After a series of injury-related personnel maneuvers on Monday and Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went into Wednesday of Week Eight with two open spots on their 53-man roster. They filled them before the start of their morning walk-through, promoting punter Trenton Gill and wide receiver Ryan Miller from the practice squad.
In addition, the Buccaneers placed wide receiver Chris Godwin on injured reserve due to the dislocated ankle he sustained on Monday night against Baltimore. Head Coach Todd Bowles indicated on Tuesday that Godwin is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024 season.
After the promotions of Gill and Miller, the Buccaneers subsequently filled the open spots on their 17-man practice squad by signing punter Jack Browning and wide receiver Dennis Houston.
Gill takes over as the Bucs' punter following the release of Jake Camarda on Tuesday. Gill had been on the team's practice squad since the fourth week of the season and he had already been elevated for game day the maximum number of three times. In those three games, he punted eight times for 330 yards, with a gross average of 41.3 yards per kick and a net of 38.8. A seventh-round pick out of North Carolina State by Chicago in 2022, Gill handled the Bears' punting duties in 2022 and 2023, recording a gross average of 46.1 yards per kick and a net of 38.5. He also placed 38 punts inside the 20 during that span, with 11 touchbacks.
Miller, who played his college ball at Furman, signed with the Bucs in May of 2023 as an undrafted free agent. He spent all of his rookie on the Buccaneers' practice squad, playing in one regular season game after being elevated for the weekend. He has also played in one game this season after a game day elevation, recording one 39-yard catch in the Buccaneers' Week Six win in New Orleans.
Browning signed with the Buffalo Bills out of San Diego State as an undrafted rookie this offseason. He spent time in training camps with both the Bills and the Baltimore Ravens this summer. He handled punting and placekicking duties at SDSU, averaging 45.8 yards on 122 punts over two seasons and making 35 of 47 field goal tries and all 53 of his extra point attempts.
An undrafted free agent out of Western Illinois, Houston signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 and made the active roster to start the season. He got into two games and recorded two receptions for 16 yards. He went back to training camp with the Cowboys in 2023 but eventually ended up on the New York Giants' practice squad for the entire season. He went to training camp with the Giants this summer but was waived with an injury settlement at the end of August.
