This year's additions in the "eighth round" of the draft include Florida DL Desmond Watson, Colorado S Shilo Sanders, QB-to-WR convert Garrett Greene and relative football newcomer Ben Chukwuma

Scott Smith

A year ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed 13 rookies who had slipped through the 2024 NFL Draft without being selected. Nine of those 13 players spent significant time on the Buccaneers' active roster and/or practice squad in 2024, four appeared in regular season games and six remain with the team as it starts up another offseason program in 2025.

Wide receiver Kameron Johnson and cornerback Tyrek Funderburk were the most notable finds for the Buccaneers last year in what is often referred to as the "eighth round" of the NFL draft, but there are examples from virtually every season of undrafted free agents (UDFAs) who end up making notable contributions. Some players currently on the Buccaneers roster who originally joined the team as undrafted rookies include safeties Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather and running back Sean Tucker.

Who's next? There are some new candidates in the building, as on Thursday the Buccaneers announced the signings of 15 rookie free agents, all of whom officially signed their contracts after arriving for the team's rookie mini-camp, which begins Friday. This year's list includes Colorado safety Shilo Sanders and Florida defensive lineman Desmond Watson.

As usual, there are some players who have taken interesting paths to the NFL on this year's list of undrafted rookies. Those include Garrett Greene, who played quarterback at West Virginia but is now converting to wide receiver, and Georgia State tackle Ben Chukwuma, a native of Nigeria who has only played two years of football at any level. LSU running back Josh Williams is following in the footsteps of his father, Jermaine Williams, who also began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Buccaneers in 1997.

Here are the 15 players the Buccaneers have signed so far as undrafted free agents (UDFAs) in 2025:

Bazelak(6-2, 212) finished his collegiate career with two seasons at Bowling Green after previous stops at Missouri and Indiana, and he earned starting assignments at all three schools. As a third-team All-MAC selection in 2024, he had his most productive season, completing 66.9% of his passes and throwing for 3,044 yards in 13 games, with an 18-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He was an SEC All-Freshman selection for the Tigers in 2020 and he started nine games in his one season at Indiana in 2022.

Bullock(6-0, 230) spent his entire college tenure at Nebraska in his home state after starring as a prep in Omaha. He eventually moved from defensive back to linebacker, and in 2023 he and his younger brother, Alex, a wide receiver for the Cornhuskers, became the first pair of brothers since 1987 to start for Nebraska at the same time on opposite sides of the ball. In 2024, John Bullock capped his 'Huskers tenure by earning honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades after starting all 13 games and setting career highs with 70 tackles, 4.0 sacks and 10.0 tackles for loss. He also broke up five passes, snared one interception and forced two fumbles.

Chukwuma(6-6, 310) moved from Nigeria to Georgia with his family in 2017 and was first introduced to American football at a Georgia State open tryout in 2020. He earned a spot on the team but did not play any games until 2023, when he appeared in 10 games as a reserve before starting the last two games. He then started all 11 games at left tackle in 2024 and anchored an offensive line that allowed just 18 quarterback sacks all season. Georgia State's offense also generated an average of 389 yards per game.

Coe(6-3, 225) made four collegiate stops, beginning at Delaware from 2019-21 before moving on to Cincinnati in 2022, North Carolina in 2023 and finally Cal in 2024. For the Bears last season he made 14 of his 22 field goal tries and all 16 extra point attempts while also generating 50 touchbacks on 70 kickoffs. Coe became the first player in school history to hit on four field goals of 51 or more yards in the same season. He also made 19 of 23 field goal tries for Cincinnati in 2022 and three of four at North Carolina in 2023.

Greene(5-11, 201) played almost exclusively at quarterback for West Virginia, only briefly seeing time as a pass-catcher in 2022, when he hauled in four passes for 32 yards, but he is moving full time to wide receiver as he tries to stick in the NFL. Greene played 45 games for the Mountaineers over five seasons and was the team's starter in 2023 and 2024. He threw for 5,370 yards and 36 touchdowns in his collegiate career while also rushing for 2,136 yards and 28 touchdowns. Greene's father, Charlie Greene, is currently the bullpen coach for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hutmacher(6-3, 314) appeared in 47 games over five seasons at Nebraska, starting 29 of them. His career Cornhusker statistics include 79 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 6.7 sacks and one forced fumble and he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in his last two seasons. Hutmacher was also an elite prep wrestler in South Dakota, winning four consecutive state titles and at one point recorded 73 consecutive pins. He wrestled for one season collegiately at Nebraska, qualifying for the NCAA Championships at 285 pounds.

