On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used one of their practice squad elevation options in Week 14 to activate first-year safety Marcus Banks for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints. Banks is set to play in his third straight game since being re-signed to the Buccaneers' practice squad on November 18.
In the Bucs' previous contests against the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals, Banks pitched in on special teams, playing a total of 19 snaps in the kick-and-coverage phase of the game.
Banks landed a spot on the Buccaneers' practice squad as an undrafted rookie in 2024 and stayed there for the entire season before re-signing to a reserve/future contract in January. He went back to training camp in Tampa this summer but was waived/injured in the first week. After reaching an injury settlement with the team, he was not eligible to return to the Buccaneers until after the sixth game of the season.
Banks started his college career at Alabama and finished it at Mississippi State, seeing action in 49 total games with 73 tackles, five passes defensed, one interception, one fumble recovery and one defensive touchdown.
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 of those options in Week 14, the Buccaneers have increased their game day roster to 54 players for their matchup with the Saints. They will be able to keep 48 of those player active for the game, naming six 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 third and final elevation for Banks.
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.
