Tampa Bay Buccaneers Suddenly Terminate QB Contract

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers trimmed their practice squad on Tuesday by releasing veteran quarterback Brett Rypien and adding running back Barika Kpeenu in the corresponding move, the team announced.

The transaction closes a short but purposeful chapter for Rypien, who joined the team in late September as an emergency depth piece after Baker Mayfield suffered a thumb injury that sidelined the starter for several weeks.

Rypien arrived at a moment of real uncertainty in the quarterback room. Mayfield’s injury forced the Buccaneers to lean on undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels as the interim starter while elevating Easton Stick for support.

The 30-year-old Rypien provided a known, if limited, veteran presence behind them during that stretch.

With Mayfield back under center following Sunday’s game in Carolina, and with Daniels remaining on the active roster and Stick still available on the practice squad, the team no longer needed the extra arm.

Official word from the organization confirmed the swap of one of the 17 practice-squad spots, prioritizing a running back who had already spent a brief period with the club in the preseason.

For Rypien, the release fits a career defined by constant movement.

An undrafted free agent out of Boise State in 2019, he first signed with the Denver Broncos and spent several seasons bouncing between the active roster and practice squad.

Stops followed with the Rams, Seahawks, Jets, Bears, Vikings, Bengals, Colts, and Texans. Across those stops he has appeared in a dozen games and started four, never locking down a permanent role but remaining available whenever a team needed short-term quarterback depth.

His most recent regular-season appearance came with the Bengals in 2025. Tampa Bay’s brief interest aligned with the temporary vacancy created by Mayfield’s injury; once that vacancy closed, the roster math simply no longer favored keeping him.

Kpeenu, by contrast, returns for a second stint. The undrafted rookie from North Dakota State spent two weeks with the Buccaneers during the preseason before being waived in final cuts.

As a senior he rushed for more than a thousand yards and scored 20 touchdowns, earning first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors.

His re-signing gives the team an additional backfield option without committing a roster spot on the 53-man roster.

The move is routine in the context of midseason practice-squad management, yet it illustrates how quickly a temporary depth solution can become expendable once the starter returns.

Rypien’s time in Tampa was short, measured in weeks rather than months, and it ends as Mayfield reclaims the starting job and the Buccaneers redirect the vacated spot toward another position of need.