The Tampa Bay Buccaneers filled seven of the eight spots available on their brand-new practice squad on Sunday, and all seven are players who were just waived on Saturday when the roster was trimmed to 53 players for the start of the regular season.
Cornerback Deveron Carr, offensive lineman Jace Daniels, linebacker Ka'lial Glaud, defensive tackle Matthew Masifilo, tight end Danny Noble, wide receiver Chris Owusu and tackle Mike Remmers all made quick returns to the organization on Sunday and will now have the chance to continue their quests to make it onto the active roster. Last season alone, four players were promoted to Tampa Bay's 53-man roster after spending some time on the practice squad.
The Buccaneers still have one spot to fill on their practice squad and, of course, that group is tweaked throughout the season as some players are promoted and others are added to help address practice-field shortages at certain positions. The first seven players on the squad are a mix of rookies who signed with Tampa Bay as undrafted free agents this spring (Carr, Daniels and Glaud) and holdovers from last year's team (Masifilo, Noble, Owusu and Remmers).
Carr (5-11, 190) played in all four preseason games and turned in two tackles and two passes defensed. At Arizona State, he played in 42 games with 34 starts and recorded 86 tackles, two interceptions and 22 passes defensed.
The 6-4, 300-pound Daniels (6-4, 300) also saw action in all four preseason games for Tampa Bay in August. He was a four-year letter-winner at Northern Michigan, starting all 42 games in which he played and earning first-team all-conference honors as a senior.
Glaud (6-2, 220) played the entire 2013 preseason slate for the Buccaneers and was credited with 11 tackles, one for a loss. At Rutgers, Glaud got into 48 games and made 17 starts, finishing his collegiate career with 86 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and two interceptions.
The Buccaneers plucked Masifilo (6-3, 280) off San Francisco's practice squad last November, after he had entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford. Masifilo was inactive for the final seven games this last fall, but this August he played in four games and had two tackles, one for a loss.
Like Rutgers' Tim Wright this year, Noble (6-5, 248) was an undrafted rookie free agent who made the Buccaneers' 53-man roster in 2012. He got into four games before landing on injured reserve with a hamstring ailment. During the 2013 preseason he pitched in with five catches for 43 yards.
The 6-2, 200-pound Owusu is another player who entered the NFL as a 49ers undrafted signee last year, and another player the Buccaneers grabbed off another team's practice squad in the fall; in Owusu's case, he was with the San Diego Chargers when Tampa Bay came calling. Owusu signed with the Buccaneers on September 21 and eventually got into five games, making one catch for 24 yards. This preseason he caught two passes for 48 yards in the opener against Baltimore but was unable to play in the final three games due to a minor injury.
Remmers (6-5, 303) is familiar with the Bucs' practice squad; he spent 16 of 17 weeks with that crew last year after entering the NFL as an undrafted signee out of Oregon State with the Denver Broncos. During the 2013 preseason he played in all four games and started two, one at left guard and one at left tackle.
