5 Buccaneers players who won’t make the 53-man roster in 2024
By Ryan Heckman
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to navigate this year's free agency period about as good as fans possibly could have asked.
Baker Mayfield, Antoine Winfield and Mike Evans are all back. The top three priorities remained in Tampa, thankfully.
But, after the bulk of the free agency period has died down, we take a look at the current state of the roster and what guys might be in danger going forward.
There are five players, specifically, who probably won't make it to the end of the summer.
Cephus Johnson III, WR
The Bucs' top three wide receivers are locked and loaded with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Trey Palmer. Beyond those three, it's Rakim Jarrett and Deven Thompkins as the next guys up. There are a handful of receivers behind those five, including 2023 undrafted free agent Cephus Johnson III. Johnson spent last season as a practice squad member, mostly, and will probably continue down that road for 2024.
Patrick Laird, RB
Rachaad White's breakout came at a great time, because this was almost a position where the Bucs needed to completely go in a different direction. Now, the hope is that Sean Tucker takes a leap in Year 2 and can become a nice compliment. Kenyan Drake is still around, and so is Patrick Laird. Ideally, the Bucs find either a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent to take both of their places.
Logan Stenberg, G
The guard position is still a spot the Bucs could afford to upgrade by way of the draft, therefore someone like Logan Stenberg is definitely in danger of losing his job by the end of summer. Cody Mauch isn't an ideal starter for now, and Stenberg sits behind him on the depth chart. More than likely, after the draft, Stenberg's job goes into jeopardy. The former fourth-round pick back in 2020 has not played in a regular season game since 2022.
Eric Banks, DE
Fifth-year pro Eric Banks signed with the Bucs earlier this year, in January, and is now on his fifth team is as many years. The former UTSA product finds himself at the tail end of the defensive end depth, at the moment. Since going undrafted in 2020, Banks has only appeared in six career games. At this stage, he would need quite the turn in his career in order to make the Bucs' final roster.
Keenan Isaac, CB
For about the past year or so, cornerback Keenan Isaac has been a practice squad player for Tampa Bay. Like some of these other guys, he's an end-of-roster candidate and likely just a camp body. You could argue he's fifth or sixth in outside corner depth, and that's before the draft. It would take a monstrous offseason for Isaac to earn a spot.