The Bucs are back at it for quite possibly the last time this season. With their season quite literally on the line, every roster decision has an outsized impact. Each player active for today’s game has a chance to be the player who makes or breaks the team’s season.

With those implications, here is the final cut list Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has put together for the regular season.

Tampa Bay @Buccaneers Players Inactive for Today’s Game vs. Carolina:

#16 QB Connor Bazelak (3QB)
#17 WR Sterling Shepard
#35 CB Jamel Dean
#79 G Elijah Klein
#92 DL Elijah Simmons
#98 OLB Anthony Nelson

Elevated from Practice Squad:
#91 OLB Jason Pierre-Paul#WeAreTheKrewe

— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) January 3, 2026

Bucs Missing Two Key Players Due To Injury

Tampa Bay will not be at full strength on defense against the Panthers. In addition to missing starting cornerback Zyon McCollum, who was placed on injured reserve prior to the Bucs’ Week 16 game against the Panthers, they will be without their other top corner.

It is fitting that Jamel Dean, who has battled injury after injury since signing his contract extension in 2023, will miss Tampa Bay’s final game of the season. Despite this being perhaps the best season of his career, the missed game action looms large as he is set to hit free agency after the season.

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Backup outside linebacker Anthony Nelson will miss his second consecutive game with a knee injury. In his place, Tampa Bay has elevated Jason Pierre-Paul from the practice squad and he will be active for the game.

Veteran Wide Receiver Inactive For Third Straight Game

Sterling Shepard, the consummate Bucs hype man, will be wearing street clothes for the third straight week. Shep was a big part of Tampa Bay’s offensive gameplan when the team was without Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan and Chris Godwin Jr. But now that the receiving corps is back to full strength, Shepard has moved from WR2 to WR6 behind rookies Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson.

Bucs Defensive Lineman Returns And Wide Receiver Set To Play With Illness

The biggest change in inactives from last week to this week is the need to find a hat for defensive lineman Calijah Kancey. Tampa Bay activated him from injured reserve this week and he will play for the first time since Week 2.

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

The team also announced through its communications department that wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. had been added to the injury report with an illness, but he was expected to play. Godwin may be limited as a result.

We have added WR Chris Godwin Jr. (illness) to the Injury Report with no game status. He is expected to play. https://t.co/OsvGYDOkRa

— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) January 3, 2026

Panthers Inactives

Carolina will be without the following players for today’s game:

• DL Tershawn Wharton
• WR Hunter Renfrow
• CB Robert Rochell
• S Demani Richardson
• S D’Anthony Bell
• LB Claudin Cherelus
• DL Jared Harrison-Hunte