The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved on from rookie safety Shilo Sanders in a round of roster cuts on Sunday, but he may still have a route back to the organization.
The Buccaneers released Sanders, though his agents said their hope was that the rookie defensive back would be claimed on waivers by another team. If that does not happen, the Buccaneers may actually call him back. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the Buccaneers “enjoyed” having Sanders in the building, and could be a candidate for the team’s practice squad if he clears waivers.
Florio also notes that the Buccaneers were not put off by Sanders getting ejected from the team’s final preseason game for throwing a punch (video here). Sanders was “immediately remorseful” for his actions, and the play was not a factor in the decision to cut him.
The big question around Sanders is simply whether he is good enough to make an NFL roster. He went undrafted in April, and it was something of an accomplishment that he made it to the end of preseason and that the Bucs wanted to see more of him throughout camp. It likely helped that his conduct earned him a lot of positive reviews throughout the preseason.
Sanders ended his first NFL preseason with four solo tackles and a quarterback hit across three games.
