The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a pair of special teams moves on Monday, signing former Pittsburgh Steelers kicker B.T. Potter while releasing former University of Kentucky punter Aidan Laros.
“Bucs signed kicker B.T. Potter and waived punter Aidan Laros,” Tampa Bay Times NFL reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on Monday. “Potter (5-10, 200) has previous NFL experience with the Pittsburgh Steelers, appearing in the 2023 preseason with them.”
Potter, 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, was a 2-time All-ACC selection at Clemson in 2021 and 2022. He also won a national championship with the Tigers as a freshman in 2018.
He played for the Steelers in 2023 and for the UFL’s Michigan Panthers in 2025.
Laros, 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, averaged 45.0 yards per punt over the last 2 seasons at Kentucky and signed with the Buccaneers in April after he went undrafted.
Kentucky was Laros’ 3rd college stop after 1 season at Tennessee-Martin and 1 season at Charlotte.
Aidan Laros No. 1 Overall Pick in CFL Global Draft
Before you talk trash, please remember you’ve never been drafted in anything and never will.
That being said, it is pretty wild that a Canadian Football League Global Draft really exists, and even wilder that Laros, a Capetown, South Africa, native was picked No. 1 overall in it by the Ottawa RedBlacks in April.
“Once again, the draft was again dominated by kicking specialists,” The Canadian Press’ Dan Ralph wrote. “Of the 18 players selected over the two rounds, 10 were either punters or kickers … Ottawa and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats both used their two selections on specialists, as six of the first nine selections were either punters or kickers. And six of the 18 players drafted were from Australia.”
Laros received high praise from Ottawa’s scouting department.
“Aidan is what I call a unicorn because most of the global players are strictly punters-holders, but he has the unique ability to be a really good kickoff guy as well, which drove up his value in our eyes,” Ottawa global scouting director Brendan Taman told The Canadian Press. ” …. highly valued because of multiple skills.”
B.T. Potter Named Lou Groza Award Semifinalist
Potter played 59 career games for Clemson and went 73-of-97 on field goals (75.3 percent) while converting 234 out of 235 extra-point attempts (99.6 percent) and scored a whopping 453 points in his career.
In his final college season in 2022, Potter was at his best. He hit 20-of-26 field goals while converting 49 out of 49 PATs on the way to being named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist.
Since 2023, Chase McLaughlin has been the full-time kicker for the Buccaneers, and he’s headed into the final season of the 3-year, $12.3 million contract extension he signed in March 2024.
McLaughlin came within one yard of tying the record for the longest field goal in NFL history after he hit a 65-yard field goal in a 31-25 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 of the 2025 regular season — the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history.
“Chase McLaughlin had never hit a field goal longer than 57 yards and then he goes out and DOES THIS: The man just HIT A 65-YARDER,” CBS Sports NFL reporter John Breech wrote on September 28.
Buccaneers Sign Former Steelers Kicker