3 former Buccaneers that could leave retirement to play now
By Rob Leeds
Retired players may not be real options for teams to pull from like the draft, free agency, or trades, but these retired Buccaneers could still help today.
As the 2020 season approaches, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have turned their sights towards filling out the remainder of their roster with the best talent available.
The Bucs had a great draft, signed some of the best free agents available, and even made a trade that seemed like a distinct impossibility only a few months ago when they added Rob Gronkowski.
The one place that the Bucs haven’t examined, and with good reason, is their pool of retired players, but that doesn’t mean that this will not change.
NFL players leave retirement all the time to return to the game that they love so much. Life after football is often tricky to adjust to, and any reasons why retirement seemed like a good idea at the time are easily forgotten when reality sets in.
Players can often be dissatisfied with life after football, and Tampa Bay was a recent beneficiary of this occurrence. Gronk seemed like he would never even touch a football again after his retirement, with good jobs lined up that paid well and didn’t entail the physical demands of football.
Despite what may have seemed realistic, Gronkowski decided to return from retirement and is now on the roster for the Buccaneers.
Another recent example is tight end Jason Witten, who also had a job after his retirement but is now gearing up for his second NFL season post-retirement.
With other retired players like Percy Harvin expressing a willingness to return to the game, the prospect of playing alongside Tom Brady could bring some additional names out of retirement.
With all of that being said, here are three retired Tampa Bay Buccaneers that could return to the team for another shot at the NFL in 2020.