The end of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2022 campaign also meant the end of their practice squad, as those player contracts automatically expire when a team's season concludes. However, the Buccaneers want to keep most of that crew around in 2023.
On Tuesday, the day after the Buccaneers dropped out of the playoffs with a 31-14 Wild Card Round loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the team re-signed 13 of the 16 players who were on their practice squad. Those 13 inked reserve/futures contracts for 2023, which take effect when the new league year begins on March 15. The players who got futures contracts were:
- T Dylan Cook
- CB Don Gardner
- WR Kaylon Geiger
- DL Mike Greene
- T Grant Hermanns
- RB Patrick Laird
- CB Duron Lowe
- DL Willington Previlon
- OLB Hamilcar Rashed
- T Justin Skule
- OLB Charles Snowden
- S Nolan Turner
- TE David Wells
That leaves three other players – quarterback Ryan Griffin, wide receiver Tyler Johnson and outside linebacker Ifeadi Odenigbo – with expiring contracts. They are now free agents.
The Buccaneers made frequent use of their practice squad during the 2022 season, commonly elevating the maximum number of two players from that unit on game days. A total of 12 different players received game-day elevations during the season, for a total of 24 times. There were also eight players who got promoted to the active roster after first serving on the practice squad, including wide receiver/return man Deven Thompkins, defensive lineman Deadrin Senat and outside linebacker Genard Avery.
The majority of the players the Bucs signed to futures contracts on Monday are in their first two years in the NFL, with Laird and Skule as the notable exceptions. All will get a chance to try to earn a spot on the 2023 roster, as guard John Molchon did this past season after signing a futures contract last January.
