The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t prioritizing bringing back Shilo Sanders in the slightest after releasing him last week. The Bucs announced their practice squad, and Sanders was conspicuous by his absence.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggested that this is likely the beginning of the end of Sanders in Tampa.
“Safety Shilo Sanders is not back with the team after being waived earlier this week. There was word that the team had not closed the door on Sanders and teams often make changes to their practice squads, but it may be telling that they weren’t in any rush to keep Sanders from other teams,” Florio wrote.
As Florio noted, the team signed 16 other players from training camp and the preseason to their practice squad on Wednesday. Two of them, Bryce Hall and Jack Henderson, were defensive backs.
For what it’s worth, USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer doesn’t believe this will be the end of the line for Sanders’ NFL journey.
“Sanders, 25, didn’t get selected in the NFL draft in April but signed with the team as an undrafted free agent soon afterward. He was listed as a third-string safety before Saturday's preseason game,” Schrotenboer wrote.
“But his NFL hopes are still alive. He could get signed to the team’s practice squad Wednesday. Or he could catch on with another team that’s a better fit.”
We’ll see if the better fit Schrotenboer is referring to actually exists somewhere. If not, Sanders is on the Toronto Argonauts’ negotiation list. Perhaps the CFL could be a logical landing spot.