On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used both of their practice squad elevation options for Week 16, activating defensive lineman Adam Gotsis and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul for their road game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Both are now eligible to play in the showdown for first place in the NFC South at Bank of America Stadium.
For Pierre-Paul, it would be his first appearance in a Buccaneers uniform since January 23, 2022, when he started in a Divisional Round playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams following the 2021 regular season. He recorded half a sack, two tackles, two quarterback hits and a fumble recovery in that contest.
Gotsis made his Buccaneers debut last week following his first practice squad elevation. He started against the Atlanta Falcons in a four-down lineman package and logged eight snaps on defense and two on special teams.
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 both options in Week 16, the Buccaneers have increased their game day roster to 55 players for their matchup with the Panthers. They will be able to keep 48 of those player active for the game, naming seven inactives prior to kickoff.
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 the second elevation of the season for Gotsis and the first for Pierre-Paul.
Acquired in a trade with the New York Giants during the 2018 offseason, Pierre-Paul spent four seasons in Tampa and racked up 33.0 sacks in just 54 regular season games. Despite his relatively short tenure with the team he is tied for 10th on the team's all-time sack list. He made his third Pro Bowl appearance after the 2020 season, in which he led the team with 9.5 sacks and added two interceptions, 14 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
In six playoff gams for the Buccaneers, Pierre-Paul had another 2.5 sacks, including two in the 2020 NFC Championship Game in Green Bay, plus five QB hits, three passes defensed and a fumble recovery.
Gotsis first joined the Buccaneers' practice squad in the opening round of the playoffs last season. He then signed a reserve/future contract with the team and went to training camp in Tampa this past summer. He played in all three preseason games, starting two of them, and contributed six tackles, one for a loss. Originally a second-round pick by the Denver Broncos in the 2016 draft, Gotsis has played in 126 games with 54 starts for the Broncos, Jaguars and Colts and has amassed 226 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 22 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. He played his college ball at Georgia Tech.
Gray came into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State with the Saints in 2018. He quickly emerged as a special teams ace and was a second-team All-Pro choice by his second season. Gray later earned first-team All-Pro honors and a trip to the Pro Bowl as a special teamer in 2021. He has played in 99 games – most recently logging one appearance with Denver earlier this season – and has 103 tackles, 2.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries.
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.
