Desmond Watson is fighting for his NFL dream with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But his record weight is thwarting his plans. With the roster cut looming, time is running out for him.

On August 26, NFL teams will trim their rosters to 53 players. And Watson can’t even prove himself in training with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The reason: the 22-year-old is the heaviest player in NFL history.

When the Buccaneers signed him as an undrafted rookie after the NFL Draft, he weighed 464 pounds – around 210 kilograms. The heaviest players in NFL history to ever be drafted were offensive linemen Trent Brown (Florida 2015) and Daniel Faalele, who weighed 172 kilograms.

At college with the Florida Gators, the defensive tackle impressed despite, or perhaps because of, his weight: he didn’t miss a game in four years and racked up 63 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

But he is still a long way from seeing any football action with the Buccaneers: the team even put him on the “non-football illness list” because of his excess weight. Instead of training with his teammates, he is supposed to focus solely on losing weight.

Todd Bowles wants to make Desmond Watson a “healthier” player

“There are still a few milestones to reach before we let him out,” General Manager Jason Licht said of Watson’s status in preseason. Last week, the defensive player still weighed 204 kilograms. But his team apparently isn’t satisfied with his six-kilogram weight loss. “He’s doing a solid job of getting there. That’s all I’m going to say,” Licht said.

Head coach Todd Bowles made a similar comment a few days ago: “It’s just about making him a better, healthier player and getting him on the field.” However, Bowles did not want to reveal a specific target weight or deadline, at least not publicly.

Watson signed a three-million-dollar contract with Tampa Bay, but only 70,000 of that is guaranteed.