decision that was made by the Buccaneers on Tuesday.
We have released DE Vinny Curry.
📰 » https://t.co/mf7znoFUfY pic.twitter.com/AhCheEQvcw
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) February 12, 2019
Curry grew up an Eagles fan and was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Marshall University. He appeared in 84 games for the Birds over his six seasons with the team, registering 95 tackles, 22 sacks, five forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He was released after a pay cut was not agreed upon and $5 million of his expected $9 million cap hit in 2018 was set to hit the books.
Curry was released from a similar scenario by the Bucs. He was set to make $8 million and $5 million could become active, so Tampa Bay chose to move on without taking the cap hit.
In 12 games with the Bucs, Curry registered just 2.5 sacks and 21 tackles. That is not what Tampa Bay had hoped for after they signed him following his three sack, 42 tackle season in which he also forced a fumble and managed to hit the quarterback more than twice as much.
While fans may want to see Curry back, a reunion seems unlikely. Curry may well get a nice deal from another team looking to take a flier on Curry being healthy and returning to his previous production again this offseason and Philadelphia does not have the cap space to compete with that.
The Eagles also have roster constraints as they will already have Michael Bennett and Derek Barnett as starters and could very well have Chris Long as a backup. Behind them, the Eagles have few proven options, but Josh Sweat will get a chance to prove himself and it would be shocking if the Eagles didn’t come away with at least one defensive end in a drafted stacked with defensive linemen. With all those players, the Eagles would have five defensive lineman and would not be looking to pay premium prices for a fourth-stringer in a six-man rotation.
