Logan Ryan will be moving off the Buccaneers’ 53-man roster due to a fractured foot, but the team is not shutting him down for the season just yet.
The Bucs are planning to place Ryan on IR, and surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. Ryan still plans to be back late this season, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes (via Twitter). Ryan has missed Tampa Bay’s past two games. While he must miss at least four more because of this transaction, it sounds like he will need more than the IR minimum to recover.
A Giants cap casualty in March, Ryan joined the Bucs soon after. He has not been a full-time starter with his fourth NFL team, but the Bucs have used the veteran defensive back regularly. Ryan has played 54% of the Bucs’ defensive snaps in the games in which he has suited up; he suffered the injury against the Chiefs in Week 4. Ryan, 31, is attached to a one-year, $1.12MM deal.
Tampa Bay played without Ryan, safety Mike Edwards and cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting in its Week 6 loss in Pittsburgh. The team used Keanu Neal alongside starter Antoine Winfield Jr. at safety Sunday. Neal, who joined Ryan in signing with the Bucs this offseason, figures to be in line for more work going forward. During his short time with the Bucs, Ryan has upped his career INT count to 19 and his career start number to 117.
Ryan’s timeline mirrors Ryan Jensen‘s. The team carried its starting center through to its 53-man roster past cutdown day, doing so despite Jensen suffering a serious knee injury during training camp. But Jensen has an outside chance to suit up again should the Bucs book their third straight playoff berth. Ryan appears to have a much better chance of returning to action this season, but the ex-Patriots, Titans and Giants defender will still need to wait a while before that window opens.