The Tampa Bay Buccaneers completed the necessary roster maneuvering on Tuesday to get down to the 75-man limit before the 4:00 p.m. deadline. The next round of cuts will be on Saturday, when all teams must meet the regular-season maximum of 53 players.
Following the waiver of 10 players on Sunday, it took five more moves to get down to 75 players. However, the Bucs could end up parting ways with only one of the five players trimmed from the active roster on Tuesday, though it will likely be more.
Here are the five transactions filed by the Buccaneers:
- Released punter Michael Koenen
- Waived/injured guard Josh Allen
- Waived/injured WR Robert Herron
- Waived/injured CB Leonard Johnson
- Placed DT Akeem Spence on the Reserve/Physically unable to perform list
As a vested veteran, Koenen is not subject to the waiver wire and can immediately sign with any other team. The Buccaneers kept first-year punter Jacob Schum to handle that job.
Check out photos of the Buccaneers' current roster.
The three players who were waived/injured, however, are subject to the waiver wire. If they are not claimed by any other team, they automatically revert to the Buccaneers' injured reserve list. Depending upon the severity of the injury (whether it has an expected recovery time of more or less than six weeks), an injury settlement could be reached between player and team. After a waiver with an injury settlement, the player can sign anywhere in the league, including back with his original team, after a certain number of weeks have passed.
Spence was placed on the active/PUP list prior to the start of training camp due to a back ailment. That designation gave the Buccaneers the option to later move him to reserve/PUP, if he needed more time to recover from his injury, and that's exactly what the team did. Spence will be eligible to begin practicing with the team after six weeks of the regular season have passed; in this case, that means he could take the field when the Bucs are preparing for the Washington Redskins, following their bye week. Spence can then practice for up to three weeks before the team must decide whether to activate him to the 53-man roster, place him on injured reserve or release him.
