449-pound NFL rookie gets cut

Desmond Watson will have to look elsewhere in order to get his NFL career off the ground.

The rookie defensive tackle Watson has been released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Greg Auman of FOX Sports reported on Monday. Watson had missed all of training camp in order to get his weight down but is now being waived outright by Tampa Bay.

Auman also notes that the Bucs currently have no plans to bring Watson back as a member of their practice squad.

Watson, 22, played four seasons in college at the University of Florida. Clocking in at 6-foot-6 and 440 pounds when his college career began, Watson was one of the biggest players in Division I history.

After fluctuating in the 400-465 pound range throughout college, Watson was not selected in the 2025 NFL Draft but was able to land a deal with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent. On Tampa Bay’s roster page, Watson was officially listed at 449 pounds.

But Watson was on the non-football illness list for all of training camp and has now gotten released before he could even participate in a single practice for the team. If Watson wants to break the record for the heaviest player to ever appear in an NFL game (which currently belongs to ex-offensive tackle Aaron Gibson who was listed at 410 pounds by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002), he is going to have to do so with a different club.

Watson, who logged 20 combined tackles as a senior, did manage to draw some good hype while he was in college. But his weight still appears to be a major problem, and Tampa Bay is now giving up on him as a result.