Bucs Gameday

Buccaneers Add Firepower to TE Room With UFL's 2024 Receiving Touchdowns Leader

The Buccaneers are adding another TE to the fold.

River Wells

May 13, 2023; San Antonio, TX, USA; Arlington Renegades tight end Sal Cannella (80) runs for a touchdown in the first half against the DC Defenders at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
May 13, 2023; San Antonio, TX, USA; Arlington Renegades tight end Sal Cannella (80) runs for a touchdown in the first half against the DC Defenders at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are adding a tight end, and he comes to Tampa Bay as one of the UFL's top free agents.

NFL reporter Aaron Wilson reported Thursday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are signing Sal Cannella, who led the United Football League in receiving touchdowns in 2024 as a member of the Arlington Renegades. He joins a room that recently saw the addition of seventh-round draft pick Devin Culp.

Cannella comes to Tampa Bay as the UFL's leader in receiving touchdowns in 2024 with six in 10 games. He caught 53 passes for 497 yards and averaged 9.4 yards per reception in 2023. Despite this, his Arlington Renegades finished 3-7 at the bottom of the XFL division and did not make the playoffs.

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Cannella's first NFL stint didn't go so well. He graduated from Auburn in 2019, where he never had more than 12 receptions for the team, and had very short stints with both the Miami Dolphins, the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. Outside of the NFL, he briefly played for the New Orleans Breakers, where he was named to the All-USFL team in 2022, and then had two separate stints with the Arlington Renegades.

Now, he joins a tight end room with Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Tanner Taula and Devin Culp. The Bucs are likely to keep just three of those players on the roster, including Cannella, so he will certainly have to fight to make the 53-man roster or even the practice squad in 2024.

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River Wells

RIVER WELLS

River Wells is a sports journalist from St. Petersburg, Florida, who has covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 2023. He graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2021. You can follow him on Twitter @riverhwells.