John Hughes is back on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' active roster and Major Wright has departed after a two-game stint with the team.
The Buccaneers re-signed Hughes, a fifth-year defensive tackle, after clearing a spot on the 53-man roster with the release of Wright. Hughes had just been released on Saturday so that the team could promote wide receiver Donteea Dye from the practice squad after wide receiver Adam Humphries was ruled out of Sunday's game.
The Buccaneers first signed the 6-2, 320-pound Hughes on October 3, after he had been released by the New England Patriots. He was pressed immediately into service as the Bucs' defensive line was dealing with a multitude of injuries to its rotation regulars. Hughes played in five games and contributed six tackles; he was inactive for the following three games as the defensive line began to enjoy better overall health.
A third-round pick by Cleveland in 2012, Hughes played in 53 games with 10 starts for the Browns, including this year's season-opener, before he was released on September 20. He did not appear in a game during his brief stay with the Patriots that same month.
Overall, Hughes has recorded 3.0 sacks, 108 tackles, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in his NFL career. Last year, the University of Cincinnati product played in all 16 games for Cleveland and made three starts, contributing 24 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Wright signed with the Buccaneers as an unrestricted free agent in 2014 after four seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played in 21 games with nine starts over the next two seasons and returned to training camp in Tampa this past summer before being released prior to the regular season. The Buccaneers brought Wright back on November 29 after starting safety Chris Conte suffered a chest injury that has kept him out of the last two games. Wright's release may indicate that Conte is close to returning to action.
