The Tampa Bay Buccaneers still aren't at capacity on their 10-man practice squad, but they're a bit closer after a handful of moves on Tuesday.
The Buccaneers have signed tight end Cameron Brate, tackle Reid Fragel and wide receiver Rannell Hall to that unit, while also releasing tackles Edawn Coughman and Terren Jones. That leaves the team with one open spot as it prepares to resume practice on Wednesday afternoon.
Tampa Bay had begun the process of forming its ever-changing practice squad on Monday with the signing of eight players: Coughman and Jones, cornerbacks Jude Adjei-Barimah and Imoan Claiborne, wide receivers Kaelin Clay and Donteea Dye, defensive end Howard Jones and linebacker Josh Keyes. With Tuesday's tweaks to the lineup, the team now has a nine-man squad made up mostly of players who were in the Bucs' training. The two exceptions (so far) are Claiborne and Howard Jones.
Brate, Fragel and Hall went to training camp with the Buccaneers and all three actually made it past the cuts on Saturday and were part of the original 53-man roster. However, they were waived on Sunday when the team claimed five other players off waivers; as such, they had to clear their own waivers before the Bucs could bring them back.
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Brate, a first-year player out of Harvard, has already made a successful transition from the practice squad to the active roster once before. Last year, as an undrafted rookie, he spent 12 weeks on the practice squad before being promoted in late November. Brate appeared in the team's last five games, making one start and catching a 17-yard pass.
Fragel actually joined the Buccaneers as a waiver claim back in early May, just after the 2015 draft. He had been released by the Falcons, but not before he spent most of last season on Atlanta's practice squad working under then-Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter. Reunited with Koetter in Tampa, Fragel impressed enough to earn three preseason starts at right tackle after an injury to Demar Dotson. He was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round in 2013 out of Ohio State and has also logged time with the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts. Fragel spent the second half of the 2013 season on Cleveland's active roster but has yet to see action in a regular-season game.
Hall joined the team as an undrafted rookie this year out of Central Florida. He was the team's second-leading receiver during the preseason, with eight catches for 104 yards, and he also averaged 31.0 yards on three kickoff returns.
As the name implies, practice squad players can practice with their teams during the week but are not eligible to play in games unless they are first promoted to the active roster. While on a practice squad contract, they are still free to sign to another team's active roster. Last year, nine players appeared on the active roster for the Buccaneers after first seeing action on the practice squad.
