The preseason is over. Which means it's onto the regular season.
Before that, however, comes the most difficult time of the year: roster cuts. Dozens of guys who worked their butts off to try and make the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 53-man roster will be looking for new jobs by the time the deadline hits on Tuesday, August 27 at 4 p.m. EST.
"It’s going to be [really] tough, and the worst thing you can do as a coach is try to ruin somebody’s dream," Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after the Miami Dolphins game. "You know, nobody wants to be told that, but there are a lot of avenues, as I told them, to get back in this league. There’s practice squad, there’s other teams, there’s USFL, there’s Canadian Football. People look all the time and people get injured and you want to call back people and so to put things on tape, not just for our team but for every other team in every other league, is important.”
The Bucs' starting lineup is set and good to go after Bowles announced Graham Barton as the starting center on Tuesday and Ben Bredeson as the starting left guard on Wednesday. But, there are plenty of big decisions to make when it comes to the team's backups/depth.
With that being said, here are the three hardest cuts the Buccaneers will have to make before Tuesday's final deadline.
Wide receiver
Top bubble players that could get cut: WR Cody Thompson, WR Tanner Knue, WR Ryan Miller, WR Sterling Shepard
Bowles said after the game that Rakim Jarrett could miss the start of the season due to injury, which opens things up a bit. Still, this is going to be a tough decision after watching all of these guys play against the Dolphins. Minus Shepard, of course, who was out.
Thompson led the team in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (45) for the second game in a row, while both Knue and Miller caught touchdown passes. Thompson also threw a hellacious block that de-cleated a Dolphins defender on an 11-yard end-around by Kameron Johnson. He's done just about everything in order to make the final roster.
Will he, though? Thompson has bounced around the league and has just one accrued season under his belt, despite being 28-years-old. It seems like he should, but injuries/comebacks from injuries can certainly play a role in how a roster is shaped, early-on, so we'll see.
"There are so many talented guys," Bucs QB Kyle Trask said after the game. "It's tough this time of the year, especially when you've been grinding with each other throughout the entire offseason. It's a really tough part of the business we live in, but we'll always be brothers going forward. We'll put the best team together possible and be ready for when the bullets start flying."
The Bucs have their top-5 guys in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, and Kameron Johnson locked in, so it's going to be interesting to see who they keep as WR6, if they even keep six wideouts (they likely will).
Defensive line
Top bubble players that could get cut: C.J. Brewer, Earnest Brown IV, Lawal Uguak
Brewer and Brown have had strong summers and Uguak has flashed at times. The latter two players really showed up against the Dolphins on Friday night, which only adds to the difficulty of this decision in a good way.
“They played tough. They showed up all [training] camp," Bowles told reporters. "That’s going to be a spot that’s going to have some tough decisions made, and you know, we have to look at the tape.”
Like the wide receiver group, Tampa Bay has its top guys set in Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea, Logan Hall, Greg Gaines, and Will Gholston. It'll come down to that sixth spot and it's not going to be an easy decision. Right now, it leans in Brewer's favor, if I had to choose.
Defensive back
Top bubble players that could get cut: CB Tyrek Funderburk, DB Christian Izien, DB Kaevon Merriweather, CB Keenan Isaac
The injury situation I mentioned back in the receiver section applies, here. Funderburk is out of his walking boot, but we aren't sure what his exact recovery timeline represents. Or even anything close to that.
Izien is also injured, and Bowles referred to him as day-to-day, earlier in the week. Merriweather is also hurt.
If Funderburk or Merriweather were to go on IR, it'll open up a roster spot, which could make room for one of these guys until the other is healthy. It's going to be really interesting to see what happens. In terms of cornerback, right now, I'd say Funderburk makes the 53 and so does Izien.
Related: Buccaneers Roster Cuts Tracker 2024: Here are all the moves Tampa Bay has made in order to get to 53 players
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