It’s hard to believe it, but the Bucs are now done with training camp as well as their three-game preseason slate. Now, all eyes are on Sept. 13, which is when they head up to Cincinnati to play the Bengals in Week 1 of the 2026 regular season.
Of course, not every player who went through camp and the preseason with the Bucs will be making that trip, as the immediate focus for Tampa Bay – and particularly the team’s decision makers – is on cutting the roster from 90 players down to 53.
The roster cutdown deadline is Sunday, Aug. 30 at 6:00 p.m., so with Friday night’s preseason finale against the Jaguars now in the past, general manager Jason Licht, head coach Todd Bowles and the Bucs personnel staff will be hard at work and making some tough decisions.
Bucs GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
These cuts may be coming in flurries over the next couple of days leading up to the deadline Sunday at 6:00 p.m., and Pewter Report will be tracking each and every move here.
Bucs Roster Cuts
Scroll down to the bottom for Tampa Bay’s most recent roster cuts.
QB Connor Bazelak – reported by Fox Sports’ Greg Auman
RB Barika Kpeenu – reported by Fox Sports’ Greg Auman
TE Kenny Fletcher – reported by Fox Sports’ Greg Auman
OG Nash Hutmacher – reported by Fox Sports’ Greg Auman
DT Travis Shaw – reported by Fox Sports’ Greg Auman
LB John Bullock – reported by Fox Sports’ Greg Auman
K B.T. Potter – reported by FOX Sports’ Greg Auman
OT Marshall Foerner – reported by FOX Sports’ Greg Auman
Up to six cuts reported here for Bucs, none that surprising:
QB Connor Bazelak
RB Barika Kpeenu
TE Kenny Fletcher
G Nash Hutmacher
DT Travis Shaw
LB John Bullock— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 29, 2026
This year, the toughest decisions for Tampa Bay look to be at quarterback (keeping three or narrowing it down to two, at which point there’s a decision to make between the veteran Jake Browning or rookie Jalon Daniels), running back (sticking with Sean Tucker as RB3 and paying him $3.52 million or going with the less-expensive Josh Williams), wide receiver (specifically how many to keep given the injuries at that position) and inside linebacker (finding a way to keep rookie Caden Fordham, even if it means parting ways with the now-veteran SirVocea Dennis).
In addition to cutting the 90-man preseason roster down to 53 players for the regular season, Tampa Bay will also be working to fill out a practice squad with 16 players, or 17 if the team decides to keep offensive tackle Paul Rubelt as an international player.
The Pewter Report Podcast Breaks Down The Bucs’ 2026 Roster Cuts
Join Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds and Matt Matera Sunday afternoon as they break down the Bucs’ roster cuts as well as the team’s final 53-man roster LIVE on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel.
Bailey Adams is in his fifth year with Pewter Report. Born and raised in Tampa, he has closely followed the Bucs all his life and has covered them in some capacity since 2016. In addition to his responsibilities as a beat writer, he also contributes to the site as an editor. He graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2019 and currently co-hosts The Pegasus Podcast, a podcast dedicated to covering UCF Football.
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