Today’s taxi squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
FRIDAY: Sherman is set to make his return in Week 14. Two days after opening his IR-return window, the Bucs activated the 11th-year veteran cornerback. He has not played since Week 6, joining Davis and Murphy-Bunting in missing a sizable chunk of Tampa Bay’s season. All three are set to be in uniform when the defending champions face the Bills on Sunday.
WEDNESDAY: Richard Sherman‘s return is imminent. The Buccaneers designated the cornerback to return from IR today.
Sherman suffered a grade 2 calf sprain back in mid-November, leading to his placement on injured reserve. With today’s move, the Buccaneers will now have 21 days to activate the defensive back to their active roster.
Sherman joined the Buccaneers in late September, and he made his debut for Tampa Bay in Week 4. He started each of his three games for Tampa Bay, collecting 11 tackles and one fumble recovery. The 33-year-old suffered a hamstring injury during Week 6, and he was expected to return to the field for Tampa’s Week 10 game against Washington. However, the veteran suffered an injury prior to the game, sidelining him for an extra few weeks.
The Buccaneers have dealt with their fair share of cornerbacks injuries this season. Starters Sean Murphy-Bunting and Carlton Davis were sidelined for months, but the duo have since returned to the lineup. With Sherman back, the team’s cornerbacks corps should be fully healthy. In fact, head coach Bruce Arians suggested that Sherman could end up playing some safety for the squad down the stretch.
“That’s the beauty of having Sherm here is he’s a veteran player who can play a lot of positions,” Arians said this week (via The Athletic). “We’re looking this week to see if that’s a fit for us.”
Imagine a loaded Buccaneers offense with…Jonathan Taylor at running back. It could have been a possibility, as the Buccaneers had their eye on the Wisconsin product during the 2020 draft, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Bucs were armed with the No. 14 heading into that draft, and Taylor was on the “short list” of players the organization was considering with that selection. The team ended up with their preferred prospect, offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, and they traded up to No. 13 to make sure they got the lineman. However, if Wirfs was off the board at that point in the draft, then Tampa Bay likely would have pivoted to Taylor, who didn’t hear his name come off the board until midway through the second round.
“I loved him,” Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said recently (via Schefter). “He could do it all, and it was just a matter of time — playing behind that offensive line — that he was going to be the force that he is.”
Taylor has obviously had a standout season with the Colts, leading the league with 1,348 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns (naturally, he’s also leading the NFL with 1,684 yards from scrimmage and 18 total scores). Of course, things have worked out fine for the Buccaneers. Wirfs has started all 28 of his career games, while the duo of Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones were more than capable during Tampa Bay’s 2020 Super Bowl run.
Some more notes out of the NFC…
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
New York Giants
New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
New York Jets
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Questions have arisen over Antonio Brown‘s future with the Buccaneers after comments made by head coach Bruce Arians. Brown and safety Mike Edwards recently received a three-game ban following a report indicating that Brown had acquired a fake COVID-19 vaccination card.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that when asked if Brown and Edwards will remain on the team after their suspension is over, Arians answered, “We’ll address their future at that time,” fueling speculation that there may be reason to doubt their current job safety. When asked to clarify his comments, Arians doubled down, stating, “Nothing’s been decided, no.”
The four-time First-team All-Pro has had his share of controversies over an eleven-year career in the NFL. When Brown was signed to a free agent deal with the Buccaneers, Arians commented that, despite entering the NFL midway through the 2020 season, he didn’t anticipate any issues with Brown having to deal with the COVID-19 protocols. Arians also indicated that Tampa Bay wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of Brown were he to return to his controversial behavior, saying, “He’s been a model citizen, if and when he’s not, we’ll move on.”
The star wide receiver has been impressive this year in the five games he’s played, totaling 42 catches for 418 yards and 4 touchdowns. Brown’s decision to accept his suspension without an appeal was an easy one, as he was expected to miss two more games anyway with an ankle injury, and he was lucky for a shorter suspension, considering the league was looking into a suspension around 6-8 games.
It will be interesting to see how Arians and the Buccaneers proceed with handling Brown and Edwards. Arians was one of the more vocal and proud coaches in his team’s efforts to get to 100% vaccination status. Both Brown and Edwards have since been vaccinated, but the damage may already be done.
Earlier this week, the NFL hit Antonio Brown, Mike Edwards, and free agent defensive back John Franklin III with three-game bans for violating COVID-19 protocols. Initially, however, the league was considering six-to-eight game suspensions for those players (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). 
[RELATED: NFL Suspends Antonio Brown, Mike Edwards]
An eight-game ban would have trickled into the playoffs for Brown and Edwards. Thanks to NFLPA negotiations, both players will have a chance to return in a few weeks. According to Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, it’s not a given that Brown will be activated straight away, and Pelissero hears that’s legitimate. The team first wants to ensure that Brown is focused on football and adhering to the league’s rules. Beyond that, there’s also a non-trivial chance that the players could be facing legal entanglements, since falsifying vaccination cards is a federal crime.
Brown, 33, has been productive on the field, but he’s missed time thanks to a lingering ankle injury and time on the COVID list. Before the suspension, Brown was on pace for another 1,000-yard season with 29 grabs for 418 yards and two touchdowns in five games. Now, he’ll finish shy of that mark for a third straight year.
If the Bucs welcome Brown back immediately after the suspension, he’ll retake the field on Dec. 26th against the Panthers.
Today’s minor moves:
Los Angeles Rams
New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers will have another of their longtime cornerback starters in uniform Sunday. They activated Carlton Davis from IR on Friday. The fourth-year cover man is set to suit up for the first time since Week 4.
A quad injury in New England rerouted Davis’ season. He has missed the past seven Bucs games, joining Sean Murphy-Bunting in being sidelined for a sizable chunk of the season. But both are now back on Tampa Bay’s active roster.
While the Bucs are still without Richard Sherman and received notice Thursday that Mike Edwards will be suspended three games, the Bucs have not had Davis and Murphy-Bunting on the field together since Week 1. The duo has played together as starters for most of the past three seasons, including in Super Bowl LV.
In addition to Davis’ extended absence this year, he missed four games between the 2019 and ’20 seasons. He still leads the NFL in passes defensed (42) in that span. Davis added four interceptions last season and grabbed another pick this year. This season’s home stretch stands to be pivotal for the Auburn product, who is due for free agency in 2022.
The Buccaneers are promoting Breshad Perriman to the active roster, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). He’ll fill the spot of fellow wide receiver Antonio Brown during his three-game suspension. 
[RELATED: NFL Suspends Antonio Brown]
Perriman re-joined the Bucs earlier this month for his second stint in Tampa. Last time around, in 2019, he registered 36 receptions for 645 yards and six touchdowns. That performance earned him a one-year, $8MM deal ($6MM guaranteed) with the Jets. He had a solid season in New York during the 2020 campaign, finishing with 511 yards from scrimmage.
This year, he was initially set to play with the Lions, but he was dropped before the final cut. He later joined the Bears, but was released without appearing in a single snap. Since returning to Tampa, Perriman has been jockeyed between the active roster and the practice squad. To date, he’s got just two catches for 19 yards in two games.
As of this writing, the Bucs now have six WRs on the roster in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, Jaelon Darden, and Perriman. Perriman could see some time this Sunday when the Bucs face the Falcons in Atlanta.