HEADLINES

Solomon Patton

Bucs Cut Mike Kafka, Major Wright, Others

August 30th, 2014 at 6:05pm CST by Luke Adams

6:05pm: The Buccaneers have officially announced their roster moves (via Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com), revealing their final cut:

Instead of releasing Ronald Talley and Major Wright, the team placed the duo on injured reserve.

5:09pm: The Buccaneers have yet to officially announce their full list of cuts to get down to 53 players, so for now we’ll have to rely on various reports to determine which players are no longer on the rest. After yesterday’s series of moves, seven more cuts have been reported so far today, meaning the team has to make just one more move to get from 54 to 53 players. Here’s the list so far:

NFC South Notes: Bucs, Panthers, Saints

May 17th, 2014 at 10:35pm CST by Peter Sowards

The NFL is a grown man’s league, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have taken notice.

First-round receiver Mike Evans and second-round tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins both stand 6 feet 5, imposing figures amongst their defensive counterparts. Both players have basketball backgrounds. As the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud writes, the Bucs and coach Lovie Smith like their basketball players.

“My experience is that anybody can’t go out there and play basketball,” Smith said. “It takes a good athlete with quickness, size, vertical (jump). Normally, that translates to getting good production on the football field.”

Stroud points out a number of former hoopsters who excelled in pro football, including Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham. Getting position on your defender in football is similar to boxing out for a rebound in basketball, and it looks like the Bucs are hoping to cash in on the trend.

More from the NFC South below…

  • With a potential opening at punt returner, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports the Bucs gave third-round pick Charles Sims, sixth-round pick Robert Herron and undrafted receiver Solomon Patton a shot to impress coaches at Saturday’s minicamp.
  • The Panthers are expected to sign 6-foot-8, 320-pound tackle David Foucault, says Joseph Parson of the Charlotte Observer. The University of Montreal product impressed during the two-day rookie minicamp and figures to be the second Canadian lineman to sign with the team after coming to camp on a tryout basis.
  • The signing of former Browns receiver Greg Little has been discussed by Panthers brass, but the team is not planning to sign him at this point, two sources told Person.
  • There’s no denying the talent of Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, says Jonathan Jones of the Observer. But, his recent actions have his future in question.
  • In a heartwarming story, Saints coach Sean Payton announced the team signed former Tulane safety Devon Walker, who was paralyzed from the neck down in 2012, Andrew Lopez of The Times-Picayune writes.
  • After spending 2013 in the Arena Football League, former LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson was on hand at Saints minicamp Saturday as a tryout invitee, Lopez reports.

Bucs Sign 12 UDFAs, Cut Three Players

May 13th, 2014 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 4:56pm: Undrafted Texas A&M linebacker Steven Jenkins has also signed with the Buccaneers, the team announced today in a press release.

MONDAY, 2:52pm: The Buccaneers have announced 11 undrafted free agent signings, and Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune passes along the names in a series of tweets. To clear room on the 90-man roster, the club has also cut three players, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link): Tight end Steve Maneri, tight end and fullback Josh Baker, and cornerback Bobby Felder. None of the three players played for the Bucs last season.

Here’s the full list of the Bucs’ UDFA additions:

  • Josh Allen, C Louisiana-Monroe ($5K bonus, per Pat Yasinskas)
  • Nate Askew, LB, Texas A&M ($7.5K bonus)
  • Aaron Burks, WR, Boise State ($5K bonus)
  • Euclid Cummings, DT, Georgia Tech ($10K bonus)
  • Keith Lewis, CB, Virginia-Lynchburg ($3K bonus)
  • Andrew Miller, G, Virginia Tech ($5K bonus)
  • Matt Patchan, OT, Boston College ($14.85K bonus)
  • Solomon Patton, WR, Florida ($9K bonus)
  • Brett Smith, QB, Wyoming ($3K bonus)
  • Chaz Sutton, DE, South Carolina ($15K bonus)
  • Mycal Swaim, S, Eastern Michigan ($3K bonus)

South Notes: Falcons, Bucs, Saints, Titans

April 15th, 2014 at 11:02am CST by Luke Adams

ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure reported last Friday that Texas A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews has a visit scheduled with the Falcons for the week of April 21, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets today that Matthews has already worked out for Atlanta. Considering the Falcons are very much in the market for help on the line on both sides of the ball, Matthews is certainly a player worth keeping an eye on for that No. 6 overall pick next month, and he seems to be drawing plenty of interest from the club.

Here’s more on the Falcons and a couple other South teams:

  • The Falcons are hosting East Carolina tight end Justin Jones for a pre-draft visit today and Auburn edge defender Dee Ford later in the week. Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post and D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have the respective details.
  • Wilson also tweets that Utah State cornerback Nevin Lawson is visiting the Falcons today and tomorrow.
  • Former Gators receiver and kick returner Solomon Patton is working out for the Buccaneers today, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune (via Twitter).
  • The Buccaneers and Saints are among the teams hosting sleeper Purdue tackle Kevin Pamphile for visits, tweets Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net. According to Pauline, Pamphile is also visiting the Patriots, Dolphins, Cardinals, and Giants.
  • The Titans had Eastern Illinois signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo in for a pre-draft visit yesterday, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).