One surprising cut to the Buccaneers’ roster last week was S Major Wright (#31), who was seen as a shoe-in for the job. Wright had a history with Head Coach Lovie Smith given that Wright had been drafted by Smith’s Chicago Bears in 2010.  At the time of Wright’s release, Smith had this to say:

“We had a group of players and you would like to keep them all. Major Wright is a good football player, has been a good football player. Sometimes you tell a player the numbers kind of got you a little bit and it was no more than that. I have a history with Major, I really believed in him as a player. He’ll play good football and help some team win a lot of games this year.”

The numbers worked out in Wright’s favor this week as the Buccaneers placed RB Charles Sims (#34) on Injured Reserved (designated to return). Sims suffered an ankle injury during practice in preseason, which required surgery. The typical recovery time for this injury is 12 to 14 weeks, meaning he is expected to return sometime around Week 9.

Today was the first day teams could place players on IR with the designation to return. Only one player per team is permitted the designation.

Wright’s re-signing came amidst concerns about the Buccaneers lack of depth at the safety position. Wright will bring the number of safeties to 5, with SS Mark Barron (#23) and FS Dashon Goldson (#38) starting and with SS Bradley McDougald (#49) and FS Keith Tandy (#37) as backups.