Buccaneers Make Roster Moves Ahead Of First Preseason Game of 2024

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are shoring up on depth.

May 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots guard/center Ryan Johnson (75) arrives for practice at the New England Patriots rookie camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are gearing up to head to Cincinnati to face off against the Bengals in their first preseason game on Saturday night. Head coach Todd Bowles confirmed with the media following Thursday's practice that the starters likely won't see much, if any, time on the field during the tilt, but did state that rookies would be playing.

The move is likely to avoid any serious injury early on in preseason and camp, and it's smart after seeing the injuries the Bucs have dealt with in the past. The Buccaneers have been fortunate to avoid suffering any major issues on the injury front up to this point outside of losing G Sua Opeta for the season — he was expected to compete for the starting left guard spot with Ben Bredeson.

With Opeta going down and Bredeson winning the job by default, the Bucs wanted to add more depth along their line for training camp and preseason, so they made a couple of roster moves on Thursday. They signed G Ryan Johnson out of Youngstown State and placed OL Silas Dzansi on injured reserve (IR).

READ MORE: 3 Key Takeaways From Day 12 of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Training Camp 2024

Johnson spent time at Duquesne before transferring to Youngstown State where he helped the Penguins mostly in their run game. Johnson went undrafted in this past April's draft, but eventually landed with the New England Patriots before they released him in mid-July.

Johnson likely won't have a massive role with the Buccaneers, but bringing him in at this moment makes sense to offer depth along the OL while allowing Johnson to show what he can provide to a team.

READ MORE: Bucs Rookie Tight End Says He's 'Loving This Whole NFL Thing'

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