Buccaneers start roster cuts with surprising veteran decision

While Ross Cockrell didn’t seem like an absolute lock to make the Buccaneers final roster, he didn’t seem like one of the first cuts either.

The Buccaneers started their roster cuts with a bang.

We all knew that five guys were coming, and while the positions cut don’t come as a surprise, one player in particular stands out as a strange decision.

Veteran defensive back Ross Cockrell was amongst the first players cut as the Bucs get their roster down to the required 85 players.

Cockrell brought some versatility to the Buccaneer defense with history playing both safety and corner and was a Super Bowl champion. None of this was enough to prolong his time on the team.

Again, the cut itself doesn’t really come as a shock when looking at the depth and the addition of some new blood at the position. The timing of the cut is what seems strange.

What this tells us is that Tampa had no intention of Cockrell making the final roster in the first place. This was likely the best way for the Bucs to show some loyalty to a veteran while also letting him have a chance to land with another team before the start of the regular season.

Still, not keeping Cockrell is a bold move for a team that suffered so many injuries during the season last year.

The Bucs always need help from some veterans, but it seems like this move shows that there is some confidence in the roster that Todd Bowles and company has created outside of the veteran.

Perhaps there is some additional hype surrounding Logan Ryan and Zyon McCollum internally. It will be interesting to see how this plays out through the rest of camp, even if the final result is not all that hard to believe.

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