With one more preseason game to play before league-wide roster cuts for the regular season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made an addition to a secondary currently hit hard by injuries, signing fourth-year cornerback Tre Avery. To make room on the 91-man preseason roster, the Buccaneers waived wide receiver Jaden Smith.
Originally a college free agent signed by the Tennessee Titans out of Rutgers in 2022, Avery has played in 38 games with five starts over the past three seasons. He made the active roster as a rookie and started three of the 14 games in which he appeared, recording 29 tackles, nine passes defended and a fumble recovery. He started two more games in 2023 before starting the 2024 season on Tennessee's practice squad. Avery was signed back to the active roster in October, then waived by the Titans in late December.
The San Francisco 49ers claimed Avery off waivers and brought him into training camp this summer but he was then waived on August 4 and claimed by the New England Patriots. After appearing in two preseason games and contributing four tackles and a pass defensed, Avery was waived by the Patriots on Tuesday.
The Buccaneers signed Smith a week into training camp and he played in the team's first two preseason games, logging one catch for nine yards.
The Bucs held seven defensive backs out of last week's preseason game in Pittsburgh due to injuries, including safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith plus cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison, Bryce Hall, Josh Hayes, Tyrek Funderburk and Roman Parodie. In addition, safety J.J. Roberts suffered a season-ending knee injury in that contest and safety Christian Izien sustained an oblique injury that could keep him out for several weeks. Head Coach Todd Bowles indicated on Thursday that no starters would appear in Saturday's preseason finale against Buffalo, so the team will also be without Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean.
