The Bucs signed two wide receivers and two punters on Wednesday and placed injured wide receiver Chris Godwin on injured reserve. Godwin dislocated his ankle with 43 seconds left in his team’s 41-31 loss to the Ravens on Monday Night Football. The injury required surgery and kept Godwin out for the rest of the year.
Tampa Bay replaced Godwin with Ryan Miller, who was signed from the practice squad, to the active roster. Miller was promoted from the practice squad during the Bucs’ 51-27 victory over New Orleans, where he made his first NFL catch for 39 yards.
As expected, the Bucs also added punter Trenton Gill from the practice squad to the active roster. Gil was promoted from the practice squad three times to replace Jake Camarda, the team’s fourth-round pick in 2022. Camarda was waived by the team on Tuesday after failing to perform as a punter in Monday night’s game against Baltimore.
The team decided not to place wide receiver Mike Evans on short-term injured reserve, which would require him to miss four weeks. Still, the Bucks are hopeful he can return to action after a Week 11 bye and play against the Giants in New York.
Tampa Bay also has wide receiver Cameron Johnson on injured reserve and will be eligible to return within three weeks. Johnson suffered an ankle sprain and was tested on the IR last week. The Bucks also have Rakim Jarrett back from 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 signs wide receiver, punter to practice squad
Bucks WR Dennis Houston – Photo courtesy of USA Today
The Pewter Report reported Tuesday that the team held wide receiver tryouts on Wednesday, and former Chiefs receiver Byron Pringle was one of the participants. However, Tampa Bay signed another receiver instead, adding Dennis Houston to the practice squad.
Houston is 6-foot-1 and weighs 198 pounds. He entered the league in 2022 as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys, spent time on the practice squads of Dallas and the New York Giants, appeared in two career games (both against the Cowboys in 2022), and played twice. He had a reception of 16 yards. Houston began his college career at Houston Baptist University (2017) before transferring to Fullerton College (2018) and Western Illinois University (2019-21). He was named first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference in each of his final two seasons at Western Illinois and also earned Associated Press Third-Team All-America recognition as a senior in 2021. He played in 25 games for Western Illinois and Houston. He had 169 receptions for 2,031 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns, and added two rushing touchdowns. Dennis will wear No. 89 with the Bucks.
The Bucks signed another punter to their practice squad. Jack Brawing was added to the team on Wednesday. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Browning entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills in 2024 and spent this offseason with the Bills and Baltimore Ravens. He began his collegiate career at Grossmont College (2019-20) before playing three seasons at San Diego State (2021-23). He handled both punting and kicking duties over his final two seasons, earning All-Mountain West honors twice and being named the 2022 Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year. .
In 38 games with the Aztecs, Browning punted 122 times for 5,584 yards (45.8 average) and completed 35 of 47 field goal attempts (74.5%) and all 53 extra point attempts. Browning will wear No. 5 in Tampa Bay.
