The Bucs have set their initial 53-man roster and cleared out a long list of cuts as the league moves into waiver season.
NFL teams can start claiming players off waivers at 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, August 31, and can begin building a 16-man practice squad, or 17 if they have a player from the International Pathway Program. For Tampa Bay, that player will be rookie offensive tackle Paul Rubelt, who was born in Germany and played at UCF.
The roster moves include a sizable group of players let go as the Bucs trimmed down to the league limit. Among the cuts are quarterback Connor Bazelak, multiple receivers in Garrett Greene, Matthew Henry, Jha’Quan Jackson, Dean Patterson IV and Eric Rivers Jr., and a cluster of linemen and defenders including Chris Braswell Jr., Yasir Holmes, Jayson Jones, Jack Pyburn, Travis Shaw and others.
Tampa Bay also moved a few players to waived injured status. That group includes OLB Mohamed Kamara, CB Pepe Williams and CB Xavier Williams.
Three players had their contracts terminated: quarterback Jake Browning, long snapper Scott Daly and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu.
Here is the full list of Bucs roster cuts:
QB Connor Bazelak
OLB Chris Braswell Jr.
LB John Bullock
TE Devin Culp
TE Kenny Fletcher Jr.
T Marshall Foerner
DL Josiah Green
WR Garrett Greene
WR Matthew Henry
OLB Yasir Holmes
G Nash Hutmacher
WR Jha’Quan Jackson
LB Nick Jackson
DL Jayson Jones
G Elijah Klein
RB Barika Kpeenu
G Henry Lutovsky
S Robert McDaniel
CB Roman Parodie
WR Dean Patterson IV
K B.T. Potter
OLB Jack Pyburn
WR Eric Rivers Jr.
S J.J. Roberts
T Paul Rubelt
G Ben Scott
DL Travis Shaw
RB Josh Williams
S Rashad Wisdom
LB Javin Wright
Waived (injured):
OLB Mohamed Kamara
CB Pepe Williams
CB Xavier Williams
Terminated Contracts:
QB Jake Browning
LS Scott Daly
S Ifeatu Melifonwu
In Other News...
Bucs Settle Quarterback Depth Question With Late Veteran Addition
The Buccaneers added another layer to their quarterback room late in the week, signing veteran Easton Stick to the practice squad as a depth move behind Baker Mayfield and Jalon Daniels. Stick, a North Dakota State product and former fifth-round pick, brings NFL experience from stints with the Chargers and Falcons, and he arrives with a familiar face in the building thanks to his prior working relationship with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
It is the kind of quiet roster move teams make when they want to settle a question before it becomes a larger one, especially at quarterback. Tampa Bay had been exploring its options after Jake Browning declined a practice squad offer, and Stick now gives the Bucs an experienced fallback as they continue sorting out the backup picture behind their top two passers. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Final Roster Cuts Included A Few Notable Veteran Decisions
The Buccaneers have trimmed their roster down to 53 as the regular season approaches, and the final wave of cuts included a few names that stood out beyond the usual end-of-August churn. Tampa Bay released quarterback Jake Browning and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu as part of a broader set of moves, while also waiving several other players who could still circle back if they clear waivers and land on the practice squad.
The roster picture is not fully settled yet, though. The Buccaneers also placed two players on injured reserve with designations to return, and now the attention shifts to assembling the practice squad once the waived players pass through waivers. For a team trying to preserve depth and keep familiar pieces close, the next day or two should reveal how much of this group stays in the building. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Just Created A Strange New Waiting Game With Jack Pyburn
The Buccaneers made one of the more curious moves of their roster-cutdown period by waiving undrafted rookie linebacker Jack Pyburn before the final deadline. Pyburn had stood out in the preseason, finishing with the most sacks on the team, which made his status worth watching as Tampa Bay worked through the last wave of decisions. Instead, his future now shifts to the waiver process, where every team gets a look before the next chapter begins.
Pyburns next step is unusual enough to make this more than a standard roster note. Because of an ongoing legal challenge to NCAA eligibility rules for players with professional experience, there is at least a path for him to potentially return to college football at LSU. LSU and other players are involved in that litigation, and preliminary injunction hearings are scheduled, leaving Pyburn in a waiting game that stretches beyond the NFL waiver wire and into a broader eligibility fight. [Read more 🡒]