The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a surprising move in the hours before the NFL's roster cutdown deadline, as they waived wide receiver Trey Palmer. Sure, the Buccaneers used high draft capital on wide receivers over the years, but Palmer is just entering his third year in the league. Given that, and a promising rookie season, it's likely that Palmer finds a new team as soon as Wednesday afternoon, if he gets claimed on waivers.
As it turns out, Palmer was a hotter commodity outside of Tampa than he was when the team was deciding on final roster cuts. He was claimed on Wednesday after getting booted by the Bucs and lands not too far frmo home.
Palmer signed with the New Orleans Saints, which means he has a perfect chance to exact some revenge against his old team.
It's going to be tough sledding for the Saints this season, though. The team was tossed into coaching chaos, failing to convince Mike McCarthy to take a job and settling for Kellen Moore. It was nothing short of a hilarious disaster, one followed by Derek Carr's abrupt retirement and the general vibes on the bayou being as off as they've ever been.
All of it has culminated in the Bucs' rival being predicted to be one of the worst offenses in the league -- potentially historically bad.
That's what Palmer is joining, which might actually work out in his favor.
If the Saints are playing with house money on offense, that could give Palmer a chance to show off without much consquense. That simply couldn't happen with the Bucs, a team that is actually good and has a legtimate shot at making the Super Bowl.
Palmer had some flashes in Tampa Bay and Moore is an offensive-minded head coach who could put him in a position to succeed. That's why the assumption was that he would end up in the NFC South but over in Carolina.
On Wednesday morning, the Carolina Panthers traded veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen back to the Minnesota Vikings. This comes a day after the Panthers cut Hunter Renfrow to bring their roster down to 53 players.
It's not a certainty that the Panthers add Palmer, but there are plenty of links between the wide receiver and the Panthers.
Palmer has a connection with head coach Dave Canales, who served as the Buccaneers' offensive coordinator in 2023. There is also Brad Idzik, the Panthers' offensive coordinator and former wide receivers coach for the Buccaneers in 2023. That happened to be Palmer's rookie season, where he put up his best numbers, catching 39-of-68 targets for 385 yards and three touchdowns.
So, a reunion did make sense, but the Saints beat their other rivals to the Palmer punch.
Letting Palmer walk was always a risk for the Buccaneers, as a rival team could scoop him up off of the waiver wire. It just so happens that the Saints did that and now we'll wait and see if he makes his old team sorry they let him get away.