Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Breaking down the initial 53-man roster
By Ryan Doyle
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wrapped up the majority of their roster moves before the season opener against the New Orleans Saints, and some surprising players will be donning the red and pewter in 2018.
Cut day is never fun in the NFL. The dream of playing professional football ends abruptly for hundreds of hopeful players. It was no different for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday.
General manager Jason Licht and head coach Dirk Koetter were hard at work trying to create the best team possible. On one of the busiest days leading up to the regular season, the Buccaneers settled their first initial roster.
The Buccaneers cut day was full of surprises as the team moved on from a handful of fan favorites and key contributors from a season ago.
Tampa Bay released special teams ace Josh Robinson along with versatile safety Keith Tandy. It will be a new look secondary for the Bucs in 2018.
On the offensive side, there will be added depth in the trenches to begin the season. The Bucs decided to keep ten offensive linemen as surprise roster addition Adam Gettis enters the fold.
There are indeed a handful of players who Tampa Bay would have loved to keep. However, depth at a position or injuries forced them to go in another direction. The Buccaneers will fill their practice squad over the next couple of days in hopes to keep talent in-house.
The organization hopes that with its new look roster, with over 20 players who weren’t on the team to open last season, can finally return to the postseason for the first time in over a decade.