The Buccaneers have added another experienced, pass-catching weapon to pair with 45-year-old quarterback Tom Brady.
According to multiple reports, Tampa Bay is expected to sign 33-year-old slot receiver Cole Beasley ahead of its Week 3 game against the Packers. Beasley will first sign with the team’s practice squad but it is expected that he will eventually be promoted to the team’s 53-man roster.
Beasley is in his 11th NFL season and has been a steady producer out of the slot for the Cowboys and Bills. In 2021, he recorded 82 catches for 693 yards and a touchdown; the previous season, he recorded the same number of catches, 82, and logged a career-high 967 yards and four touchdowns while working with Josh Allen.
Now, the 5-8 receiver will get to team up with Brady as he looks to earn his first Super Bowl ring.
But why did the Buccaneers sign Beasley now? It all has to do with the health — or lack thereof — of the team’s receiving corps.
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Why did the Buccaneers sign Cole Beasley?
The Buccaneers signed Beasley ahead of Week 3 because they are thin at the receiver position. They are dealing with some key injuries at the position and may be without their No. 1 receiver due to a suspension.
Notably, the Beasley signing comes less than 24 hours after Mike Evans was suspended by the NFL. The veteran receiver will miss one game for his hit on Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore during the brawl between Tampa Bay and New Orleans in Week 2.
Evans is set to appeal his suspension, but it’s unclear whether that will allow him to play in Week 3 against the Packers. He has a history with Lattimore, so one would assume that the NFL will uphold the suspension; it’s just a matter of whether the hearing would be completed before Tampa Bay’s next contest.
Elsewhere, Chris Godwin suffered a hamstring in Tampa Bay’s season opener and is expected to be sidelined for “a few weeks.” He hasn’t been placed on IR, which means he could return sooner than expected, but the Buccaneers will likely proceed with caution in this instance. Why? Because soft-tissue injuries tend to linger and Godwin was already making an early comeback from a torn ACL suffered in December of 2021.
Meanwhile, Julio Jones is also dealing with an injury that kept him out of Week 2. He has a knee problem and while the 33-year-old receiver seems close to returning — he was a true game-time decision in that contest — the Bucs could still use some extra depth behind the oft-injured veteran.
Evans, Godwin and Jones are expected to be three of the top four receivers for the Buccaneers. If all are missing, the team will be thin and inexperienced at the wide-out spot. That’s the main reason that they are bringing Beasley aboard at this early stage of the 2022 NFL season.
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Where was Cole Beasley playing before?
Beasley played the 2021 season with the Bills and was their starting slot receiver for a third consecutive year. However, the team gave him permission to seek a trade during the 2022 NFL offseason and ultimately released him on March 17.
Since then, Beasley has remained a free agent, but it wasn’t necessarily due to a lack of interest.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Beasley had “multiple teams” talk to him about joining them in recent weeks. He ultimately stayed patient in the hopes of landing with a contender.
Beasley said he was gonna hold out for the right situation. Well, getting the chance to play alongside Tom Brady — who has remained in contact with Beasley in recent weeks and months — yeah, that’s the right situation.
Garafolo also explained that Beasley would sign with the Bucs practice squad before eventually being elevated to the 53-man roster. The team will likely clear a roster spot for him in short order, be it by releasing a player or moving a player to IR.
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Buccaneers WR depth chart
Below is how the Tampa Bay receiver room will look after the addition of Beasley.
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Mike Evans |
| 2 | Chris Godwin |
| 3 | Russell Gage |
| 4 | Julio Jones |
| 5 | Cole Beasley |
| 6 | Breshad Perriman |
| 7 | Scotty Miller |
| 8 | Jaelon Darden |
Evans and Godwin are the clear-cut top two receivers on Tampa Bay’s roster, and there is plenty of depth behind them when all are healthy. Gage and Jones will rotate in and out as the No. 3 option, and that should ideally help Jones to avoid getting banged up during his age-33 season.
Beasley would likely slide in as the No. 5 overall option on Tampa Bay’s depth chart, but he would have a bigger role than that to begin. He would be the primary backup to Godwin in the slot, and he could quickly emerge as a starter there while Godwin is out provided that he can learn the playbook.
After that, Perriman and Miller are deep threats that will fill in on the outside as needed. Perriman has actually played the second-most snaps among Buccaneers receivers through two weeks (76) behind only Evans (86). That is largely due to the absence of Godwin, Jones and later, Evans against the Saints.
Finally, Darden has played just 18 offensive snaps but has played 10 on special teams, more than any other receiver. The Buccaneers use him as a punt returner, so he will continue to play a key role for the team even if it isn’t as focused on the offensive side of the ball.
The Buccaneers also have two more receivers on the practice squad: Kaylon Geiger and Deven Thompkins. Geiger played one offensive snap against the Saints, so he could get a game-day call-up if the Buccaneers’ injuries linger.
