Bucs Super Bowl champion could play for first time in 2025

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have quite a few decisions to make this weekend before they head to Charlotte to play the Carolina Panthers, and one of them involves a former Super Bowl champion.

Edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul hadn't suited up for an NFL team since 2022 before the Buccaneers signed him to their practice squad last week. He played for the Bucs from 2018-21 and won a Super Bowl with the team, and now, he returns to the squad four years later in an attempt to help a struggling pass rush.

It was a little to early for Pierre-Paul to make his triumphant NFL return against the Atlanta Falcons, but now, he could play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Head coach Todd Bowles spoke to media, and he revealed that Pierre-Paul is "in play" for Sunday — with one caveat.

Todd Bowles says no one is ruled out — “Everyone is in play.”

He says Lavonte David is “fine.” He says JPP and Anthony Walker Jr are both in play for this week pic.twitter.com/2dOkUT9JIz
— River Wells (@riverhwells) December 19, 2025

Jason Pierre-Paul in play for Bucs vs. Panthers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul (90) looks on against the New York Giants | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Bowles said that Pierre-Paul is in play to go vs. the Panthers, but the Buccaneers are arguably the healthiest they've been all year and have no player even questionable on Sunday. As a result, inactives will be difficult, as they'll have to make certain players healthy scratches.

"We’ve got a lot of guys up. It's going to be hard putting a lot of people down," Bowles said.

Pierre-Paul is on the practice squad, so he would have to be elevated to the team's gameday roster — and for that, it's likely someone would have to be a healthy scratch in turn. It depends on their priorities on offense and defense with who they want to play, and players like linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. could go up before Pierre-Paul does. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young tends to falter under pressure, so perhaps Bowles could call upon Pierre-Paul in an attempt to bring some.

We'll only know on Sunday, when the team will announce their inactives list ahead of the game. Pierre-Paul likely already knows himself, though, so he could be preparing to get some NFL snaps on Sunday.

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