It was a long shot for edge rusher Markees Watts to ever end up on an NFL roster — who is going to bet against him doing it again?
After making the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and spending his 1st 3 seasons with them, Watts is getting another shot in the NFL after signing after the Cleveland Browns signed him on Tuesday.
“Markees Watts lands in Cleveland after three years with the Bucs,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote on his official X account on Tuesday.
Watts, 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, appeared in 27 games with the Buccaneers, including a career-high 15 games in 2025, with 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 2 QB hits. In Tampa Bay and Cleveland, Watts adds value as a special-teams standout.
“Defensive end Markees Watts tried out for the Browns at their rookie minicamp this month and that went well enough to earn him an extended stay in Cleveland,” Yahoo Sports NFL reporter Josh Alper wrote on Tuesday.
Watts Undrafted Despite Standout College Career
Watts’ size and speed, with a 4.7-second 40-yard dash, kept him from being selected in the 2023 NFL draft. It certainly wasn’t because of his production.
Over 4 seasons at the University of Charlotte — including a shortened 2020 season due to the pandemic — he recorded 175 tackles, 21.5 sacks, 31 TFL, 6 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries in 42 games. He was also an All-Conference USA selection with 13.0 sacks in 2019 and broke teammate and current Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher Alex Highsmith‘s career sacks records.
“I came (to Buccaneers) as a tryout – everybody knows that – I had one opportunity, and I had the chance to get off that transit on the way here and it was breathtaking to see the facility and I thought, ‘This is the place to be. I want to be here,’ ” Watts said to the Buccaneers’ official site in 2023. “To go out and make that work and then to have another opportunity to be on the team to make the 53-man roster, is unreal. I owe it to (the Buccaneers). I feel like I owe the general manager. I feel like I owe the head coach, my position coach and my teammates because they believed in me not once, but twice, so I want to make it up to them.”
Buccaneers Stepping Into New Future at Edge Rusher
The Buccaneers are putting their recent, forgettable past at edge rusher behind them, thanks to some wonderful luck in the 2026 NFL draft, where Miami All-American Rueben Bain fell to them with the No. 15 overall pick.
Bain, projected as a Top 5 pick, fell to the Buccaneers after a pre-draft scandal involving a fatal 2024 car crash and concerns about his arm length.
Tampa Bay has not been shy about its belief they landed the NFL draft’s best pound-for-pound player and someone it can likely build its defense around for the next decade.
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski gave the Buccaneers a rare “A+” grade for the pick.
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just made a statement,” Sobleski wrote. “The organization waded through all of the noise and landed an elite prospect. Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. was an every-down disruptor the past season. His power to rock blockers is an absolute joy to watch. Then again, too many allowed one number to blur the evaluation.”
Veteran Bucs Edge Rusher Lands New Job in AFC