The Bucs signed two wide receivers and two punters on Wednesday and placed injured wide receiver Chris Godwin on injured reserve. Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle with 43 seconds left in the team’s 41-31 loss to the Ravens on Monday Night Football. That injury required surgery and Godwin is out for the year.
Tampa Bay replaced Godwin on the active roster with Ryan Miller, who was signed from the practice squad. Miller was elevated from the practice squad for the Bucs’ 51-27 win at New Orleans and he had his first NFL catch for 39 yards in that game.
As expected, the Bucs also signed punter Trenton Gill from the practice squad to the active roster. Gill had been elevated three times from the practice squad to replace Jake Camarda, the team’s fourth-round pick in 2022. Camarda was released by the team on Tuesday after not being active as the punter for Monday night’s game versus Baltimore.
The team has decided not to place wide receiver Mike Evans on the short-term injured reserve, which would have required him to miss four weeks. Still, the Bucs are hopeful that he can return to action after the bye in Week 11 to play at New York against the Giants.
Tampa Bay also has wide receiver Kameron Johnson on injured reserve and he is eligible to return to action in three weeks. Johnson suffered an ankle sprain and was put on I.R. last week. The Bucs also have Rakim Jarrett coming off injured reserve and he should be eligible to return to the active roster this week against the Falcons or next week against the Chiefs.
Bucs Sign Wide Receiver, Punter To Practice Squad
As Pewter Report reported on Tuesday, the team held tryouts for wide receivers on Wednesday, and that former Chiefs receiver Byron Pringle was one of those participants. But Tampa Bay signed another receiver instead, adding Dennis Houston to the practice squad.
The 6-foot-1, 198-pound Houston entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 and has spent time on the practice squads in Dallas and with the New York Giants, appearing in two career games – both with the Cowboys in 2022 – recording two receptions for 16 yards. Houston began his collegiate career at Houston Baptist (2017) before later transferring to Fullerton College (2018) and Western Illinois (2019-21). He was named first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference in each of his final two seasons at Western Illinois, while also garnering Associated Press third-team All-America recognition as a senior in 2021. Across 25 games played at Western Illinois, Houston hauled in 169 receptions for 2,031 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns, adding two rushing touchdowns. Dennis will wear No. 89 for the Bucs.
The Bucs signed another punter to the practice squad on Wednesday, adding Jack Browing to the team. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Browning entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills in 2024, spending time this past offseason with the Bills and Baltimore Ravens. He began his collegiate career at Grossmont College (2019-20) prior to playing three seasons at San Diego State (2021-23). He handled both punting and kicking duties in his final two seasons and earned All-Mountain West honors twice, in addition to being named the 2022 Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year.
In 38 games for the Aztecs, Browning punted 122 times for 5,584 yards (45.8 average), while connecting on 35-of-47 field goal attempts (74.5%) and all 53 of his extra point attempts. Browning will wear No. 5 for Tampa Bay.
