Buccaneers Bring Back Former Starters to Replace Injured Super Bowl Champion

“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing safety Kaevon Merriweather back, signing him off Detroit’s practice squad on Tuesday,” Buccaneers’ senior writer Scott Smith wrote on the team’s official website. “Merriweather spent all of his rookie season and the first half of the 2024 campaign on the Buccaneers’ active roster … The Buccaneers need help at the safety position after recent injuries to Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards. Whitehead is on injured reserve with a pectoral injury while Edwards hurt his ankle in last Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers. In addition, rookie safety Tykee Smith has missed the last three games due to a knee issue.”

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times broke the news the Buccaneers were bringing back Neal on his official X account on December 3.

From Stroud: “#Bucs are signing former S Ryan Neal to their practice squad. He’s 28. Played for Tampa Bay in 2023. Also has been with the Eagles, Falcons and Seahawks … Neal started 13 games and had 76 tackles for the Bucs last season.”

Bucs’ Playoff Hopes Hanging in the Balance

It was hard to imagine the Buccaneers taking control of their own fate as they were mired in a 4-game losing streak that saw their record drop to 4-6 following back-to-back losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers on the final play of the game.

However, back-to-back wins over the New York Giants and Panthers along with 3 consecutive losses by the Atlanta Falcons have pulled the Buccaneers into a tie for first place in the NFC South — although the Falcons own the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series with Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers have a couple of things working for them with 5 games left — star players like wide receiver Mike Evans and offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs have both returned after missing time with injuries and the NFL’s easiest schedule awaits then over their final 5 games.

Of those remaining games, only 1 is against an opponent with a winning record when they travel to face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15.

Buccaneers Have One of NFL’s Worst Defense

Just 2 days after the Buccaneers released Merriweather, the Detroit Lions signed him to their practice squad on November 20. He played in 9 games for the Buccaneers in 2024 in mostly a special teams role after starting 2 games as a rookie in 2023.

Tampa Bay needs all the help it can get on defense, where it’s having one of the most miserable seasons on that side of the ball in recent memory. The Buccaneers are 28th in the NFL in total defense, 30th in passing defense (258.3 yards) and 25th in scoring defense (24.3 points).

The Buccaneers’ defense has gotten worse each season under head coach Todd Bowles, finishing ninth in the NFL in team defense in 2022 and 23rd in 2023.