Before the Bucs start another week of practice this afternoon, they have made some brief roster moves.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay has waived quarterback Zack Annexstad and signed punter Nolan Cooney. Annexstad signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State but was injured during his senior year.
#Bucs are signing punter Nolan Cooney. They are waiving QB Zack Annexstad from the non football injury list to make room. He was still counting on 90 man roster limit.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 12, 2024
Bucs’ Plans At Quarterback
Tampa Bay knew Zack Annexstad still had to recover from his shoulder injury from last season. The hope was that he’d be able to recover in time at some point during training camp, but that hasn’t been the case. He hasn’t run a play during OTAs, mini-camp, or training camp. Since he still counted towards the 90-man roster, it made sense to let go of him and potentially take another look once fully recovered.
Bucs GM Jason Licht, HC Todd Bowles and OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
This doesn’t really change anything in the quarterback room as the Bucs have gone with Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask and John Wolford for the whole entirety. If Tampa Bay was even considering bringing in another quarterback, they’d quickly have to learn the offense and would be taking away reps from likely Trask and Wolford.
Head coach Todd Bowles mentioned that it’s still an ongoing competition between the two of them for the backup role and considering they may only keep two quarterbacks on the roster with another on the practice squad, they’ll need as many looks as possible.
Background On Nolan Cooney
New Bucs’ punter Nolan Cooney played his college football at Syracuse and has been around the league trying to make an NFL team since 2021. He initially signed as an undrafted free agent with the Saints that year but was among a group of roster cuts in August.
Bucs P Nolan Cooney – Photo by: USA Today
Cooney went on to sign a futures contract with the Cardinals for the 2022 season but was once again released in August. He ended up getting signed to the Colts’ practice squad for a week in October but was cut the following week. Later that season, Cooney was back on the practice squad with the Cardinals and even got elevated to the active roster for a November game, but was released four days after it.
The 2023 season finally saw Cooney get his break and participate in several NFL regular season games. He won the punting job out of training camp and punted in the first four games of the season. Cooney posted 13 punts for 592 yards and an average of 45.5 yards per punt with two of them landing inside the 20. After those four games, Cooney was cut and Arizona went with Blake Gillikin as their new punter.
Bucs P Jake Camarda – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
With Jake Camarda still on the rise and going into his third year in the NFL, it would come as a shock if Cooney won the job over the former fourth-round pick. In reality, it’s likely a chance for Camarda to not have to use his leg as much since he also does the kickoffs for the Bucs.
Camarda was special teams player of the week in Week 2 of last season and also won Special Teams Player Of The Month in the first month of the season in September. He is on his way to being up there with the best punters in the league and a valuable option for the Bucs due to his versatility in kicking.
Camarda was also the placeholder for Chase McLaughlin who had a fantastic season kicking and was awarded with a new contract because of it.
