Bucs' Russell Gage Carted off at Practice vs. Jets with 'Pretty Serious' Knee Injury

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage suffered a "pretty serious" knee injury and was carted off during Wednesday's practice.

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters about the severity of the injury, saying "our hearts go out to him." Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the belief is the injury will end Gage's season.

The 27-year-old was set to be the third receiver on the Bucs' depth chart behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. He's coming off a disappointing first season in Tampa that saw him be limited to 51 receptions for 426 yards and five touchdowns while missing four games due to injury.

If testing confirms this team's fears about Gage's injury, it's possible he's already played his last game in Tampa. Gage's contract calls for a $10 million base salary and has a $13.4 million cap hit for 2024.

The Bucs were almost certainly going to release Gage or ask him to take a significant pay cut heading into next season even if he were 100 percent healthy. Bringing him back at that rate coming off a major injury will be a complete nonstarter.

Gage spent his first four NFL seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, setting career highs in 2020 with 72 receptions for 786 yards and four touchdowns. His presence in Tampa was expected to help stabilize an already-stellar receiving corps led by Evans and Godwin, but instead it appears the Bucs' injury woes from last season are already carrying over to 2023.

Tampa will now be left with a group of completely unproven talent to replace Gage. The remainder of the Bucs' depth chart at the moment consists of a group of undrafted free agents and 2023 sixth-round pick Trey Palmer.

It would not be a surprise if the Bucs explored the veteran market for Gage's replacement. Kenny Golladay, Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins and Julio Jones are among the names on the market yet to be signed. Jones spent the 2022 season in Tampa but missed seven games due to injury.