The Tampa Bay Buccaneers formed their first 53-man roster for the 2025 regular season roster with a series of moves on Tuesday afternoon, and it reflected a significant amount of depth the team had at several positions, including wide receiver and the combination of cornerbacks and safeties. Three of 53 spots necessarily go to the specialist trio of punter-kicker-snapper, leaving 50 spots to be divvied up between the positions on offense and defense and the Bucs are currently at an even 25-25 split, including seven receivers and 11 defensive backs.
The Buccaneers were able to go heavy at those positions and also retain four players at both tight end _and_ running back in part because they chose to keep just two quarterbacks on the active roster and will almost certainly carry a third on the practice squad, just as they did last year. The major difference, of course, is that Teddy Bridgwater is now the backup to Baker Mayfield, replacing Kyle Trask. The Buccaneers also went lighter then usual at offensive line, keeping just eight players on that unit on Tuesday, including tackle Tristan Wirfs, who may not be ready for the start of the regular season. As such, there is likely to be some further movement at that position in the coming days.
The overload at receiver explains the waiver of 2023 sixth-round pick Trey Palmer and underlines the depth the Buccaneers have at the position after drafting Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson back in April. Like Wirfs, Chris Godwin was also given a spot on the 53-man roster despite likely not being cleared to play at the start of the regular season. The Buccaneers chose this approach with those two key offensive players because keeping them off the reserve/physically unable to perform list allows them to begin practicing sooner and to avoid missing a full four games if they are ready to return to action earlier. Both Godwin and Wirfs were removed from the active/PUP list on Tuesday amid the rest of the day's flurry of moves.
Tampa Bay's 2024 roster is also quite young, with eight rookies and 28 players added as draft picks or undrafted rookies in the last three years. Thirty-four of the 53 are 26 or younger and only nine are over 30: Mayfield, Bridgewater, Lavonte David, Riley Dixon, Mike Evans, Deion Jones, Haason Reddick, Sterling Shepard and Vita Vea.
Starting Wednesday, the Buccaneers will begin building a 17-man practice squad, which means that many of the players who did not make it through Tuesday's cuts will be back in the building.
Listed below is how the initial 53-man roster breaks down, with the players listed alphabetically at each position (rookies marked with an asterisk).
**Quarterbacks (2): Teddy Bridgewater, Baker Mayfield**
As noted, the Buccaneers are rolling with only two quarterbacks on the active roster for the second season in a row. Undrafted rookie Connor Bazelak, who completed 69.6% of his passes in the preseason, is an obvious candidate to return and serve as the team's third quarterback on the practice squad.
Mayfield, who succeeded Tom Brady as the Bucs' starting quarterback and helped push the team's streak to four straight NFC titles, is coming off one of best two-season stretches in franchise history. In 34 regular season games he has already produced 8,544 passing yards, 69 touchdown passes and a 100.7 passer rating. His 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2024 were both career highs and they both ranked in the top three in the NFL; Mayfield was also top five in Attempts, completion, completion percentage, touchdown percentage and passer rating.
Mayfield hasn't missed a start across two seasons but if the Buccaneers do have to turn to their backup they now have one with extensive NFL experience. Bridgewater has logged 79 games and 65 starts over 10 seasons and was most recently a full-time starter for the Denver Broncos in 2021. In 2019, Bridgewater backed up Drew Brees in New Orleans, and when Brees missed time in the middle of the season the Saints won all five of Bridgewater's starts.
**Running Backs (4): Bucky Irving, Sean Tucker, Rachaad White, Josh Williams** \*
The Buccaneers retained their top three backs from 2024 with Irving, White and Tucker but added a fourth to the mix with impressive rookie free agent Josh Williams. Williams ran 13 times for 49 yards during the preseason and also averaged 36.0 yards on three kickoff returns.
Irving was a rookie sensation in 2024, as the fourth-round pick out of Oregon led all NFL newcomers in rushing yards (1,122), yards from scrimmage (1,514) and touchdown runs (eight). He gradually supplanted White as the starter and primary ballcarrier in the Bucs' backfield but White continued to be an excellent complementary back, surpassing 1,000 yards from scrimmage for the second year in a row and providing very reliable pass blocking. Tucker didn't get as many opportunities behind that duo but did average 6.2 yards per carry and won an NFC Offensive Player of the Week award.
**Wide Receivers** **(7)**: **Emeka Egbuka** \*, **Mike Evans**, **Chris Godwin**, **Kameron Johnson**, **Tez Johnson** \*, **Ryan Miller**, **Sterling Shepard**
The Bucs' cutdown decisions at the receiver spot would have been even more difficult if WR Jalen McMillan hadn't sustained a severe neck strain in a preseason game, which led to him being placed on injured reserve on Tuesday. McMillan was given the designated-for-return option, but he is expected to miss at least the first half of the season.
With McMillan and Godwin currently unavailable, Egbuka, the 19th-overall pick in this year's draft, is likely to open his NFL career as a starter. Egbuka was extremely impressive in training camp and the preseason and will likely retain a significant role even when Godwin returns to action. Tez Johnson looks like a seventh-round steal with his speed and lightning-quick moves and could also help in the return game. Kam Johnson may have won one or both return jobs during the preseason and Miller has shown on multiple occasions that he can capably fill in at any of the receiver spots and provide strong blocking, as well. Shepard stayed healthy in his second Bucs' training camp and demonstrated that there is plenty left in his tank after the long-time Giant caught 32 passes for 334 yards for the Buccaneers last year.
**Tight Ends (4): Devin Culp, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Cade Otton**
The Buccaneers will start the 2025 season with the exact same group of tight ends they rostered last season. The only cut from the group was that of Tanner Taula, who has spent most of the past two years on Tampa Bay's practice squad.
Though he was slowed by injury in training camp, Otton remains the do-it-all starter in the Bucs' offense and will likely get the largest share of snaps once again. He finished 2024, his third season, with a career-high 57 receptions for 600 yards and four touchdowns. Durham is a bigger tight end who provides strong blocking and also is capable of making plays downfield. That latter part is also true for Culp, who could carve out a larger role in his second season after making a couple of big plays in his late-season cameo as a rookie.
**Offensive Linemen (8): Graham Barton, Ben Bredeson, Benjamin Chukwuma** **\*, Luke Goedeke, Charlie Heck, Elijah Klein, Cody Mauch, Tristan Wirfs**
If Wirfs is not ready to go in Week One, the Buccaneers would only have seven healthy offensive lineman ready to suit up against the Falcons. Since teams can keep 48 players active on game day instead of 47 _only_ if eight of those players are offensive linemen, an addition to this group makes sense sometime soon. The Bucs are hoping, however, that Wirfs doesn't miss the full four games he would have had to sit out had he been placed on the PUP list.
The Buccaneers had on of the best offensive lines in the NFL in 2024, and with the re-signing of Bredeson in the offseason, they will return all five starters, at least as soon as Wirfs is clears. Wirfs was a first-team _Associated Press_ selection at left tackle last season and thus is difficult to adequately replace for any period of time. Goedeke could be in line for a contract extension sooner rather than later after putting in increasingly strong seasons at right tackle and Graham Barton, a first-round pick in 2024, had a very promising debut season at center. The most interesting addition to this group is that of Chukwuma, an offensive tackle from Georgia State who has only played 23 football games in his life, with 12 starts. That didn't stop him from making the Bucs' 53-man roster and currently serving as the primary backup to Charlie Heck at left tackle.