Getty Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers brought back a former team captain to fill a hole on defense.
Amid recent injuries on defense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers turned to a former team captain in re-signing linebacker Carl Nassib.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the news on Monday, August 15, that Nassib will sign a one-year deal with the Bucs. Nassib previously served as a team captain with the Bucs in 2019, a year where he tallied 34 tackles and six sacks. His career high for sacks, 6.5, came in 2018 with the Bucs.
Head coach Todd Bowles told reporters on Tuesday, August 16, that signing Nassib isn’t “official yet” but he likes what the seventh-year veteran brings to the table. Nassib has 164 tackles and 22 sacks in his career with three different teams.
“Carl’s tough in the run,” Bowles told reporters. “He’s a very good pass rusher on the outside, and he can also play inside in some nickel situations, so he has a lot of versatility. He brings a lot of energy, brings a lot of toughness, and you know, he understands the system. He was comfortable in it, so you know, we look forward to him coming here.”
Nassib played for the Las Vegas Raiders for the past two seasons where he posted 49 tackles and four sacks. The Raiders released Nassib after the 2021 season.
He will fill in for linebacker Cam Gill, who endured a Lisfranc injury against the Miami Dolphins in the August 13 preseason opener, a 26-24 loss. Gill, who had a sack in the game, posted 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 13 games played last year. Gill wore a boot and used a knee scooter at Monday’s practice according to Carmen Vitali of Buccaneers.com.
“It could be a little bit,” Bowles said on Monday. “It could be more.”
Fellow linebacker Grant Stuard suffered a hamstring injury against the Dolphins. Stuard, who played a major role on special teams last season, didn’t practice on Tuesday.
Bucs Cut Brother of Former Olympian
Tampa Bay cut six players to trim the roster down to 85 players as required by the NFL on Tuesday.
That includes defensive back Ross Cockrell, the brother of former Olympic hurdler Anna Cockrell. The team notably took a break from camp last year to watch Anna compete in the Tokyo Summer Games, and Ross played inspired at camp with a couple of picks.
The Bucs defensive back produced on the field when the games counted, too. He tallied 54 tackles in 29 games played during the past two seasons. He also started in four games last season amid injuries to the Bucs secondary.
Besides Cockrell, the Bucs also waived tackles Jonathan Hubbrad and Curtis Blackwell, linebacker JoJo Ozougwu, tight end Ben Beise, and wide receiver Kameron Brown. Both Hubbard and Ozougwu could stay with the Bucs due to injury designations if another team doesn’t sign them per Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith.
Bucs Begin Joint Practices With Titans
Tampa Bay has joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday, August 17-18, with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Bucs and Titans held joint practices last year in Tampa before a preseason game. The two will play again on Saturday, August 20.
“We’ll try some different things in the game that we think we need to work on,” Bowles told reporters on Tuesday.