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Buccaneers Roster Cuts Tracker 2024: Here are all the moves Tampa Bay has made in order to get to 53 players

By Evan Winter,

16 hours ago

The 2024 NFL preseason is officially over, and the work is only just beginning for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It's time to put together the 53-man roster and 16-man practice squad (17-man PS if Lorenz Metz, an International Pathway Player, is signed to the squad). Bucs GM Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles and co. have some difficult decisions ahead of the roster cutdown deadline on Tuesday, August 27 at 4 p.m. EST.

"There [are] going to be some tough decisions made in the next couple of days," Bowles said after the win over the Miami Dolphins. "Obviously, when you have a good team, the tougher the decisions are, but there were some guys that made some plays, but I have to see the totality of the work.”

Below you'll find everything you need to know about roster cuts ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

2024 NFL roster cut designations and how they work

For 2024, the NFL has reverted back to one giant day of cuts, compared to the gradual roster cuts throughout the preseason. In other words: Rosters must be reduced to 53 players virtually all at once, but expect them to trickle in over the next few days before Tuesday's deadline. The team has several different transactions they can use to make that happen. Here are the terms you need to familiarize yourself with:

Released: When a vested veteran (those who have at least four accrued seasons in the NFL) is cut from a team. These players are not required to pass through waivers and can immediately become unrestricted free agents. Sometimes that means they'll sign with another team. Other times, teams can release these veterans and re-sign them after they've placed other players on injured reserve.
Waived: Players who have not accrued four seasons in the NFL are waived instead of being released. The 31 other NFL teams will have a chance to claim waived players on their 53-man roster by 12pm ET on August 28. If players are not claimed on waivers, they become unrestricted free agents. Waiver priority this time of year is determined by team records from the previous season. The team with the worst record will get the top waiver priority, in this case, the Carolina Panthers . The Buccaneers are currently 26th in waiver priority.
Waived/injured: If these players clear waivers they will revert to the Bucs’ injured reserve list. They can opt to spend the season with Tampa Bay on IR or reach an injury settlement with the team, which will pay them for the number of weeks they'll miss with injury and make them an unrestricted free agent. Players who opt for the latter route can rejoin the team later in the season after they're healthy.

Injured reserve: Up until this year, a player had to make the initial 53-man roster to be placed on IR and be eligible to return later in the season. Now, up to two players can be placed on IR on the day of final cuts (Tuesday) and be designated to return. Teams still have the option to carry injured players on the 53-man roster and some good reasons to do so. First, if a player is placed on IR, he is forced to miss at least four games. Second, if a player makes the initial 53 and is placed on IR on the following day, there are eight designations to return from IR—and another two for playoff teams. The Bucs placed offensive linemen Sua Opeta and Silas Danzi on IR, already, so they are done for the year since they were placed on IR before the cutdown deadline.
Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list: Players on the Active/PUP list can be placed on the Reserve/PUP list in a move to get the roster down to 53 players. Players who are moved to the Reserve/PUP list do not count against the 53-man roster. They can attend team meetings, and use team facilities for rehab, but are not allowed to practice or play for four weeks. After four weeks, another 21-day window opens up, where the player can practice and be activated. If they’re not activated in those 21 days, they must be placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season.
Reserve/Non-football injury/illness (NFI) lists : Players placed on either Reserve/NFI lists have to go through the same process as players on the Reserve/PUP list. They do not count toward the 53-man roster. They can go to team meetings and use facilities for rehab, but they’re not allowed to participate in practice for four weeks. After that, a four-week period opens where they can return to practice and the team can choose to activate the player. If the player isn’t activated at the end of the second four-week period, they’ll remain on injured reserve for the rest of the season. The big difference between the NFI and PUP lists is that teams can withhold a portion of a player’s salary if they’re placed on the NFI lists.

Reserve/Suspended list: Players who are placed on the Reserve/Suspended list have to serve out an NFL suspension. Players on this list do not count toward 53-man roster limits and are not paid their base salary.
Reserve/Did Not Report list: Players who are placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list have left their team. The Bucs had originally placed Randy Gregory on this list and officially released him on Thursday .
Reserve/Retired list: Players who are placed on this list have retired from the NFL.

Buccaneers' key position battles

The starting center and guard jobs were announced heading into the Dolphins game, even if most knew what was coming. Those were the only two questions left when it came to starting jobs, but plenty of backup/depth jobs were still getting figured out.

Will the Bucs carry five or six receivers? Does Cody Thompson make the cut in one of those worlds? What about backup linebacker Antonio Grier Jr., who had a helluva game against the 'Fins? There's also a couple backup defensive line spots, backup cornerback spots, and a backup safety spot or two that hasn't been officially decided, yet.

Bucs roster bubble players

Please note single asterisk (*) denotes rookies and double asterisks (**) denote rookie undrafted free agents:

CB Keenan Isaac
CB Chris McDonald**
CB Tyrek Funderburk**
CB Andrew Hayes**
DB Christian Izien
DB Kaevon Merriweather
DL Mike Greene
DL C.J. Brewer
DL Earnest Brown IV
DL Judge Culpepper**
DL Brandon Matterson**
DL Lwal Uguak
ILB Kalen DeLoach**
ILB Vi Jones
ILB Antonio Grier Jr.**
LS Evan Deckers
OL Xavier Delgado**
OL Avery Jones**
OL Luke Haggard
OL Lorenz Metz (IPP)
OL Ryan Johnson**
OLB Jay Person**
OLB Shaun Peterson Jr.**
OLB Daniel Grzesiak**
P Nolan Cooney
QB John Wolford
RB Chase Edmonds
RB D.J. Williams**
RB Ramon Jefferson**
S Rashad Wisdom**
S Marcus Banks**
TE Tanner Taula
TE David Wells
TE Sal Cannella
WR Cephus Johnson III
WR Rakim Jarrett
WR Sterling Shepard
WR Raleigh Webb
WR Latreal Jones**
WR Tanner Knue**
WR Cody Thompson

NFL practice squad rules

After the claiming period has ended at 11:00 AM CT on Wednesday, Aug. 28, teams are permitted to assemble their 16-man practice squads. Here are the rules on who can be signed to the practice squad.

Players who do not have an accrued season (I.E. rookies).
Players who were on the active roster for fewer than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s).
Up to four players per team with no more than two accrued seasons.
Up to six players per team with no accrued season limitations (I.E. vested veterans).

Bucs' 2024 roster cuts

The Bucs have yet to make any cuts at the time of this publication. We will update this article as information comes in.