Chris Braswell is running out of room in Tampa Bay. Pro Football Focus put him among 10 players squarely on the bubble before the Buccaneers head to Jacksonville on Friday for their third and final preseason game against the Jaguars, and the timing could hardly be worse for a second-round pick whose roster spot now looks vulnerable.
That assessment comes after a preseason in which Braswell has not separated himself. He was listed with a 34.4 overall grade in Week 1, then missed the Buccaneers' second preseason contest. For a player drafted with real expectations in 2024, that is a problem now because the last chance to change the conversation arrives with the finale.
Braswell's body of work is part of why the conversation has turned this quickly. Bradley Locker wrote that he has been largely unspectacular over two years with the Buccaneers, noting 35 pressures on 322 pass-rushing snaps and a 61.0 overall PFF grade. Over 34 games in two years, Braswell has 2.5 sacks, a modest return for a player taken in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay.
The pressure on him is not just about his own numbers. Locker pointed to Rueben Bain Jr., the first-round pick, and Al-Quadin Muhammad, who had double-digit sacks last year, as additions that changed the edge-rushing picture. Anthony Nelson has also turned in a 92.6 overall PFF grade in the preseason, while David Walker posted an 80.5 PFF pass-rush grade. That leaves Braswell trying to climb a crowded group rather than simply protect a secure role.
The cleanest read is that Tampa Bay is leaning toward five outside linebackers, and that is the number that gives Braswell any real path to staying. Keeping a sixth OLB would be even more remote if the Buccaneers carry three quarterbacks, which makes Friday less a final audition than a last plea. Braswell does not need a perfect game in Jacksonville, but he probably needs the kind of outing that forces the Buccaneers to pause before moving on.
