Buccaneers finalize initial 53-man roster, with more moves to come

The Buccaneers finalized their initial 53-man roster for the start of the 2021 NFL regular season ahead of Tuesday’s league-wide deadline.

There weren’t many surprises, though the team has—for the time being—parted ways with Ryan Griffin, Tanner Hudson, Cyril Grayson, Jaydon Mickens and Jeremiah Ledbetter, who, among others, were mainstays on the fringes of the roster in the past.

The current roster stands as follows:

Quarterbacks (3): Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask

Running Backs (4): Ronald Jones II, Giovani Bernard, Leonard Fournette, Ke’Shawn Vaughn

Wide Receivers (6): Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, Jaelon Darden

Tight Ends (3): Rob Gronkowski, O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate

Offensive Lineman (9): Ali Marpet, Alex Cappa, Donovan Smith, Tristan Wirfs, Ryan Jensen, Aaron Stinnie, John Molchon, Josh Wells, Robert Hainsey

Defensive Lineman (6): Vita Vea, Will Gholston, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Patrick O’Connor, Khalil Davis, Steve McLendon

Outside Linebackers (5): Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Joe Tryon, Anthony Nelson, Cam Gill

Inside Linebackers (5): Devin White, Lavonte David, Kevin Minter, K.J. Britt, Grant Stuard

Cornerbacks (4): Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Jamel Dean, Dee Delaney

Safeties (5): Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Whitehead, Mike Edwards, Ross Cockrell, Chris Cooper

Special Teams (3): Bradley Pinion, Jose Borregales, Zach Triner

The Bucs still have some moves to make, of course, as they have some key players currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. When Ryan Succop, Ndamukong Suh and Nick Leverett can return, they’ll have to make room for them by cutting three more.

But for now, that’s the roster the defending champions have put together with kickoff now just eight days away.

Thoughts?