The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to wrap up the preseason on Friday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, I thought it would be fun to do a 53-man roster projection centering around what I would do if I were in Jason Licht’s shoes.

I’ll have a final Buccaneers 53-man roster prediction out basically once the game is over and we can go from there. But until then, let’s live it up and put on our GM hats.

Note: Players with a single asterisk (*) are 2026 draft picks and players with double asterisks (**) are 2026 undrafted free agents.

Buccaneers 53-man roster projection if I were GM

Quarterback (2)

IN: Baker Mayfield, Jalon Daniels**
OUT: Jake Browning, Connor Bazelak

The skinny: It’s the summer of Jalon Daniels. You just have to be super impressed with what the kid has been able to do over the last few weeks. Even though I had him on my 53-man projection before Tampa Bay played the Jets, it’s still pretty surprising to see him actually live it out and make things come to fruition.

I think Jake Browning will pass through waivers, and then the Buccaneers can stash him on the practice squad. The same goes for Connor Bazelak. His tape just isn’t impressive enough for the Buccaneers to need to worry about a team grabbing him off waivers.

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Running back (3)

IN: Bucky Irving, Kenneth Gainwell, Sean Tucker
OUT: Josh Williams, Barika Kpeenu**

The skinny: There’s been some dialogue centering around Sean Tucker and Josh Williams over the last week because Williams got to play ahead of Tucker against the Chiefs. Todd Bowles said afterward the flip-flop had nothing to do with their roster status, and I believe him.

Sure, Josh Williams is a promising, younger, cheaper player. However, Sean Tucker has more than once shown he can step in and be a productive running back when the time calls for it. That should be enough for Tucker to get the nod over Williams.

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Wide receiver (6)

IN: Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson, Kameron Johnson, Ted Hurst*
OUT: Garrett Greene, David Sills V, Eric Rivers Jr.**, Dean Patterson**, Matthew Henry**, Jha’Quan Jackson

The skinny: This room is pretty much chalk. Even with the injuries to Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, and Tez Johnson, the Buccaneers have their wide receivers.

Bowles has talked about how it’s a super-competitive room and the last cut is going to be very tough. Regardless, I think these are the six Tampa Bay runs with, especially since Kam Johnson is showing some progress as a receiver and isn’t just bottled in as a returner.

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Tight end (4)

IN: Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Bauer Sharp*
OUT: Kenny Fletcher Jr. **, Devin Culp

The skinny: Another chalk room. Devin Culp did not separate himself like he needed to over the offseason in order to stay on the team. While Bauer Sharp hasn’t blown anybody’s doors off by any means, he still has higher potential. The Buccaneers just know at this point that Culp probably isn’t going to take that step forward in his development.

He may have already hit his ceiling. These will be the four tight ends Tampa Bay runs with since Zac Robinson likes to utilize a lot of 12 personnel.

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Offensive line (10)

IN: Tristan Wirfs (LT), Ben Bredeson (LG), Graham Barton (C), Cody Mauch (RG), Luke Goedeke (RT), Justin Skule, Benjamin Chukwuma, Elijah Klein, Billy Schrauth*, Dan Feeney
OUT: Ben Scott, Marshall Foerner, Luke Haggard, Henry Lutovsky**, Paul Rubelt**, Nash Hutmacher

The skinny: I was very tempted to leave Justin Skule off of this, especially considering he’s injured. However, I still think the Buccaneers need to carry two swing tackles on this roster, mainly because of Tristan Wirfs’ hamstring concern and Luke Goedeke missing some time over the last couple of years. I don’t think Benjamin Chukwuma would make it through waivers, and I don’t think Skule would want to sign back with Tampa Bay if he’s cut unless they do one of those handshake deals that teams and players sometimes work out when roster cuts roll around.

It’ll be worth watching what happens with Billy Schrauth, who’s still nursing a knee injury. The Buccaneers could put him on short-term IR, which would open up a spot for somebody else. But until that happens, I’m going to say the Bucs run with him on the 53 and he ends up starting Week 1 healthy.

