The Bucs signed 18 undrafted rookies on Friday, a group that includes Iowa S Kaevon Merriweather, Shepherd RB Ronnie Brown and Kansas State WR Kade Warner, son of Hall-of-Fame QB Kurt Warner//
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pushed their offseason roster close to the 90-man limit on Thursday by signing 18 undrafted rookie free agents. That group includes an 1,800-yard rusher from 2022, an FCS All-American wideout and the son of a Pro Football Hall-of-Famer.
The Buccaneers’ spoils in the proverbial “eighth round” of the draft – which the team only officially announced after the players arrived for the upcoming rookie mini-camp and actually signed their contracts – brings the total number of rookies on the current roster to 26. Tampa Bay selected eight players in the 2023 NFL Draft over the weekend, beginning with Pittsburgh defensive lineman Calijah Kancey with the 19th overall pick.
Kancey, second-round guard Cody Mauch and third-round outside linebacker YaYa Diaby are among the newcomers who could carve out significant roles rather quickly. Those from Thursday’s group of signees may have some more ground to make up, but the Buccaneers’ current roster features plenty of contributors who started in the undrafted ranks, including Shaq Barrett, Ryan Neal, Nick Leverett and Deven Thompkins.
The 18 newest Buccaneers will take part in a three-day mini-camp from Friday through Sunday and will be joined by select first-year players and several dozen additional rookies participating on tryout contracts.
Here are the 18 players the Buccaneers have signed so far as undrafted free agents (UDFAs) in 2023:
• ILB Jeremy Banks, Tennessee
• WR Taye Barber, TCU
• OLB Brandon Bouyer-Randle, Connecticut
• RB Ronnie Brown, Shepherd
• LS Evan Deckers, Duke
• T Silas Dzansi, Virginia Tech
• T Luke Haggard, Indiana
• CB Keenan Isaac, Alabama State
• S Christian Izien, Rutgers
• WR Rakim Jarrett, Maryland
• OLB Nelson Mbanasor, Texas State
• S Kaevon Merriweather, Iowa
• WR Ryan Miller, Furman
• G/C Chris Murray, Oklahoma
• T Raiqwon O’Neal, UCLA
• CB Derrek Pitts, North Carolina State
• TE Tanner Taula, Illinois State
• WR Kade Warner, Kansas State
The aforementioned 1,800-yard rusher is Shepherd’s Ronnie Brown (6-0, 190), who racked up 2,352 yards from scrimmage at the Division II level. Brown was a first-team Division II All-American last fall after scoring 24 total touchdowns for the Rams. His career totals in 41 games for Shepherd included 3,041 rushing yards…
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