TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have picked up the fifth-year option on defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, the team announced Monday.
The deadline to exercise fifth-year options is Friday for players picked in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
This is the first time the Bucs have picked up a player’s fifth year-option since All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, their 13th draft pick in 2020.
Kancey is now under contract through the 2027 season, during which he will now be paid approximately $14.5 million (fully guaranteed) via the option, according to OverTheCap.com.
The No. 19 draft selection out of the University of Pittsburgh, Kancey became an immediate Day 1 starter and has made a significant impact for the Buccaneers when healthy. But health has eluded him.
Kancey missed 14 regular-season games last year with a torn pectoral injury and wasn’t even supposed to make it back but did so to try and help the team reach the playoffs, which they ultimately missed out on.
“That was my whole goal,” Kancey said last week. “[For me], just being able to put on my helmet and go out there and ball with my brothers, whether we got the win or not, I just wanted to show them I’m here for y’all. I eat, sleep, everything, I live football [and it] lives through me. That was just me showing my love for them and how much they mean to me. That’s what it was about.”
In 2024, he missed five regular-season games with a left calf injury and in 2023, he missed three games with a right calf injury.
“My main goal is to play every game,” Kancey said. “That’s my main goal. There’s nothing — there’s no stats, no nothing. Just play every game. Just be ready to play every game.”
Despite the missed time last season, he led the team with 7.5 sacks in 12 games in 2024, along with 11 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also had 17 quarterback hits. In 29 career games, he has produced 11.5 sacks, 22 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 55 combined tackles and 30 quarterback hits.
Kancey is one of multiple players who are expected to take on bigger leadership roles in the locker room with the retirement of inside linebacker Lavonte David, who was a 14-year starter and 12-time captain on defense. He is also expected to help guide first-round draft pick Rueben Bain Jr., whom the Bucs’ selected 15th in the NFL draft this past weekend. Bain, like Kancey, is from Miami, said the two know each other “really well” and he has followed his career in Tampa closely.
