Between selecting Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves on Thursday night and preparing to add several more players on the second evening of the draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also did a little bit of roster trimming.
On Friday afternoon, the team announced the waivers of eight players from their offseason roster: wide receiver Andre Davis, linebacker Darius Eubanks, guard Antoine Everett, safety Gerod Holliman, defensive tackle Derrick Lott, safety Kimario McFadden, linebacker Jermauria Rasco and cornerback C.J. Roberts.
The roster moves weren't strictly necessary in order to create room for the final two days of the draft. The Buccaneers began the draft with 74 rostered players, which increased to 75 with the selection of Hargreaves in the first round, and are allowed up to 90 during the offseason. At the moment, Tampa Bay has seven more picks to execute on Friday and Saturday, which could go up or down a bit if additional trades are made.
However, the Bucs likely wanted some additional room to sign undrafted free agents at the conclusion of the seventh round on Saturday night. Also, the team just finished a three-day mini-camp, which gave Dirk Koetter's coaching staff a better opportunity to evaluate the players on the roster.
Davis, Everett, Holliman, Lott and Roberts were all on Tampa Bay's practice squad at the conclusion of the 2015 season, and all were re-signed to futures contracts to start the new year. Eubanks had spent one week on the practice squad, too, before being promoted to the active roster for the season finale. McFadden also finished last season on the 53-man roster, his second active stint sandwiched around a four-week run on the practice squad. Rasco was signed to a futures contract for the 2016 league season on February 6.
