Tampa Bay prioritized depth in the trenches over depth in the secondary. Will the Bucs regret it? Or could they be on the lookout for newly available defensive back talent?
On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, like every other NFL team, finalized their initial 53-man roster.
While each team is likely to make a few changes between now and the beginning of the regular season in two weeks, especially with over a thousand players now on the waiver wire and practice squads needing to be filled, we have a solid blueprint of what this year's Bucs' squad will look like.
As Scott Smith notes on the team's website, the organization decided to "go heavy" in the trenches for its initial roster.
Tampa kept a whopping 10 offensive linemen. While that may seem like an awful lot (and it is), four of their five starters missed at least five games last season. If the starters remain healthy, they could be the best line in the NFL. However, solid offensive line depth is hard to come by, and each team's o-line depth usually gets tested over an entire season.
On the defensive side, Tampa is rolling with an astonishing seven interior linemen. The Bucs made several high-profile additions to their defensive front seven this offseason, including free agent DTs A'Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches, who is back for a second stint with the club. The team also drafted DeMonte Capehart in the fifth round this year.
With all that talent in the interior, it looked like the Bucs may have to part with one or two quality players they would love to keep.
That is a good problem for a team to have. Is it more or less of a problem when the team decides to keep all of them, even if it means weakening the team in other areas?
Only 8 Defensive Backs?
When the dust settled and Tampa's roster was finally set, it included only eight defensive backs.
Only eight. Five cornerbacks and three safeties.
In today's pass-happy NFL, being short on defensive backs is not the best strategy.
As offenses continue to put more pass catchers on the field, whether it's extra wide receivers, tight ends, or running backs running routes out of the backfield, the Bucs may regret sacrificing their secondary depth to keep so many extra linemen. Defensive backs become injured as frequently as almost any other position group. Teams can never have too many defensive backs.
But it's easy to not have enough.
To be fair, Tampa didn't cut any individual defensive back that would be viewed as an egregious mistake. Collectively, though, the decision to carry so few DBs is very concerning.
Not only did the Bucs keep only five corners and three safeties, but most have significant questions heading into the season.
Miles Killebrew was one of the three safeties to make the team. Throughout his career, Killebrew has been a special teams ace. He has never been a vital piece of any defense. In fact, over his last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Killebrew has played a total of nine defensive snaps.
The Bucs may regret the decision not to keep either Rashad Wisdom or Ifeatu Melifonwu.
Cornerback Questions Galore
All five cornerbacks Tampa kept are talented, but each comes with questions that need to be answered.
Is Zyon McCollum the player he was early in his career, or is he the player who struggled through an extremely disappointing 2025 season? Now that he is the de facto CB1, the Bucs need him to be the former.
Can Jacob Parrish replicate the strong play of his rookie year even though he is being moved to the outside after being Tampa's slot corner last season?
Is Ayden Garnes for real? The undrafted rookie has been one of the defense's most exciting players and best stories over the last several weeks. Can he keep it going now that the lights will be much brighter and the competition much stronger?
Will fourth-round rookie Keionte Scott's ankle injury, suffered in Tampa's ugly 19-0 preseason-ending loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, be fully healed by the start of the season?
Scott's addition is what caused Tampa to switch Parrish's position this year. Wondering whether the rookie will be healthy to start the season isn't ideal.
Of course, it's better than wondering if Benjamin Morrison will ever be healthy. Of the five corners Tampa rostered, Morrison may be the most talented. Unfortunately, last year's second-round pick has struggled with injuries so far in his pro career. He also struggled with injuries in college at Notre Dame, after struggling with injuries in high school.
If Morrison can put his long injury history behind him, he could become great. He finally returned to practice after his most recent ailment, which he suffered at the start of OTAs. Morrison is under a lot of pressure this season, and proving he can stay on the field will do wonders for his career.
If all five can put those concerns to rest, they could develop into one of the most talented CB rooms in the league. Until they prove themselves, it may have been better to have an corner, or two, just in case.
Final Thoughts
It's crazy to me that Tampa only kept eight defensive backs. Even if they were all proven commodities, eight still wouldn't be enough.
When you factor in the combination of injury concerns and general lack of experience, especially the CBs, it appears that the Bucs are playing with fire.
General manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles are hopefully scouring the waiver wire right now to add another DB. Or two.
If the Bucs are interested, and there is no reason why they shouldn't be, Jacksonville cut 24-year-old CB Jabbar Muhammad, who has been outstanding this offseason after spending his entire rookie season on the practice squad.
While he would come with the same lack of pro experience many of Tampa's CBs share, the Bucs got a close look at Muhammad in the Jaguars' dominant defensive performance on Friday.
