With one swing, Shilo Sanders punched out any chance he had of making the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 53-man roster.
He might have outright cost himself a spot with the team in general, as his ejection in Saturday night's preseason finale seems to have closed the door on him returning as part of the team's practice squad as well.
It's a bummer way for his journey in Tampa Bay to end, as up until the point Sanders punched Buffalo Bills tight end Zach Davidson he had been doing all the right things.
Now we're starting to learn more context about what caused Sanders to throw away his shot the way he did.
New angle of Shilo Sanders punching Bills player explains what led to the incident
A new angle shows the moments leading up to when Sanders punched Davidson, and while it doesn't excuse his boneheadedness, it does explain why he was so heated. It appears that Davidson was grabbing Sanders' facemask, which went unflagged despite pleas by Todd Bowles that a foul had been committed.
Of course, the only flag that was thrown was on Sanders -- rightfully so, but he didn't act alone.
Here is another angle of the Shilo Sanders ejection. You can see Zach Davidson climb to the facemask, which is what Todd Bowles was arguing to the refs afterwards. pic.twitter.com/XsSuFyT6Kw
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) August 24, 2025
It's still a deeply stupid thing that Sanders did, but this at least shows us it wasn't unprompted.
Still, Bowles said it best after the game when he lambasted the rookie for not being smart enough to keep a level head at that moment. For all the good he did during offseason camps, the fact that Sanders let his emotions get the best of him proved he isn't ready to help the Bucs the way they need.
The Bucs have a hard enough time avoiding dumb mistakes with veterans good enough to make the final roster, they don't need a hotheaded Sanders potentially playing into that as well.
Jason Licht brought Sanders in as an undrafted free agent, but he's also been extremely candid about how he doesn't put up with bad attitudes. That's not to say Sanders only has that, but the fact that it reared its head at the worst possible time plays into Licht's 'No A-Holes' rule he explained goes into picking players to add to the locker room.
Sanders still has a future somewhere in football, but it's not going to be in Tampa Bay.
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