- LB Brandon Magee, claimed by the Bucs off waivers Thursday, played eight games for Cleveland last year
- Magee also played baseball at Arizona State and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008
- DE Ronald Talley will start training camp on the Active/NFI list but can return to practice at any time
Like the weekend after the final preseason game, the first few days of training camp are usually accompanied by a handful of roster moves, some of them procedural, some of them prompted by cuts elsewhere around the league.
The Bucs made one move of each variety on Thursday, the day players reported for the team's 2014 training camp. Defensive end Ronald Talley was placed on the Active/Non-Football-Injury list due to a hamstring strain and linebacker Brandon Magee was claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Browns.
Talley was signed by the Buccaneers in June after performing well on a tryout contract in the team's offseason-ending mini-camp. He suffered the hamstring injury before reporting to camp, which is why the NFI classification was applied. Going on the Active/NFI list won't affect Talley's preparations; he remains eligible to rehab and to return to practice at any time. He also still counts against the 90-man roster while on the Active/NFI list. The main purpose of placing a player on an active NFI or PUP list at the start of training camp is to make him eligible for the reserve NFI or PUP lists if his problem lingers into the regular season.
Though Talley still counts against the roster, the Bucs started the day with one open spot. They filled it before the first camp practice on Friday by claiming Magee, who played eight games for the Browns as a rookie last fall.
The 5-11, 225-pound Magee first signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2013 but he was released at the end of the preseason and claimed off waivers by the Browns. During two stints on the active roster sandwiched around a short stay on Cleveland's practice squad, he contributed five tackles.
DE Ronald Talley earned a spot on the camp roster with an impressive tryout in mini-camp but will be sidelined to start training camp
Magee played both football and baseball at Arizona State, as an outside linebacker on the gridiron and an outfielder on the diamond. He played in 44 games during his Sun Devil football career, amassing 231 tackles, 10 sacks, 24.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions. He was also a part of two ASU baseball teams that played in the College World Series.
Magee has been picked in three different Major League Baseball drafts – by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 (29th round), by the Oakland Athletics in 2011 (21st round) and by the Boston Red Sox in 2012 (23rd round). He eventually signed with the Red Sox and went to spring training with them this past season.
