Vinny Curry Lands in Tampa

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - Vinny Curry's stay on the unemployment line was a quick one.

The veteran pass rusher quickly agreed to terms with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, about 24 hours after the Eagles released Curry due to salary-cap concerns.

Curry joins Beau Allen in Central Florida, his former teammate on the defensive line with the Eagles, who signed a three-year $15 million deal with the Buccaneers in free agency earlier in the week.

Curry also signed for three years and could make as much as $27 million with $11.5 million of that guaranteed for injury per Jenna Laine of ESPN.

After trading for veteran defensive end Michael Bennett the Eagles were trying to deal Curry but that was difficult because he was carrying a $9M salary and costing $11M in cap space before Philadelphia finally released him on Friday once the New Jersey native refused a pay cut.

If Curry was still on the Eagles' offseason roster past the end of business Friday, $5M of his $9M base salary for 2018 would have been guaranteed, an NFL source told 973espn.com.

From a football perspective, Curry was a solid part of Philadelphia's defensive line rotation during their run to a Super Bowl LII championship.

The Eagles, though, are extremely deep at the position after trading for Bennett last week. Star left end Brandon Graham also remains and Philadelphia expects former first-round pick Derek Barnett to increase his role next season. Meanwhile, both Chris Long and Steven Means remain under contract.

By releasing Curry the Eagles gained $5M in space back but also took on $6 million in dead money.

“We want to thank Vinny Curry for his contributions to our organization over the last six seasons, including the important role he played in bringing our city its first Super Bowl championship," the Eagles said in a statement. "It’s difficult to part ways with a player like Vinny who has made an impact on the field, in the locker room and in the community. We wish Vinny and his family all the best moving forward.”

A New Jersey native who grew up an Eagles fan Curry was originally a second-round draft pick of Philadelphia back in 2012. He ends his tenure with the franchise after playing in 84 regular-season games over six seasons. Curry totaled 147 tackles, including 27 1/2 for loss, 22 sacks, five forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in the regular season, while adding 13 tackles in four postseason appearances.

Curry became a full-time starter for the Eagles last season and recorded career highs in tackles (48) and TFL (13), while also tallying three sacks and a forced fumble. He also led an impressive front with 41 combined QB pressures and hits while playing 56 percent of the team's defensive snaps.

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen