Buccaneers add ten players to practice squad

As NFL teams trimmed their rosters down to 53 players yesterday, all teams had the chance to claim the newly waived players to their team by noon on Wednesday. Luckily for the Buccaneers, they only lost one player during the waiver period as Chris Wilcox was added to the Indianapolis Colts roster.

Now, the Bucs have added ten players to their practice squad - nine of which were already with the team.

Headlining the group is long time quarterback Ryan Griffin who was placed on waivers in favor of rookie second round pick Kyle Trask. Griffin has been with the Buccaneers since 2015 but has seen action in just two regular season games back in 2019.

Another recognizable name joining the practice squad is wide receiver and return specialist Jaydon Mickens. Mickens was the top return guy for the Bucs last season but was replaced on the initial 53-man roster with rookie receiver Jaylon Darden.

Here is the full list of players the Buccaneers have added so far;

WR Cyril Grayson
QB Ryan Griffin
G Jonathan Hubbard
WR Travis Jonsen
TE Codey McElroy
CB Herb Miller
DL Benning Potoa’e
DL Kobe Smith
OL Brandon Walton
TE Deon Yelder

Tight end Deon Yelder is the only outsider to join the ranks. Yeldon was an undrafted free agent for the New Orleans Saints in 2018 but has spent time with the Tennessee Titans and Washington Football Team thus far in his career.

One notable name that’s missing is tight end Tanner Hudson. Hudson was among the first players let go by the Buccaneers and although he cleared waivers, Hudson opted to join Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers on their practice squad. Given the injury history of George Kittle, Hudson may have been hoping for more opportunity on the active roster than he would likely have in Tampa behind Rob Gronkowski, O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate, and Cody McElroy. Head coach Bruce Arians was openly critical of Hudson’s blocking ability during training camp and the chance to play in the 49ers’ offense would likely lead to more pass catching than blocking.

The Bucs still have six more spots to fill on their practice squad but will have to place four more players on waivers sooner than later once Ndamukong Suh, Ryan Succop, Earl Watford, and Nick Leverrett come off the COVID/Reverve list. Once that is done, we will likely see the rest of the practice squad fill out.