The Bucs made a roster move on Tuesday, and it wasn’t just a shuffle on the margins. Tampa Bay re-signed guard Luke Haggard to the practice squad, released running back Barika Kpeenu, and also parted ways with veteran wide receiver David Sills V.
Fox Sports’ Greg Auman first reported the Sills move on X.
Sills, who is 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, came to Tampa Bay this offseason after following offensive coordinator Zac Robinson from Atlanta in free agency. An injury in training camp wiped out his preseason, and when he finally got back on the field, his role was limited to the last three games. He was mostly used as a blocker on the perimeter and never saw a target against Carolina, Atlanta or Chicago.
That departure leaves the Bucs with another opening at receiver, and the team has a few ways it could go. Tampa Bay could elevate Dean Patterson IV from the practice squad or look to free agency for help.
Odell Beckham Jr., 34, was released by Minnesota on Tuesday, though the Vikings had plans to bring him back on their practice squad. Gabe Davis, 27, the former UCF standout and Sanford, Fla. native, is also available.
The Bucs could also decide not to add anyone and simply move forward with five receivers, since return specialist Kam Johnson is already on the active roster.
There’s also the possibility of bringing back Jack Pyburn, who was released by the Chiefs on Tuesday after Kansas City traded for wide receiver Josh Downs from the Colts. Pyburn led Tampa Bay in preseason sacks with four, but he never got on the field in the regular season for Kansas City, serving as a healthy scratch in all eight games.
Tampa Bay’s receiver room has been a quiet problem all season, and the numbers tell the story. The Bucs rank last in the NFL in passing offense at 141.9 yards per game, a figure shaped in part by Baker Mayfield missing three games with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.
But quarterback injuries aren’t the whole story. The passing game has also been limited by new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who was fired after two seasons as Atlanta’s play-caller. And wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, last year’s first-round pick, hasn’t looked like the same player since the bye week in 2025 after a scorching start to his rookie year.
Egbuka’s own health has been part of the issue. He missed a chunk of training camp and the preseason because of a turf toe injury suffered in a joint practice with the Jets, then sat out two games with a foot injury before returning against the Bears on Sunday night.
He finished that game with three catches for 38 yards, including a 21-yard screen where defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons chased him down from behind. That likely had more to do with the foot than anything else.
Even with Sills gone, the Bucs weren’t getting much from him in the passing game anyway. Only four Tampa Bay receivers have caught a pass this season: Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr., Tez Johnson and rookie Ted Hurst III. Hurst was benched after dropping his only target in Sunday’s loss to the Bears, and he played just one snap in Chicago.
Todd Bowles defended the rookie’s role when asked about it.
“We think he can help us,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “He got off to a bad start and we kind of went with some other guys and wanted to see what they could do.”
Hurst, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound rookie with 4.47 speed, has the kind of size and burst that could help open things up, but he hasn’t been given much of a runway. That’s a problem for a passing game that needs playmakers to actually get chances.
Through the first four weeks, Hurst had 17 targets, eight catches, 128 yards and a touchdown. Over the last five games, he’s been targeted just nine times.
That stretch includes zero targets at Dallas and only one apiece at Carolina, against Atlanta and at Chicago.
He drew a 21-yard pass interference penalty against the Panthers on that lone Week 7 target, and nearly scored against Atlanta before the ball was punched out at the last second. Against Pittsburgh, he caught three passes for 40 yards on six targets.
The Bucs still have Jalen McMillan on injured reserve, but there’s no clear timetable for his return. McMillan had a knee procedure early in camp, then re-injured the knee against Minnesota on his lone target of the year after briefly returning against Cleveland in Week 2. Todd Bowles said McMillan had played a handful of snaps in that return before the setback.
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