It might be the offseason, but the Bucs are already preparing for mini-camp. On Thursday, the team signed safety Chris Cooper back to the roster. Cooper joined the Bucs at the outset of training camp a year ago, impressing on special teams. The Stony Brook product has played for five teams, but has yet to see action in an NFL game. He spent almost the entire 2021 campaign on the Bucs practice squad.

Cooper entered the league in 2018, spending time on the practice squads of the Bengals, Chiefs and Falcons. After joining the Broncos in October, he signed a reserve/futures deal with the club in January. He was waived in early June after the team spent significant resources in the secondary.

Cooper will join a deep Bucs safety room that could be losing Jordan Whitehead and Andrew Adams. Both safeties are free agents. Antoine Winfield Jr. and Mike Edwards are locks to make the team’s 2022 roster, but there is uncertainty outside of that. Cooper is set to compete with Troy Warner and perhaps veteran Curtis Riley (IR) for a roster spot. He already has the leg up on special teams. Cooper’s performance on kick coverage in the preseason was good enough to earn him an initial roster spot. In fact, the Bucs didn’t waive him until a few weeks into the season.