The Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought back Desmond Watson, the heaviest recorded player in NFL history, to their practice squad on Tuesday.
The former Florida Gators defensive tackle, who once weighed in at 464 pounds at his pro day, had been with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent earlier this year but was waived ahead of final roster cuts. Now, after showing improved conditioning in a recent workout, he’s getting another opportunity.
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles pushed back on speculation that the move was tied to this week’s matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles and their controversial “tush push” play. “We’ll never bring him in just to stop a tush push,” Bowles said. “If we bring him in, we think he can play.”
Watson spent training camp on the non-football illness list, limited to meetings and conditioning while the Bucs worked with him on weight goals. At 6-foot-6 and officially listed at 449 pounds in May, he represents a rare size profile even for NFL standards. No current active player tops 400 pounds. The last lineman to eclipse that mark in a game was offensive tackle Aaron Gibson at 410 pounds more than two decades ago.
Tampa Bay tries to patch its defensive line depth following the season-ending injury to 2023 first-round pick Calijah Kancey. Last week, they added Elijah Simmons from Arizona’s practice squad. Now Watson will get his shot at real reps.
