Mississippi State RB Fred Reid, an undrafted rookie, was one of five players released by the Bucs on Monday
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have begun the necessary work to get their roster in line before next month's training camp, waiving five players.
The five released players were cornerback Carlos Campbell, linebacker Richard Glover, tackle Matt Martin, cornerback Dominique Morris and running back Fred Reid; all but Martin were rookie free agents signed after the 2005 NFL Draft.
The moves allowed the Buccaneers to shrink their bloated roster slightly from 102 players to 97. Although the NFL-mandated limit is 80 players during the offseason and into training camp, Tampa Bay is operating with 10 roster exemptions earned by players sent over to NFL Europe this spring. In addition, the 12 players drafted in April do not count against the limit until they have signed their first contracts.
Thus, the Bucs need to get their roster down to 90 players by the beginning of camp on July 28. Each time one of the draftees is signed, another player will have to be waived; Monday's cuts gave the Bucs a head start on that process.
Morris, of Vanderbilt, and Reid, of Mississippi State, were among the nine rookies the team signed immediately after the draft's conclusion on April 25. Campbell, of Notre Dame, was one of four players Tampa Bay elected to keep on the day after its rookie camp the following weekend, which included 20 players participating on tryout contracts. Glover, of New Mexico State, was also one of the 20 tryout players, though he wasn't signed to the active roster until June 3.
Only Martin had previous NFL experience before signing with the Buccaneers. He was also a college free agent, but with the Tennessee Titans in 2002. He spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad, most of his second season on the active roster and all of 2004 on injured reserve. The Bucs signed Martin on April 12.
