On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that they had waived running back Charles Sims with an injury settlement. Sims had previously been placed on injured reserve on August 24.
As a vested veteran, Sims was not subject to the waiver wire when he was first put on injured reserve. However, the process of removing a veteran from I.R. with a settlement does employ the term "waived."
A third-round draft pick in 2014, Sims played four seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but two were cut in half by injuries. After signing a new one-year deal in April, Sims was vying for a fifth season in Tampa but another bit of bad luck – he sustained a knee injury on the opening kickoff of the Bucs' Week Two preseason game in Tennessee – ended that one before it began.
In all, the former West Virginia standout played in 47 games for the Buccaneers with two starts, recording 958 yards and two touchdowns on 245 carries. He also excelled as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, producing another 1,190 yards and six touchdowns on 129 receptions. Sims's best season as a Buccaneer was 2015, when he had career highs in both rushing yards (529) and receiving yards (561) and teamed with Doug Martin to give the Buccaneers two backs with more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage.
Sims's waiver came hours before the Buccaneers were scheduled to kick off their 2018 preseason finale against Jacksonville. The team is still deciding on the back end of its running back depth chart, with young candidates Shaun Wilson, Dare Ogunbowale and Devine Redding getting one last chance to battle it out against the Jaguars.
