With the Saturday night deadline for finalizing 53-man rosters looming, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a lot of work to do yesterday. While they had cut a few players on Friday night, their roster still sat at a robust 80 players and they had to cut 27 players in order to get their roster to the correct size.
The Bucs stressed how difficult it was for them to make these decisions, commenting that it spoke to the strength of their overall roster. And even though they did make the necessary cuts, you can tell that they're unsure exactly how their depth chart will play out over the season at a couple positions, going especially heavy with defensive backs and linemen. They have plenty of talent on the roster, but now it's a matter of figuring out how to make it all work the best.
For the current 53-man roster -- expect their to be waiver additions over the next couple days -- follow me below the jump.
A huge thanks to Sander at Bucs Nation for compiling this list. If you're a Bucs fan and you're not reading him every day, you should take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror.
Quarterback (2): Josh Freeman, Josh Johnson
Running Back (4): Legarrette Blount, Earnest Graham, Kregg Lumpkin, Allen Bradford
Fullback (1): Erik Lorig
Tight end (2): Kellen Winslow, Luke Stocker
Wide Receiver (6): Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, Dezmon Briscoe, Sammie Stroughter, Micheal Spurlock, Preston Parker
Offensive Tackle (4): Donald Penn, Jeremy Trueblood, James Lee, Demar Dotson
Offensive Guard (4): Ted Larsen, Davin Joseph, Jeremy Zuttah, Derek Hardman
Center (1): Jeff Faine
Defensive Tackle (4): Gerald McCoy, Roy Miller, Frank Okam, Brian Price
Defensive End (5): Adrian Clayborn, Michael Bennett, Da'Quan Bowers, Tim Crowder, George Johnson
Linebacker (5): Quincy Black, Mason Foster, Geno Hayes, Dekoda Watson, Adam Hayward
Cornerback (7): Ronde Barber, Aqib Talib, E.J. Biggers, Myron Lewis, Elbert Mack, D.J. Johnson,Anthony Gaitor
Safety (5): Sean Jones, Cody Grimm, Larry Asante, Corey Lynch, Devin Holland
Punter (1): Michael Koenen
Kicker (1): Connor Barth
Longsnapper (1): Christian Yount (Andrew Economos on "Physically Unable to Perform" list)