Total Pro Sports
Desmond Watson’s path to the NFL is not going according to plan.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened their preseason with a convincing 29-7 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Watson did not play and will not be able to play until he gets his weight under control.
Weeks into training camp, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ undrafted rookie defensive tackle may already be running out of time.
The rookie defensive lineman weighed 464 pounds at the 2025 NFL Combine, setting the record as the heaviest NFL player to turn professional.
The Tampa Bay Bucs are not thrilled with his size.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles confirmed that Desmond Watson has been placed on the non-football injury list heading into training camp. The head coach emphasizes that he needs to drop weight before joining full-team workouts.
This decision effectively sidelines the Florida Gators graduate from all preseason games until he meets the team’s conditioning benchmarks.
Watson has reportedly been on a mission to lose weight, but General Manager Jason Licht made it clear that he still has a ways to go.
“We have some milestones we want him to hit before we get him out there,” Licht said, per Michael Davis Smith of Pro Football Talk.
HEARTBREAKING: #Bucs 430+ pound defensive tackle Desmond Watson was not allowed to play last night because he weighs too much.
😞
Watson was forced to sit on the sidelines all night long and will not be able to play until he loses more weight.pic.twitter.com/INNmsSLIbA
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 10, 2025
“He’s doing a solid job getting there. That’s all I’ll say.”
In the meantime, the Bucs must continue without him, which bodes very poorly for Desmond Watson’s future.
While his weight catches people’s attention, Watson is a freak athlete considering his size.
Watson played four seasons in Florida in college, but he never made an impact that was too big.
In 2024, he racked up 20 tackles and one pass deflection in 13 games.
He needs every game possible to show what he has, but he hasn’t taken the field for practice yet to reach his desired weight.
Despite playing over 400 pounds during his college years, he still compiled 63 tackles across 51 games.