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Defensive line (6)

IN: Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea, A’Shawn Robinson, Elijah Roberts, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, DeMonte Capehart*
OUT: Jayson Jones, Travis Shaw**, Elijah Simmons, Josiah Green**

The skinny: With Vita Vea’s return, this room is absolutely set. There’s no way one of the bubble guys is going to break into this six-man front. Tampa Bay is not going to carry seven defensive linemen on the roster, even if they really do like Jayson Jones and Elijah Simmons. The Buccaneers have a very stout and deep defensive line. It should be one of the biggest strengths of the team in 2026.

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Linebacker (4)

IN: Alex Anzalone, SirVocea Dennis, Caden Fordham**, Josiah Trotter*
OUT: Christian Rozeboom, Nick Jackson, Javin Wright**, John Bullock

The skinny: Here’s probably the biggest surprise on my 53-man roster projection. Are the Buccaneers going to keep Christian Rozeboom? Probably so. But I’m doing this as if I were GM of this team, and Rozeboom just hasn’t been on the field the last two weeks to show me what he could really look like in this defense. He got in some padded practices before the Jets matchup, but he got nicked up ahead of that game and hasn’t been on the field since.

I don’t really know what Rozeboom could fully provide, even if he does have some impressive tape from 2025. That was a completely different defense, a completely different scenario and setting.

So I’m going to run with a guy I know and have seen and who is healthy, and that’s Caden Fordham, the UDFA rookie linebacker who has impressed. The best ability is availability, and Rozeboom just hasn’t been on the field enough.

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EDGE/Outside Linebacker (5)

IN: Yaya Diaby, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Anthony Nelson, David Walker, Rueben Bain Jr.*
OUT: Mohamad Kamara, Yasir Holmes**, Chris Braswell, Jack Pyburn**

The skinny: Braswell is officially off the team on this 53-man projection, and it’s easy to understand why. The Buccaneers have a very solid five-man rotation with the guys listed above. Even though Braswell showed some special teams play and promise in 2025, it’s just not going to be enough to keep him on this roster. It’s unfortunate because he’s got all the talent in the world. The game just hasn’t slowed down for him like it needs to, and he just can’t pick it up on his own.

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Cornerback (6)

IN: Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison, Jacob Parrish, Keionte Scott*, Josh Hayes, Ayden Garnes**
OUT: Roman Parodie, Damarion “Pepe” Williams

The skinny: It’s a shame “Pepe” Williams can’t make the team in this roster projection, and it’s only due to roster math. It has nothing to do with him. I think Ayden Garnes has outproduced him and outplayed him in the offseason, and that should be enough to get him that last and final cornerback spot. Josh Hayes could also draw some debate, but he is a very good special teams player, and considering what Tampa Bay is trying to fix from last year in terms of special teams play, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to cut him.

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Safety (4)

IN: Antoine Winfield Jr., Tykee Smith, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Miles Killebrew
OUT: Robert McDaniel, Rashad Wisdom, J.J. Roberts, Xavier Williams**

The skinny: This room is pretty set even though the safety depth is shaky. Roberts, I think, will pass through waivers when he’s cut. He just hasn’t practiced enough, and he doesn’t have any game tape for other teams to really evaluate. Plus, he’s coming off a knee injury, so I think it’ll be safe and worth the dice roll to let him go through waivers.

The other guys just couldn’t do enough to separate themselves in a pretty questionable safety room when it comes to depth.

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Specialists (3)

IN: Chase McLaughlin (K), Riley Dixon (P), Evan Deckers (LS)
OUT: B.T. Potter**, Scott Daly**

The skinny: We all know B.T. Potter was just a camp leg brought in to give Chase McLaughlin some rest here and there. Riley Dixon had a poor opening game against the Jets but really bounced back against the Chiefs, as did the Buccaneers special teams unit as a whole.

Evan Deckers has been holding down the long snapping job for a couple of years, and I don’t see why the Bucs would sub that out for Scott Daly, especially considering the improvement they’re trying to make on special teams.

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Final Word

Things are pretty clear when looking at the Buccaneers’ roster and trying to figure things out, for the most part. There will probably be a surprise or two, but I wouldn’t expect anything crazy to come out after Friday night’s game.

Only time will tell, and we’ll just have to see what it looks like once final cuts are made.