Bucs waive ‘Hard Knocks’ breakout star Bullough
TAMPA — The Bucs continue their final wave of cuts to get down to today’s 53-man deadline, with rookie linebacker Riley Bullough and receivers Josh Huff and Donteea Dye among Saturday’s early cuts.
Waiving Bullough — breakout star of “Hard Knocks” for the past month — was very much expected, with coaches discussing the possibility during the HBO show.
The question now is whether he’ll be claimed by another NFL team or if he comes back to the Bucs on their practice squad.
His cut bodes well for Cameron Lynch making the team after a strong preseason.
The biggest uncertainty might have been at No. 5 receiver, and the Bucs have eliminated two possibilities in Huff and Dye.
That likely leaves it down to Freddie Martino and Lakewood’s Bernard Reedy, who caught the team’s only touchdown catch of the preseason on Thursday during which the Buccaneers finished 1-3, with their only victory coming at Jacksonville.
The battle for the last defensive line jobs has also taken shape — with George Johnson cut Friday and DaVonte Lambert and Stevie Tu’ikolovatu placed on injured reserve, there were more moves Saturday: Tavaris Barnes and Sterling Bailey were waived, with Bailey expected to come back on the practice squad.
That bodes well for Sealver Siliga and Channing Ward, now in position to have the final two defensive line jobs.
Offensive lineman Mike Liedtke was also waived Saturday, but is expected to return today on the practice squad.
From the perspective of star defensive lineman Gerald McCoy, some players provided surprising impact during training camp.
“One person I can say is J.J. Wilcox,” McCoy said of the free-agent safety signed in March.
“He dominated camp. I don’t know if y’all talked about it much, but he dominated camp.
“We tally up some things on the defensive end and see who’s doing this, and J.J. was winning by a landslide.
“They’ll find a way to get him out there. He’s that type of guy.
“If I had to say one guy, it’d be him.”
Wilcox, who has worked as the team’s No. 3 safety throughout camp behind starters Keith Tandy and Chris Conte, started in Thursday’s preseason-finale 13-10 loss to Washington and had three tackles.
He said he’s worked in preseason to build a new identity for himself after being seen as a dangerous hitter, but not much else.
“I just control what I can control,” Wilcox said. “I have to come in here positive, understand my role, come in here earn my chips and my respect from my team.
“I took this offseason to get respect and let them know I want to help this team keep climbing.
“I feel like I’ve changed my game around a lot. I was known for being a hard hitter, for being aggressive, but I want someone to know I can get the ball, too.
“In this business, safeties are known when they get the ball away.
“That’s the name of the game. Hopefully it pays off during the season.”