Some late-season roster shuffling has led to a second shot at regular-season action for Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter.
On Wednesday, the Buccaneers promoted Ledbetter from the practice squad to the active roster, filling a spot created the day before when tight end Alan Cross and safety Justin Evans were placed on injured reserve. The team immediately filled one of the subsequent roster openings by promoting tight end Donnie Ernsberger on Tuesday before doing the same with Ledbetter, who had been on the practice squad since the first week of the season.
Those two promotions led to a pair of open spots on the practice squad, which the team then used to sign defensive ends Alec James and Farrington Huguenin.
Ledbetter (6-3, 295) was a sixth-round pick by Detroit in the 2017 draft and he played in all 16 games for the Lions last fall. His rookie totals included 14 tackles, 0.5 sacks and four quarterback hits. Ledbetter went back to training camp with the Lions this summer but was waived during the final roster cuts. The Buccaneers signed him to their practice squad the next day. Ledbetter played two seasons at Arkansas after transferring from Hutchinson Community College and recorded 104 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss.
James (6-3, 258) signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin this past spring and spent the first month of the season on the Cardinals' practice squad. Huguenin (6-4, 255) was on the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squad for the entire 2017 season and most of 2018 before being waived three weeks ago. He was originally an undrafted free agent out of Kentucky with the Miami Dolphins in 2016.
