There’s no next week for injured players on teams out of the playoffs so there’s not much reason to keep them on the 53-man roster for the final game of the season.
Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson is one of those players and his season officially came to an end on Wednesday. Jackson hasn’t played since Week 14 because of a sprained MCL and reports at the time of the injury were that it would likely keep him out the rest of the way.
Jackson missed three games earlier in the year with another knee injury and ends the year with 33 catches for 543 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games.
Jackson is signed for next season at a base salary of $9.777 million and a cap hit of just over $12.2 million. That could make him a target for an extension or pay cut, although established producers at receiver in Tampa are scarce beyond Jackson and Mike Evans.
The Bucs also placed safety Major Wright on injured reserve. He had 25 tackles in nine games this season. Safety Kimario McFadden and tight end Tevin Westbrook were added to the roster for Sunday’s game.