The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a lot of talent on their roster. That’s a very good problem to have, but it also means that general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles have some tough decisions to make.
Training camp is almost here at the end of July, and quite a few players will be battling for a roster spot, with some being unfortunate victims of a strong position group. We took a look at four of them down below before those battles kick off:
JTampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Trey Palmer runs for a touchdown after a reception against the Philadelphia Eagles. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Trey Palmer is talented enough to play on a 53-man roster in the NFL, but unfortunately, he’s the odd man out in a stacked receivers room. Palmer had value as a return man, but the Bucs drafted both Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson in the 2025 NFL Draft, and both of them could serve as return men in his stead.
The Bucs had some bad receiver injuries last year, and even still, Palmer caught just 12 passes for 122 yards. That should tell you enough about where Palmer stands as a wideout, so without his ability to return kicks, he could be on the way out.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Ko Kieft runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Ko Kieft is also the victim of an increasingly stacked tight end room. Cade Otton, Payne Durham and Devin Culp have all impressed at various points, and Culp could be in for some more reps after impressing in limited playing time on top of the fact that Josh Grizzard could make the offense more vertical in 2025.
Kieft played 68% of the team’s special teams snaps last year, so he could still hold tremendous value there. But with some changes on the offense, Kieft’s value as a tight end and occasional fullback could greatly diminish and the Bucs will have to think about whether or not he’s worth it.
Detroit Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor reacts against the Chicago Bears. / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
Yes, former Detroit Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor just got here, but that doesn’t mean he’s safe on the roster. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish this year, pushing him far down the depth chart. As a result, he’ll have to contribute on special teams in an effort to make the roster, and he’ll still have some competition there.
He’ll look to compete with Josh Hayes, who was on 50.63% of the team’s special teams snaps. Hayes played very poorly last year when he had to play cornerback, so as a result, he could be on the bubble too — whichever of them wins out the competition could send the other to the practice squad or to free agency.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Deion Jones celebrates with cornerback Zyon McCollum. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Tampa Bay’s linebacker corps is thin, and that could be the path to Jones staying on the roster. But he has two problems — the first is that he’s currently serving as LB4 behind Lavonte David, SirVocea Dennis and David WalkerJr,, and the other is that he doesn’t really play special teams, appearing in only 15 of those snaps all year last year.
Jones could be a good option in case one of those three players gets hurt in 2025, so for that reason, he may stick around. But he doesn’t have a lot of value outside of that, so he could end up heading to the practice squad to be brought in in case of emergency if he needed to be.
