Buccaneers waive two to reach 85-player roster limit

The Buccaneers have waived wide receiver John Franklin III and offensive lineman Donell Stanley to reach the NFL-mandated 85-player roster limit, the team announced Tuesday afternoon.

Franklin, who was a prominent focus on Season 1 of Netflix’s Last Chance U, originally signed with Tampa Bay in November of 2019. He had played a variety of roles for the scout team and made it to the active roster in December of 2019, but he went on to miss all of 2020 with a torn ACL. He has been unable to practice all offseason as a result of his surgery and was waived with a failed physical designation.

Stanley, who signed with the Bucs earlier this year, was waived with an injury designation. The center has been unable to practice over the last week, and with rookie Robert Hainsey on his way back and John Molchon able to play the position in the meantime, he faced long odds to make the roster.

These two roster cuts came after the team had already waived Josh Pearson, De’Quan Hampton and Cameron Kinley on Sunday, so the Bucs officially reached the 85-player roster limit before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. They’ll need to make five more cuts by next Tuesday before getting the roster down to the final 53 by Aug. 31.