What will the Buccaneers do with former Gators DT Desmond Watson?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a chance on massive Florida Gators prospect Desmond Watson this offseason. Watson came into the NFL at a staggering 450 pounds, and the Bucs placed him on the Non-Football Illness list at the beginning of training camp with the hope that he could get to a specific number that would put him on the field.

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet. Watson remains on the list, and he hasn't been active during practice or any games throughout training camp or preseason. That was the case on Tuesday, and with the Bucs preparing for a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, it's looking unlikely that Watson will hit the field before the regular season begins.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles spoke to media after practice, and when asked about Watson, he seemed to insinuate that his weight loss journey would continue into the regular season.

"That's something we're going to meet about in the next two days. I'd like to have some long-term plans for him going forward because he's making some progress and I feel like down the line he can help us, but we'll have those conversations toward the end of the week."

Here’s Todd Bowles on Desmond Watson, who still isn’t practicing — he says that he’d like to have a long-term plan in place for Watson but they’re gonna talk about it these next two days pic.twitter.com/IuxYV3aMup
— River Wells (@riverhwells) August 19, 2025

That being said, the Bucs need to make some roster cutdowns, and if Watson isn't among them, he'd be with Tampa Bay and still not playing at his weight. So what is the plan?

What will the Buccaneers do with Desmond Watson?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson (56) works out at One Buc Place. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Well, the Buccaneers could just cut him outright. The Bucs only guaranteed him $70,000 at signing, so it would be very, very easy to simply move on. But the Bucs don't sound like they want to do that — Watson is an athletic freak, after all, managing to run a 5.93 in the 40-yard dash despite weighing as much as he does. So if the Bucs want to keep him for a little while longer, they have a route to do so, and it involves putting him on the reserve-NFI list.

Watson could go to the reserve-NFI list to start the year, and that would allow him to continue his goal of losing weight. He would not count toward the active roster on this list, but the team also doesn't have to play him any money, either, so it's likely they'd come to some sort of agreement on that end. Once the team wants Watson to make an attempt to play, he would have 21 days to come off of the NFI list. After that period of practice, the Buccaneers can either cut him or activate him to the active roster, so it would leave them with some options.

Bowles made it sound like the Bucs are interested in keeping Watson around, so this is a likely way for them to do so. We'll know for sure by Tuesday, August 26, when every NFL team has to cut down to the 53-man roster.

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