Bucs sign journeyman defensive end Justin Trattou

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added one player just before the start of training camp, signing defensive end Justin Trattou per the Tampa Bay Times. Trattou will take the place of undrafted rookie Evan Panfil, who was waived with an injury.

Trattou is one of those veterans who bounces around the league without ever really getting noticed, having played 37 games for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings since 2011. Trattou was almost exclusively a special teamer in that period, registering almost no regular statistics—except for, somehow, two interceptions in five games in 2015. I’m....not sure how that happened, given that he only had one tackle and 22 total snaps on defense that year.

It seems unlikely Trattou will do more than push a few players in training camp, given his lack of track record and the team’s reasonably deep group of defensive ends. He’s also on the light side for Mike Smith’s recent preference for big defensive linemen at 6’4”, 255 lbs, which may mean we’ll see him in more of a stand-up role, if he does somehow make the roster.