The Bucs have already made their decision on the five required roster cuts for this week, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
#Bucs will also waive S Lawrence White IV and LB Quinton Bell. https://t.co/9j2GKRXHHd
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 22, 2021
Gone are wide receiver T.J. Simmons, running back Troymaine Pope, outside linebacker Quinton Bell, cornerback Nate Brooks, and safety Lawrence White IV. Of the five, Bell’s release is arguably the most surprising. Especially when considering he made the Bucs’ final 53-man roster last year.
The NFL changed its roster cutdown rules during the offseason. Teams now have three total cutdown periods instead of the one big, final cutdown period we saw over the last couple of seasons. All NFL teams are required to trim their rosters down to 80 players by 4PM EST on Tuesday, August 24. Final cuts -which will shape the Bucs’ initial 53-man roster- have to be in by 4PM EST on Tuesday, August 31.
Bruce Arians named a couple of players that possibly locked up a roster spot after Saturday night’s loss to the Titans and to no one’s surprise, none of the aforementioned names were pinpointed in his comments.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s one or two guys,” Arians said when asked about the roster spots. “Grant [Stuard] made a couple of plays. He might have made it. I know Pat [O’Connor] made it in this game because he just did it. Whether Khalil [Davis] has enough on tape, there’re guys fighting for jobs that showed up in this game. The scoreboard doesn’t show it but I’m not looking at the score – I’m looking at individuals.”