Landphere(6-5, 248) played in 39 games over three seasons at Memphis and caught 62 passes for 379 yards and seven touchdowns, all during the last two seasons after moving into the Tigers' starting lineup. As a senior in 2024 he set career highs with 33 grabs for 379 yards and four touchdowns. Landphere began his college career at San Diego State in 2019 but after redshirting for one season he transferred to the College of San Mateo in his California hometown. He was a highly-ranked juco prospect before landing in Memphis in 2022.

Majors(6-3, 315) started all but one of the 57 games he played at Texas, setting a school record with 56 career starts. Last season, he was an anchor on a Longhorns offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, which is given to the "Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit" and individually was a finalist for the Campbell Award, often referred to as the "Academic Heisman." Majors helped Texas reach the College Football Playoffs, where the Longhorns' offense averaged 434.5 yards per game in wins over Clemson and Arizona State.

Parodie(6-2, 204) played in 51 games with 21 starts during his five years at Ohio and opened all 13 games as a senior in 2024 while setting career highs with 51 tackles and 11 passes defensed. He also intercepted one pass, giving him three in his Bobcats career to with 124 tackles, four tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, 25 passes defensed, one forced fumble and four fumble recoveries. Against Bowling Green in 2023, Parodie returned a recovered fumble for a touchdown.

Peeples(6-2, 230) played his final collegiate season at Southeastern Louisiana in 2024 after previous stops at Hutchinson Community College (2020), Highland Community College (2021), Memphis (2022) and Northern Iowa (2023). He helped the 2020 Hutchinson Community College team win a national championship. Last season at Southeastern Louisiana, Parodie played in 12 games and finished with 33 tackles, 5.0 sacks, eight quarterback hits and one forced fumble.

Roberts(5-11, 192) played three seasons at Wake Forest before moving to Marshall for his last two collegiate campaigns. Overall, he appeared in 55 games with 28 starts and contributed 213 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, 28 passes defensed and five forced fumbles. An All-SCB first-team choice last year, Roberts led the Sun Belt with 14 a career-best 14 passes defensed while starting all 13 games in which he played.

Sanders(6-0, 195) played the past two seasons at Colorado under his father, Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes' head coach and alongside his brother, Shedeur Sanders, the team's starting quarterback and a fifth-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns. Shilo Sanders also played two seasons at South Carolina before joining his father at Jackson State for two years. In his three stops combined he played in 54 games with 36 starts and amassed 229 tackles and six interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown in 2023.

Scott(6-5, 305) was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in each of the past two seasons at Nebraska after transferring over from Arizona State. He started at center 24 of the 25 games he played during his time with the Cornhuskers. At ASU he started 17 games at right tackle and 11 more at center and in 2020 helped the Sun Devils rank seventh in the nation in rushing offense.

Watson(6-6, 464) played in every game for the Gators from 2021-24 and was a starter in 10 games as a sophomore in 2022. He finished his collegiate career with 63 career tackles and 1.5 sacks. He appeared in all 13 games last year and contributed 20 tackles, one pass breakup and one QB hurry. At the Florida Pro Day prior to the 2024 draft, Watson recorded 36 reps on the bench press, which was more than any prospect recorded at this year's NFL Scouting Combine.

Williams(5-8, 196) was originally a walk-on at LSU but eventually carved out a role on offense that saw him play in 60 games and make 17 starts from 2020-24. He finished his collegiate career with 314 carries for 1,493 yards (4.8 avg.) and 17 touchdowns while also catching 71 passes for 600 yards and another score. He started seven games in 2024 and recorded 745 yards from scrimmage while also scoring six times. As noted above, his father, Jermaine Williams played running back at Houston before entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Buccaneers in 1997. Though he never played for Tampa Bay he did spend four seasons in the NFL and got into 44 games with Oakland, Jacksonville and Kansas City.