Bucs Add Undrafted Safety Xavier Williams, Waive CB Chase Lucas

Tampa Bay quietly reshuffled the back end of its defensive depth chart, signing college free agent safety Xavier Williams after he impressed enough at the team's rookie minicamp in May to earn a contract. To make room, the Bucs waived cornerback Chase Lucas with a failed physical designation.

Williams is the definition of well-traveled. He spent five college seasons across four programs, wrapping up at Cincinnati in 2025, where he logged 39 tackles, one forced fumble and one pass defensed over 12 games. Before that stop, he suited up for Middle Tennessee State (2024), UCF (2023) and Charlotte (2021-22).

The other half of the move closes a chapter for Lucas, a 2022 seventh-round pick of the Lions. He carved out a role as a rookie, appearing in 18 games across two seasons in Detroit with six tackles, then spent 2024 on San Francisco's practice squad before finally climbing to the active roster in 2025. Last year he played 15 games and put up nine tackles, a pass defensed and a quarterback hit.

The Fantasy Fallout

If you're in a standard NFL fantasy league, none of this touches your roster. Williams is an undrafted signing fighting for a camp spot on a defense that's already crowded in the secondary — the kind of name that shows up on preseason snap counts and rarely anywhere else. Lucas being cut is a depth-chart footnote, not a fantasy event.

The only place any of this matters is deep IDP formats, and even there the read is simple: undrafted defensive backs don't produce startable numbers unless injuries or special-teams roles force them onto the field. Williams has neither of those working for him right now.

Bottom line for fantasy managers: file Williams under watch-and-forget for now. If he flashes in preseason and injuries thin out Tampa's safety group, revisit him in the deepest IDP leagues. Otherwise, there's nothing to do here — leave your waiver clicks for players who'll actually see the field on Sundays.