Buccaneers place 450-pound rookie Desmond Watson on non-football illness list due to weight

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson has been placed on the non-football illness list to begin training camp as the rookie looks to hit an undisclosed weight goal set by the team. In other words, he can’t practice until he loses weight.

Instead of practicing with the rest of the team on Wednesday, Watson remained off to the side while working with a trainer. He reportedly did 30 minutes of cardio. Watson weighed in at 464 pounds at Florida‘s pro day in March, but appears to be down roughly 30 pounds since signing with the team as an undrafted free agent earlier this offseason.

“I’m pleased. It’s just about trying to get him better, to be a healthier player on the field,” head coach Todd Bowles said of Watson’s progress, via the Tampa Bay Times. ”That’s kind of where I’m at right now. He’s working at it and we’re working with him and that’s all you can ask of him for right now.”

Watson still has over a month to shed the additional weight before the season starts. Bowles indicated that Watson could be an interesting piece to their roster once he’s able to return to football.

He proved to be an asset to the Florida Gators during his four-year career. He logged 64 tackles and 1.5 sacks while never missing a career game. He played 51 games as a Gator, including 10 starts.

“We have some things we have in mind with him, where we want to see him at,” Bowles continued, per the Times. ”We need to monitor that and get him where we think he needs to be and go from there.

“He’s made some progress. I don’t have a timetable on what we can get him down to and when that comes.”

The Buccaneers signed him shortly after the 2025 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-5 prospect received a $20,000 bonus when he signed, and has $50k guaranteed to his deal. He’s strong, having completed 36 reps on the bench — more than any other player at the NFL Combine — and ran a 5.93-second 404-yard dash. Despite his size, he has a 25-inch vertical jump.

Tampa Bay will begin the 2025 season against the Atlanta Falcons on the road during Week 1. However, Watson still has to prove himself as an undrafted rookie, so he’ll hope to get back by the time the the Bucs begin preseason play on Aug. 9 against the Tennessee Titans.