As expected, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a small round of roster moves to announce on Monday, the day after the conclusion of their latest rookie mini-camp. Roughly 50 of the 80 players who participated in the three-day camp did so on "tryout contracts," the majority of them undrafted rookies, and for five of those tryout players the weekend ended with some very good news.
The Buccaneers revealed on Monday that they have signed the following five players to their offseason roster (rookies marked with an "R"):
- WR Jheranie Boyd, North Carolina (R)
- T Jace Daniels, Northern Michigan (R)
- WR Chris Denton, Mount Union (R)
- LB Ka'lial Glaud, Rutgers (R)
- DT Andre Neblett, Temple
To make room on the 90-man roster for those five additions, the Buccaneers waived defensive tackle Richard Clebert, wide receiver D.J. Monroe and running back Akeem Shavers and terminated guard Roger Allen and defensive end George Selvie. (Waived and terminated are similar actions, the specific choice based on a player's accrued pension credits.) Monroe and Shavers were two of 13 the undrafted free agents the Buccaneers signed a week ago, while Clebert and Selvie were added to the roster earlier this offseason and Allen spent much of last season on Tampa Bay's practice squad.
Boyd (6-2, 190) offers an intriguing size-speed combination that made him a dangerous deep threat at Carolina, as evidenced by his career average of 19.5 yards per reception. Boyd was limited by leg injuries as a senior last fall, getting into just three games and recording four receptions for 44 yards and one score. Over four seasons, however, he snared 44 passes for 860 yards and 13 touchdowns, scoring on nearly 30% of his catches. The Tar Heels occasionally used Boyd on running plays, as well, and he finished with 193 yards and a score on 28 carries.
Daniels (6-4, 300) started every game at left tackle for Northern Michigan over the past two seasons, earning first-team all-conference honors in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last year as a senior. He was also a second-team all-GLIAC choice in 2011 and was a four-year letter-winner for the Wildcats. Daniels is attempt to become the first NMU player to make an NFL roster since linebacker Mark Maddox with the Arizona Cardinals in 2000.
Denton (5-11, 195) comes to the Buccaneers after helping the Mount Union Purple Raiders win the 2012 Division III National Championship after a runner-up finish the year before. Denton was a Division III first-team All-American selection last year as a return man after scoring an NCAA-record five touchdowns on punt returns. He also ranked second on the team with 73 catches for 960 yards and six touchdowns, pushing his two-year totals at Mount Union to 121 receptions for 1,537 yards and 16 TDs. Denton played the previous two seasons at Norwich University in Vermont. The Purple Raiders, who already had three pass-catching alumni playing in the NFL in 2012 (Pierre Garcon, Cecil Shorts III and Kyle Miller), saw four more of their men sign with NFL teams over the weekend.
Glaud (6-2, 230) emerged as a full-time starter for Rutgers last fall after converting from linebacker to defensive end in 2011. He started 12 of 13 games for the Scarlet Knights in 2012, recording 39 tackles, three sacks, four tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed. He contributed two sacks as a part-time player at defensive end in 2011 and finished his Rutgers career with 86 tackles, five sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
Neblett (6-0, 310) is the only one of Monday's five signees with previous NFL experience, having successfully pulled off the undrafted free agent-to-active roster transition with the Carolina Panthers in 2010. Over the next three seasons, he played in 30 games with seven starts and recorded 3.0 sacks, with 2.5 of them coming in 2011. That season, Neblett appeared in 12 games with four starts for the Panthers and recorded one of his sacks against Josh Freeman and the Buccaneers while also recovering a fumble in a December game played in Charlotte. At Temple, Neblett played in 49 games with 45 starts and was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference selection, including a first-team selection in his 2009 senior campaign.
