The first of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' anticipated second-half reinforcements is on his way. On Saturday, the Buccaneers activated fourth-year tackle Luke Goedeke off injured reserve, restoring him to the 53-man roster. To make room for Goedeke's return on that roster, the Buccaneers also waived rookie safety Sebastian Castro.
Tampa Bay opened a 21-day practice window for Goedeke on Monday and he took part in all three of this week's practices. After being a limited participant on Wednesday and Thursday he was upgraded to full participation on Friday. When he was evaluated and deemed ready to play on Saturday, the team chose to activate him, which could have been done at any point during that three-week window, and thus made him eligible to play against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Goedeke hasn't played since aggravating a foot injury in Week Two, after suffering the original injury in the season opener. He was placed on injured reserve on September 18, which required him to miss a minimum of four games before he could return to the active roster. Goedeke actually missed six contests, with veteran Charlie Heck filling in for him at right tackle.
The Buccaneers and Goedeke agreed to a four-year contract extension just before the start of the regular season, an indication that they consider him one of the best players at his position in the NFL. Originally a second-round pick out of Central Michigan in 2022, he was first inserted into the starting lineup at right guard in his rookie campaign before moving back to his college position of right tackle in the final week of that season. Goedeke then won the right tackle job to start the 2023 season and has since been a key member of one of the NFL's top-performing offensive lines. In all, he has appeared in 43 games with 40 starts, plus four games and four starts in the playoffs.
The Buccaneers signed Castro on September 30, plucking him off the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squad. He has since appeared in one game on special teams, with another game in which he was active but did not play and two in which he was a game day active. In his one game played, he turned in a tackle in kick coverage. Castro entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Steelers in May after playing his college ball at Ioway, where he was a third-team All-American choice in 2023.
