S Lemar Marshall made it to the last cut last year with the Buccaneers
While this week in the National Football League is one of hard decisions and unhappy releases, it can also be a time of new opportunities.
The Buccaneers granted another chance on Tuesday to two players that had been released by their former teams the day before: TE Blake Spence, formerly of the New York Jets, and S Lemar Marshall, late of the Philadelphia Eagles. Those two will be added to the roster Wednesday morning pending the passing of physical exams.
To make room for those two, the Bucs parted ways with two undrafted rookie free agents after releasing a dozen the day before. On Tuesday, the team reached an injury settlement with CB Tarig Holman and released DE Mawuko Tugbenyoh.
Marshall signed with the Eagles on January 11 and participated in training camp before being waived on Monday. He originally signed with the Bucs as a rookie free agent on April 19, 1999. He was with the team through last year's training camp before being released on September 5, and then was subsequently signed by Philadelphia to its practice squad for the last six weeks of the 1999 season.
Spence, originally drafted in the fifth round by the Jets in 1998, saw action in 16 games over the last two seasons and recorded four catches for 20 yards and a touchdown. He was also released on Monday.
Holman signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent on April 16 out of the University of Iowa. Tugbenyoh, from California, also signed as an undrafted free agent on April 17.
The two pairs of maneuvers left the Bucs where they had started, roster-wise, with 72 players, seven of them accounted for by NFL Europe exemptions. The team must cut down to 53 players by Sunday, August 27, after the final preseason game on Friday.
