The Tampa Bay Buccaneers formed their first 53-man roster for the 2024 regular season roster with a series of moves on Tuesday afternoon, and it currently tilts a bit towards the defensive side. Three of 53 spots necessarily go to the specialist trio of punter-kicker-snapper, leaving 50 spots to be divvied up between the positions on offense and defense. The Buccaneers current roster devotes 27 of those spots to defensive players, including 11 defensive backs.

The Buccaneers were able to keep an extra defensive back as well as six outside linebackers because they chose to keep just two quarterbacks on the active roster and will almost certainly carry a third on the practice squad. Last year, the team started the season the same way before eventually promoting John Wolford to the 53-man roster and carry three quarterbacks. The Bucs also went one lighter than usual at running back, carrying three and placing Chase Edmonds on season-ending injured reserve.

Tampa Bay's 2024 roster is also quite young, with nine rookies and 30 players added as draft picks or undrafted rookies in the last three years. Forty of the 53 are 26 or younger and only three are over 30: Lavonte David, Mike Evans and Will Gholston.

Starting Wednesday, the Buccaneers will begin building a 16-man practice squad, which means that many of the players who did not make it through Tuesday's cuts will be back in the building.

Listed below is how the initial 53-man roster breaks down, with the players listed alphabetically at each position (rookies marked with an asterisk).

Quarterbacks (2): Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask

As noted, the Buccaneers will go with just two quarterbacks on the active roster. If they do carry a third quarterback on the practice squad, as expected, Wolford would be an obvious candidate. Trask took competition from Wolford for the number two spot behind Mayfield but held him off with a strong preseason performance that included three touchdown passes, one interception and a 91.6 passer rating.

Running Backs (3): Bucky Irving *, Sean Tucker, Rachaad White

Edmonds suffered a knee injury early in training camp and never got back on the field. White and Tucker are incumbents from the 2023 running back room and Irving was a valued fourth-round draft pick. The only other backs in training camp were the undrafted rookie duo of Ramon Jefferson and D.J. Williams, and one or both could come back on the practice squad. White is the clear starter but Irving is expected to take some of the load off him as White led all running backs in offensive snaps last year. Irving averaged 4.4 yards per carry in the preseason, and Tucker topped that at 5.7 per carry.

Wide Receivers (5): Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Kameron Johnson, Jalen McMillan *, Trey Palmer

The Bucs often run with six receivers on the active roster, so this year's group to start the season is about as light as the team would ever go at the position. Of course, Jarrett will be eligible to return from injured reserve after four games, so the numbers could change. The decision to run with five may be an indication that the competition for a sixth spot between the likes of Jarrett, Ryan Miller and Cody Thompson was very close, and the team will probably try to get several of the receivers it cut on Tuesday back on the practice squad. Evans, Godwin, McMillan (a third-round draft pick who was excellent throughout camp and the preseason) and Palmer seemed like roster locks but the surprise was Johnson, an undrafted rookie who has impressed since arriving in May. Johnson is the first player ever to make an NFL roster out of Barton College.

Tight Ends (4): Devin Culp *, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Cade Otton

Cade Otton and Payne Durham clearly ran as the top two tight ends throughout training camp, and it's unclear as of now how many tight end snaps there will be to go around if new Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen heavily favors three-receiver sets. Still, Kieft is the best blocker of the bunch and a very good special teams player, while Culp showed flashes of the big-play ability that made him a seventh-round draft pick.

Offensive Linemen (9): Graham Barton *, Ben Bredeson, Luke Goedeke, Robert Hainsey, Elijah Klein *, Cody Mauch, Justin Skule, Brandon Walton, Tristan Wirfs

The Bucs went with the typical number of offensive linemen on the 53-man roster, and eight of the nine will likely be active on game days. Barton, the team's first-round draft pick, won the starting center job, moving Robert Hainsey into a versatile backup role. Head Coach Todd Bowles has indicated that Skule is likely to be the swing tackle on game days. Klein showed the versatility to play guard and tackle during an impressive preseason.

Defensive Linemen (6): Earnest Brown, Greg Gaines, Will Gholston, Calijah Kancey, Logan Hall, Vita Vea

This is also the typical number of defensive linemen the team usually carries, allowing for one backup at each of the three listed starting spots, which are filled by Vea, Kancey and Hall. Those three plus Gaines and Gholston are all holdovers from last year's roster, making Brown the only newcomer, and he was a bit of a longshot, only arriving as a free agent in late May after he was let go by the 49ers. Gholston is entering his 12th season with the Buccaneers and is the team's second-longest tenured player after David.

Outside Linebackers (6): Chris Braswell *, Yaya Diaby, Anthony Nelson, Jose Ramirez, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Markees Watts

For the second straight season, the Buccaneers are going one heavier than usual at outside linebacker. Diaby, Nelson, Ramirez, Tryon-Shoyinka and Watts all return from last year's squad, making Braswell, a second-round pick out of Alabaman, the lone newcomer. However, Ramirez is new to the active roster after spending his entire rookie season on the practice squad; he led the Bucs during the preseason with 3.0 sacks. Diaby and Tryon-Shoyinka are likely to open the season as starters but there will be a deep rotation at the spot.

Inside Linebackers (4): K.J. Britt, Lavonte David, SirVocea Dennis, J.J. Russell

The Buccaneers went relatively light at off-ball linebacker, which should be an indication that Dennis, who missed the preseason with a minor injury, is ready to go. Russell makes the opening-day roster for the first time in his career after spending the majority of his first two seasons on the Buccaneers' practice squad. Britt is expected to be an opening-day starter for the first time in his career, as well. David enters his 13th season as the Buccaneers' longest-tenured player and has played the fifth-most games of any player in team history.

Cornerbacks (5): Jamel Dean, Tyrek Funderburk *, Bryce Hall, Josh Hayes, Zyon McCollum

Five cornerbacks might seem a little light but that's misleading because the slot corner job is likely to go to one of three players listed with the safeties below: Smith, Izien or Thomas. Dean and McCollum are the starters, and it appears that Hall, an offseason free agent pickup from the Jets, would be first in line to fill in on the outside if those two are unavailable. Funderburk was one of two undrafted rookies to make the cut along with Kameron Johnson, though he was unable to play in the last two preseason games due to an ankle injury.

Safeties (6): Christian Izien, Kaevon Merriweather, Tykee Smith *, Tavierre Thomas, Jordan Whitehead, Antoine Winfield Jr.

While they battle for the slot assignment, Smith, Izien and Thomas are all cross-training at safety, as well. Thomas played extensively at safety in the preseason with Whitehead and Merriweather sidelined by injuries, and is exploring that position for the first time in his career. Winfield and Whitehead are the starters, provided both are healthy, and the other four are all likely to have major roles on special teams.

Specialists (3): Jake Camarda, Chase McLaughlin, Evan Deckers

Camarda and McLaughlin are holdovers from last season but Deckers is on an NFL active roster for the first time, having won a training camp battle with incumbent Zach Triner. Deckers first joined the Buccaneers as an undrafted rookie out of Duke in 2023 and did spend a few weeks on the practice squad later in the season.

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