Sunday evening has come and gone, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with the rest of the NFL, has whittled their rosters down to the 53-player limit for the start of the 2026 season.

Tough choices were made by Todd Bowles and his staff, and the Bucs went heavy at some spots (particularly in the trenches) and light at others (hello, secondary).

Here are three surprises that jumped out at me.

Jalon Daniels won the QB2 battle, but Tampa Bay is taking a risk carrying two QBs

I wrote before that Daniels deserved a roster spot, and that’s because of course he did. He gave the Bucs a shot in the arm in preseason wins over the Jets and Chiefs. He clearly was the most productive of the preseason signal callers.

But I had in the back of my mind the Bucs carrying three quarterbacks, with Jake Browning hanging on as well. I know my colleague Evan Winter had Daniels at QB2 with Browning out in his recent projection, but I felt the Bucs would keep some experience in the room. with Daniels being a rookie. Browning has appeared in 17 games with 10 starts in his career.

But Winter was right, and the Bucs put the backup job solely in Daniels’ hands. That’s quite the move of faith. We’ll see if the team looks to add a third, more experienced QB to the practice squad or 53 at some point, but for now, it’s just Daniels behind Baker Mayfield.

The Bucs are very thin at safety

The Bucs’ starting options on the back end of their defense was never in question, with Antoine Winfield, Jr. and Tykee Smith set to resume their starting spots. But behind them, the team will have just one designated safety, which obviously leaves them shorthanded there.

Miles Killebrew got the last spot there, and the team released veteran Ifeatu Melifonwu near the end of their cuts. I had hopes that Melifonwu would live up to his 2023 ability, when he played a significant role late in the season for the Lions on their way to the playoffs. He even 1.5 sacks against the Bucs in their 31-23 playoff win. But the oft-injured defender found himself on the way out.

We’ll find out in the coming hours if he ends up back in town on the practice squad, or if another safety is acquired to add some depth there.

Jack Pyburn played well enough to earn a spot, but the Bucs thought otherwise

I waffled on undrafted free agent rookie Jack Pyburn out of LSU. Even as recently as a few days ago, I thought he was on his way out and even wrote as much. But then almost as soon as I hit publish, I remembered how thin the Bucs were last year at arguably the most important position on the football field, and having a young player like Pyburn to groom seemed like a winning proposition.

But as much as I have harped on production with Jalon Daniels and him earning a spot with his play, I should have given that same deference to Pyburn as well. Pyburn was the NFL preseason sack leader this year with four sacks across the Bucs’ three games.

Despite the depth I argued about in previously dismissing his chances (the Bucs’ five OLB were set, and that proved to be true), I should have given his production more credit in arguing for them to keep a sixth.

And no, I don’t think the return-to-LSU talks (threats?) have had any factor in his evaluation. The Bucs want the best players, period. And I don’t think they’ll get him back on the practice squad like they’re apparently hoping for. Either another NFL team or perhaps even LSU will likely get a crack at him instead.