Bucs address a problem roster area by bringing back a familiar face ahead of home stretch playoff run
Tampa Bay is reuniting with a veteran player in an area where they need to find answers.
With three games to play in the 2025 regular season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reeling at the wrong time. Tampa Bay has dropped five of their last six games after a 6-2 mark going into their bye week and find themselves in a tie with the Carolina Panthers atop the NFC South, who the Bucs face twice in the next three weeks.
Tampa Bay’s defense has devolved into one of the league’s worst in that stretch, and it doesn’t take a deep dive into the numbers to figure that out. Anyone who has watched the Bucs play since Week 10 has seen this unit allow chunk play after chunk play. That was evident when Kirk Cousins and the Falcons converted a third-and-28 on their game-winning drive last Thursday in a 29-28 Atlanta win.
At this point of the year, it’s obviously tough to find answers outside the roster. However, the Bucs are taking action to try to give the middle of their defense some help.
Per NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the Bucs are signing LB Anthony Walker, Jr. off the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad.
Bucs signing Anthony Walker, Jr. off Colts’ practice squad
For those who think Walker’s name is familiar, that’s because it is. Walker was signed by the Bucs to a one-year deal back in March. However, Walker missed all of training camp and the preseason recovering from a knee injury, and he was released as part of the team’s roster cutdowns to get to the 53-man limit after the preseason. He was signed to the Colts’ practice squad before the start of the season.
Tampa Bay’s linebacking corps is an area that needs to be addressed in a significant manner in the offseason. Lavonte David could be in his final year of a Hall of Fame-worthy career, and his play has been on a downslide this year, particularly in the passing game, where Pro Football Focus credits him as having allowed 53 catches on 62 targets for 504 yards and a team-high 7 touchdowns surrendered with one interception. SirVocea Dennis hasn’t quite lived up this season to the promise of the early stages of 2024, which ended prematurely with a shoulder injury. Dennis has allowed 46 of 53 catches for a team-high 593 yards with a touchdown allowed and an interception this season, earning him a team-worst 29.8 PFF coverage mark.
Walker shouldn’t be counted on to come in and light the world on fire, to be fair. He hasn’t played a snap since the 2024 season with the Dolphins, where he totaled 68 total tackles, a sack, and an interception across 14 games.
However, at this point, the Bucs need every available and competent option as they look for answers to find a way to win two more games over the next three weeks and salt away the team’s fifth straight NFC South title.
