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About the Author: Matt Matera
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The Bucs have waived defensive lineman Pat O’Connor, the team announced on Tuesday. This move comes corresponds with signing quarterback John Wolford from the practice squad to 53-man roster and the Bucs needing to make room.
We've signed QB John Wolford to the active roster & waived DL Patrick O'Connor.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 31, 2023
Bucs DL Pat O’Connor – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
O’Connor has been on the Bucs for seven seasons and is a member of the 2020 Super Bowl winning team.
This year he began on the practice squad and was elevated for the Bucs’ Week 2 game against the Bears. He was then called up to the active roster on September 20 before Week 3. O’Connor has been part of the rotation on the defensive line and was an important member on Tampa Bay’s special teams units.
Why The Bucs Signed Wolford To The 53-Man Roster
Because of a slew of injuries to quarterbacks across the league, including a season ending achilles injury to the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins and a sprained UCL injury on the thumb of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, Wolford became a hot commodity to quarterback needy teams.
Bucs QB John Wolford – Photo by: USA Today
The Bucs needed to sign Wolford to the main roster ensure he would stay in Tampa Bay in the event something happened to quarterback Baker Mayfield and someone needed to back up Kyle Trask.
Initial reports came out that Wolford was getting interest from the Rams, which would make sense considering he played there for the previous four seasons and is familiar with their offensive system. The Rams weren’t the only team either that garnered the interest of Wolford, so Tampa Bay had to act fast.
Tampa Bay’s Defensive Line Rotation
Bucs DT Pat O’Connor – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
O’Connor played in three games this season for Tampa Bay in Weeks 2 through 4. He got in on five defensive snaps and nine special teams snaps. He was a game day inactive for Weeks 6 through 9. O’Connor was behind Will Gholston, Mike Greene and Logan Hall on the defensive line depth chart with Calijah Kancey also starting while they had Vita Vea starting at nose tackle with Greg Gaines backing him up.
In their last game against the Bills, the Bucs chose to elevate defensive lineman Deadrin Senat for the game while keeping O’Connor as a game day inactive. Senat made one tackle on nine defensive snaps.
Known as a great teammate and important to the locker room, it would not come as a surprise at all if O’Connor ended up back on the practice squad with Tampa Bay moving forward the rest of this season.
