There was some thought that Tampa Bay Buccaneers would allow massive Florida Gators UDFA Desmond Watson to stick around after roster cuts, but in a bit of a surprise move, that won’t be the case.
Watson, who played college football at 464 pounds and would have been the heaviest NFL player in history had he stuck around, was placed on the non-football injury list (NFI list) before training camp began in an effort to lose weight. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles extended the possibility that the team could keep him there to allow his weight loss journey to continue as the regular season started — the Buccaneers have cut him outright, per FOX Sports’ Greg Auman, and it doesn’t look like he’ll have a spot on the practice squad, either.
The move is a bit interesting, as Bowles had previously insinuated during the dying days of training camp that the Bucs might have had a long-term plan in place for Watson.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson (56) participates in mini camp at AdventHealth Training Center. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
The move comes as a bit of a surprise. Head coach Todd Bowles first spoke on Watson on Aug. 19, where it sounded like there was a potential plan in place to keep Watson around. That likely would have involved the NFI list during the regular season, where Watson could still trim down his weight before being active in a 21-day window.
“That’s something we’re going to meet about in the next two days,” Bowles said. “I’d like to have some long-term plans for him going forward because he’s making some progress and I feel like down the line he can help us, but we’ll have those conversations toward the end of the week.”
Bowles reiterated these intentions on Aug. 21, mentioning that there was potentially a longer-term plan in place for Watson.
“We’re still discussing that, but we have some things in the works for him going forward,” Bowles said.
As it turns out, that wasn’t the case. Watson was on the NFI list for all of training camp as the team looked for him to lose weight, and it seems as if the Bucs were unwilling to wait. It comes as a bit of a surprise, given Bowles’ rhetoric over the last week of camp, but it looks as if Watson will have to try and continue his NFL journey elsewhere.
