The Buccaneers have announced a few roster moves as the club is dealing with some minor injuries on offense.
Tampa Bay has signed rookie receiver Jaden Smith and the previously reported signing of running back Owen Wright.
As corresponding moves, the club has waived safety Marcus Banks and running back D.J. Williams.
Tampa Bay is familiar with Smith after he participated in the team’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Nevada in the spring.
Wright entered the league with the Ravens in 2023 and appeared in one game for the franchise that season, playing exclusively on special teams. He spent the 2024 season on IR with a foot fracture.
The Buccaneers worked out seven free agents Wednesday. They are signing at least one.
Greg Auman of Fox Sports reports the Bucs have reached agreement with running back Owen Wright.
Tampa Bay was in need of running back depth with Josh Williams and D.J. Williams sidelined. The team also worked out running backs Malik Davis and Nay’Quan Wright, quarterback Jordan McCloud, wide receivers Jacob Harris and Jaden Smith and tight end Holden Willis.
Wright also was a tryout player at the Bucs’ rookie minicamp in May.
He has spent the past two seasons with the Ravens but has played only one career regular-season game. Wright saw eight snaps on special teams in one game in 2023.
He had 89 yards and a touchdown for the Ravens against the Bucs in a 2023 preseason game.
Mike Evans is the only receiver in NFL history to begin a career with 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Jerry Rice had 927 as a rookie before putting together 11 seasons in a row with at least 1,000 yards.
No one else in NFL history has ever had 11 consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 yards.
Evans, 31, will go for 12 in a row in the franchise’s 50th season.
“I’m just happy that we have a really great team and we’re using this training camp to put everything together to have one of the best seasons for the 50th,” Evans said. “I’m excited to put on a great show for y’all.”
Evans has played with Josh McCown, Mike Glennon, Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield. The seventh overall pick in 2014 is entering his 12th and possibly final season with the Bucs as 2025 is the final year of his contract.
“I’m getting up there in experience,” Evans said. “I’ve been [one of] the oldest or the most experienced Bucs for the past couple of seasons now since Tom left. I feel pretty great, though. I feel pretty great. As I’m getting older, I’m just focusing on what’s in front of me, and that’s this season.”
The fan favorite wants another 1,000 yards this season as much for Bucs fans as for himself.
“That is what makes it even sweeter, that people want it as bad as I do. I appreciate them for that,” Evans said.
Veteran safety Jordan Whitehead is set to be in Atlanta to visit with the Falcons on Wednesday.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that Whitehead will be meeting with the NFC South club as he looks for a place to play in 2025.
Whitehead signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers last year and appeared in 12 games before injuries sustained in a January car accident knocked him out of the team’s final two games of the season. Garafolo reports that Whitehead has been fully cleared to return to action.
Whitehead had 79 tackles last year. He spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Jets and opened his career by playing four seasons in Tampa.
Former Buccaneers and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden hopes his abrupt resignation in 2021 amid the release of offensive emails wasn’t the end of his coaching career.
Gruden, who is at Lions camp this week, told reporters he’s eager to get back into coaching and hoping someone will hire him.
“Hopefully I’m not done,” Gruden said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I’m about to make a comeback. I’m working hard to maybe get one more shot, but hopefully some of these guys that fell off my branch, if you say it that way, maybe they can hire me cause I’m looking for a job.”
Gruden does consulting work for NFL teams but says he really wants to be a coach again.
“I don’t care if I coach at Jones Junior High,” he said. “I’m going to coach again. I’m still coaching. I’m just not on a team officially, but I do have some private assignments I work on and I wear some gear when I’m watching the games that nobody knows about who I’m pulling for.”
Gruden, who will turn 62 next month, has a career record of 117-112 in the regular season and 5-4 in the postseason, and his 2002 Buccaneers won the Super Bowl.
