The Tampa Bay Buccaneers activated tackle Tyler McLellan from the practice squad on Saturday, making him eligible to play in Sunday's Week Three game against the New York Jets.The move allows the Buccaneers to keep a maximum of 48 players active for the game, which is only possible if eight of the 48 are offensive linemen.
The NFL introduced the practice squad elevation option in 2020, allowing teams to activate up to two practice squad players for each game. By utilizing one such option in Week Three, the Buccaneers have increased their game day roster to 54 players for their matchup with the Texans. To get to that limit of 48 active players against the Jets, they will have to name six inactives on Sunday.
Each player on the practice squad can be elevated up to three times during the regular season and an unlimited amount of times in the postseason. After the game, elevated players automatically revert to the practice squad without having to pass through waivers. This is McLellan's first elevation of the season.
McLellan provides depth behind an offensive line that has been almost completely recast in the wake of injuries to Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke, Cody Mauch and Michael Jordan. The Bucs promoted first-year lineman Luke Haggard to the active roster from the practice squad on Thursday and also signed veteran guard Dan Feeney off Buffalo's practice squad; both will be active and Haggard could occupy one of the guard spots. The Bucs are expected to keep second-year center Graham Barton at left tackle with Wirfs ruled out for a third game, sliding left guard Ben Bredeson into the center spot.
The Buccaneers signed the 6-8, 355-pound McLellan at the beginning of their 2025 training camp after he spent his rookie season on the Los Angeles Chargers' injured reserve list. An undrafted free agent out of Campbell University in North Carolina, he earned one first-team and two second-team All-Big South conference honors.
The practice squad elevation option was introduced as part of the new collective bargaining agreement in 2020. The new rule was something of a compromise, as it did not expand the active rosters beyond 53 players but did give teams a few more options on game days.
