Following the retirement of Tom Brady, the Buccaneers will be facing a pseudo-rebuild in 2023. Before they get to a challenging regular season, the team was forced to cut down their roster to 53 players today:
After sitting out the 2021 campaign, Deadrin Senat got into 12 games for Tampa Bay in 2022. The defensive tackle ultimately finished the campaign with 17 tackles, one sack, and a pair of QB hits. The former third-round pick got into 22 games for the Falcons to begin his career.
We are less than 24 hours from the deadline for NFL teams to trim their rosters to 53 players. Here are the latest moves teams have made as they pare their squads down toward the in-season limit:
Only a few days after joining the Buccaneers practice squad, Cole Beasley has been promoted to the active roster. The Buccaneers announced that they’ve elevated the veteran wideout to the game-day roster. Rookie offensive guard John Molchon was also promoted from the taxi squad.
After going unsigned through training camp, preseason, and the first couple of weeks of the regular season, Beasley finally landed on Tampa Bay’s practice squad on Tuesday. The 33-year-old started to show signs of age during his final season in Buffalo in 2021, with his 693 yards and one touchdown serving as his lowest marks during his tenure with the Bills.
Still, he managed to tie a career-high with 82 receptions. With a career catch rate of 71 percent, he’ll at least provide Tom Brady with a sure-handed option this weekend against the Packers. Plus, for what it’s worth, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets that Beasley joined the Buccaneers in excellent shape and has already established a connection with his QB.
Beasley’s presence will be sorely needed tomorrow, as the team is eyeing a questionable WR grouping for the second-straight weekend. We know for sure that Brady’s top two wideouts will be out on Sunday, with Mike Evans serving a one-game suspension and Chris Godwin still sidelined with a hamstring injury. Julio Jones is a game-time decision with a knee injury, and Russell Gage is questionable while dealing with a hamstring issue. With such a depleted WR corps, Beasley could end up leading a depth chart that also consists of Breshad Perriman, Scotty Miller, Jaelon Darden, and Kaylon Geiger.
Molchon was undrafted out of Boise State in 2020. He’s spent much of his professional career on Tampa Bay’s practice squad.
Ryan is expected to return soon, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. His release — from a contract containing no fully guaranteed money — is likely connected to Ryan Jensen‘s impending IR trip.
The Bucs should also be expected to retain Griffin on their 16-man practice squad, which can include up to six vested vets. Griffin has gone through a lengthy career without much actual usage. A 2013 Saints UDFA, Griffin has been with the Bucs since September 2015. Odds are, after he re-signed to stay in Tampa again this offseason, the veteran QB is part of the initial 2022 Bucs P-squad. Griffin, 32, has played in two career games. He would be the Bucs’ fourth passer — behind Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask — if kept. So, the same arrangement as 2021.
The Bucs signed Avery last week. Avery spent the offseason with the Steelers but did not make their cut to 80; the Steelers have since traded for Broncos backup OLB Malik Reed. Borregales’ exit will give Ryan Succop the kicker job for a third straight year. After the Bucs went through several years of kicker instability, Succop has done well to inject reliability into the equation. Succop’s extension runs through 2023.