Tampa Bay Buccaneers final 53-man roster for 2024 season revealed
By Josh Hill
It's been over half a year since we've watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play meaningful football, but that's about to change.
Week 1 will kick off in just over a week; with it, football will be back in our lives. The games will count on paper, but the three that the Bucs played in August counted differently. Teams have until Tuesday to cut their rosters down to 53 players, something that Tampa Bay has already managed to do.
The Bucs wrapped up their preseason on Friday night against Miami and went to work slicing up the training camp roster. There were obvious locks, but most of the drama was on the fringe of the roster, thanks to the talented group Tampa Bay brought to camp.
Some tough decisions needed to be made, but the Bucs have finalized the group of guys they will carry into the season, hoping to run things back even further than last year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers final 53-man roster for 2024 season
Offense
QB
- Baker Mayfield
- Kyle Trask
RB
- Rachaad White
- Bucky Irving
- Sean Tucker
There were no surprises in the first two position groups. John Wolford was waived but is expected to end up on the practice squad and once again serve as the emergency quarterback on Sundays. Chase Edmonds isn't on the final roster because he was placed on IR and will miss the entire season -- something that opens up a lane for Tucker to shine in ways he was unable to last year.
WR
- Mike Evans
- Chris Godwin
- Jalen McMillan
- Trey Palmer
- Kam Johnson
This is where the first tough cut was made. Cody Thompson was a preseason darling and looked to have locked up.a roster spot. Instead, the Bucs will carry just five wide receivers into the season and Thompson was the odd-man-out.
He's expected to end up on the practice squad, though, so it's likely not the last we've seen of him in Tampa Bay.
TE
- Cade Otton
- Payne Durham
- Ko Kieft
- Devin Culp
When Liam Coen was with the Los Angeles Rams, he and Sean McVay chose to carry seven receivers and just two tight ends into the regular season. That he's now bringing four tight ends in Tampa Bay is a testament to how talented this group is.
OL
- Tristan Wirfs
- Ben Bredeson
- Graham Barton
- Cody Mauch
- Luke Goedeke
- Robert Hainsey
- Justin Skule
- Brandon Walton
- Elijah Klein
No surprises again, as the Bucs were projected to take at least nine offensive lineman into the season and did exactly that.
Defense
DL
- Vita Vea
- Calijah Kancey
- Logan Hall
- Greg Gaines
- Will Gholston
- Earnest Brown
With some extra cuts on the offensive side of the ball, Tampa Bay was able to carry a few more defensive players into the season. The first group that got expanded was the defensive line. There were hard decisions to make, but instead of cutting dow the Bucs decided to add two more lineman than originally projected.
LB
- Yaya Diaby
- Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
- Chris Braswell
- Anthony Nelson
- Markees Watts
- Jose Ramirez
- Lavonte David
- K.J. Britt
- SirVocea Dennis
- J.J. Russell
Linebacker went about as expected, which is great considering how deeply talented the group is. Jose Ramirez and J.J. Russell are the last guys in, and there's an arguement to be made that they'd have easily secured roster spots elsewhere in the league.
There was a tight battle for the final spots in Tampa Bay, though, and both players earned their keep in the preseason.
DB
- Jamel Dean (CB)
- Zyon McCollum (CB)
- Antoine Winfield (S)
- Jordan Whitehead (S)
- Tykee Smith (NB)
- Christian Izien (NB)
- Bryce Hall (CB)
- Kaevon Merriweather (S)
- Josh Hayes (CB)
- Tavierre Thomas (S)
- Tyrek Funderburk (CB)
Two fringe players who made cases for roster spots were Rashad Wisdom and Marcus Banks -- neither of whom made the final cut. Tampa Bay will carry just four safeties into the season, but the group is already markedly better than the one it had last season.
That left some extra room for cornerback, where the Bucs have seven players including nickle corners. Christian Izien rather surprisingly found himself on the roster bubble but made the cut for a second straight year. He'll be joined by Tyrek Funderburk, who becomes one of two undrafted rookies to make the roster -- a distinction that Izien enjoyed last season.
ST
- K: Chase McLaughlin
- P: Jake Camarda
- LS: Eric Deckers
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