Just like NFL rosters are never truly "final," the jersey numbers that players inherit upon first joining a new team don't always stick.
Now that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have trimmed their active roster to 53 players and signed 17 other men to their practice squad, they have a few more numbers available than when free agency and the draft first added a group of new players to their 2025 team. Several of those newcomers, including first-round draft pick Emeka Egbuka, have taken advantage of this opportunity to switch to some more coveted jersey numbers. All three receivers who switched numbers ended up with the same ones they wore in college.
Egbuka will wear number 2, which he sported while starring at Ohio State. That became available last Tuesday when the Buccaneers released quarterback Kyle Trask, who had worn that number since 2021. Six other Buccaneers also changed numbers for the start of the regular season. The complete list:
- Quarterback Connor Bazelak (practice squad), #16 (was #8)
- Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, #10 (was #16)
- Punter Riley Dixon, #9 (was #92)
- Wide Receiver Emeka Egbuka, #2 (was #9)
- Wide Receiver Tez Johnson, #15 (as #83)
- Wide receiver Jalen McMillan, #11 (was #15)
- Running back Josh Williams #18 (was #37)
Bridgewater has most commonly worn the #5 jersey during his NFL career, which now includes stops with seven different teams, but he donned #10 last season when the Detroit Lions signed him in late December. Dixon wore jersey #9 for four seasons each with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, but that number was originally assigned to Egbuka after the draft.
Johnson wore number 15 while setting records at the University of Oregon, and he claims it now after a chain reaction that saw McMillan switch to 11 for his second season when it became available on Tuesday. McMillan wore number 11 at the University of Washington but got 15 as a rookie in Tampa with 11 already being worn by quarterback John Wolford and then later flipping to quarterback Michael Pratt when the former was waived and the latter was claimed. Bazelak didn't necessarily want to move off #8, which is the number he wore during his stint at the University of Missouri, but he had been sharing that number with linebacker SirVocea Dennis during the preseason. Duplicate jersey numbers are not allowed on an NFL roster during the regular season.
Fans that purchased officially licensed authentic Egbuka jerseys are asked to contact their original point of purchase for exchange details. The Team Store at Raymond James Stadium and Fanatics will exchange authentic #9 jerseys for #2 jerseys at no additional cost.
