The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived or released 36 players (with two others going on injured reserve) on Tuesday as they got their roster down to the regular-season limit of 53, but at least 15 of those 36 will be back on the practice field next week.
On Thursday, the Buccaneers announced that they had signed 16 players to the first iteration of their 2024 practice squad, 15 of whom were with the team before Tuesday's league-wide round of cuts. The 16th is punter Seth Vernon, who was cut by the Vikings last week. Tampa Bay actually has one remaining spot to fill, as they are allowed to carry 17 players on the practice squad this year because tackle Lorenz Metz carries a roster exemption through the NFL's International Player Pathway program.
After going with the relatively light total of five receivers on the active roster to start the season, the Buccaneers loaded up at the position on their practice squad, bringing back Ryan Miller, Sterling Shepard and Cody Thompson. Miller caught five passes for 56 yards and a touchdown during the preseason after spending all of his rookie season on the Buccaneers' practice squad. Shepard missed most of training camp and the preseason with an unspecified injury but has 372 career receptions from his time with the Giants. Thompson led the NFL during the preseason with 15 catches, which he turned into 137 yards and a touchdown.
Here are the first 16 players signed to the Buccaneers' 2024 practice squad:
- S Marcus Banks
- DL C.J. Brewer
- DL Mike Greene
- LB Antonio Grier
- OLB Daniel Grzesiak
- OL Luke Haggard
- G Avery Jones
- LB Vi Jones
- T Lorenz Metz
- WR Ryan Miller
- WR Sterling Shepard
- TE Tanner Taula
- WR Cody Thompson
- P Seth Vernon
- RB D.J. Williams
- S Rashad Wisdom
Banks, Grier, Grzesiak, A. Jones, Williams and Wisdom were all undrafted rookies signed by the Buccaneers in May. Brewer, Haggard, Miller and Taula all spent the entire 2023 season on Tampa Bay's practice squad, and V. Jones was on that unit for half of the campaign. Greene was on the Bucs' active roster last season, appearing in 10 games with two starts before landing on injured reserve in November.
In addition to Greene, Brewer, Shepard and Thompson have previous regular-season experience in the NFL. Most notably, Shepard played eight seasons for the Giants before signing with the Buccaneers in June. Miller also played in one game last season for the Bucs after being elevated from the practice squad.
Vernon originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Portland State with the Falcons in 2022. He started training camp in Atlanta as a rookie but was waived in mid-August. Vernon later signed with the Vikings this April.
That elevation option, first introduced in 2020, has made the practice squad an even more important resource for NFL teams, as has its expansion to 16 players. During the regular season, each individual player can be elevated three times, and each team can elevate up to two players per game. In the postseason, the limit of two elevations continues but individual players can be elevated an unlimited number of times.
