TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The heaviest player in NFL history may not get a chance to play in the league.
Desmond Watson was among the players released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday.
Watson, who played at Florida, was signed after going undrafted in April. He weighed 464 pounds at the school’s pro day and lost 25 to 30 pounds before the draft but didn’t get a chance to practice with the team because he didn’t lose enough weight. He spent training camp on the non-football injury list.
“He’s still working. Job’s not finished,” agent EJ Gonzalez told the AP.
The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle had been working with a team nutritionist and the team didn’t say what would be an ideal playing weight for him.
“The door is not closed on him, but if you don’t practice, you’re probably not going to make this team,” Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said. "We’ll see where we are in a couple weeks and we’ll circle back and we’ll go from there. We’re in the last week of camp. If you’re not practicing, you’re not going to play. He’s been working hard, we had a good talk, and we’ll circle back and see where he’s at.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Desmond Watson watches from the sideline during practice at NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 15, 2026--
QPS Holdings, LLC (QPS), an award-winning contract research organization (CRO) focused on bioanalysis and clinical trials announces the successful implementation of Oracle Argus, a premier pharmacovigilance system designed to support comprehensive safety case management for clinical trials.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260115711485/en/
The adoption of the Oracle Argus drug safety platform underscores QPS’s commitment to advancing patient safety, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence across its clients’ clinical drug development programs. Integrating this industry-standard safety platform strengthens QPS’ ability to capture, manage, and report adverse events in accordance with global regulatory requirements.
“Ensuring patient safety and data integrity is at the heart of what we do when conducting clinical trials,” said Derek Grimes, Executive Vice President of QPS. “Oracle Argus provides us with a robust, scalable solution to support the growing needs of our customer’s clinical trial portfolios and the evolving expectations of regulatory authorities worldwide.”
“Oracle Argus provides QPS Holdings, LLC with a trusted, globally recognized drug safety platform that supports compliance with stringent pharmacovigilance standards and regulations, while streamlining end-to-end safety operations and insights at scale,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences. “With our industry-leading solutions, QPS Holdings, LLC can further transform and elevate its safety case management for customers worldwide.”
The deployment of Oracle Argus will enable QPS to:
As the demand for innovative therapies continues to rise, CROs play a critical role in managing both development speed and patient safety. By leveraging the Oracle Argus platform, QPS is well-positioned to deliver on its mission to accelerate pharmaceutical breakthroughs across the globe by delivering custom-built research services.
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ABOUT QPS HOLDINGS, LLC
QPS is a global, full-service, GLP/GCP-compliant contract research organization (CRO) delivering the highest grade of discovery, bioanalysis, preclinical and clinical drug development services. Since 1995, QPS has grown from a small bioanalysis shop into a full-service CRO with 1,200+ employees in the US, Europe, Asia and India. Today, QPS offers expanded pharmaceutical contract R&D services with special expertise in pharmacology, DMPK, toxicology, bioanalysis, translational medicine, PBMC processing, central safety labs, clinical trials, and clinical research services. An award-winning leader focused on bioanalysis and clinical trials, QPS is known for proven quality standards, technical expertise, a flexible approach to research, client satisfaction, turnkey laboratories, Phase I/II clinical units, and multi-site clinical research services. For more information, visit http://www.qps.com or email info@qps.com.
ABOUT ORACLE ARGUS
Oracle Argus is an industry-leading, trusted solution for processing, analyzing, and reporting adverse event cases originating in pre-market and post-market drugs, biologics, vaccines, devices, and combination products. Oracle has been a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Life Science R&D Pharmacovigilance Technology Solutions and Consulting Services 2025 Vendor Assessment (doc # US53669225, July 2025). To learn more about Oracle’s pharmacovigilance portfolio visit: https://www.oracle.com/life-sciences/safety-solutions/argus-safety-case-management/. Trademarks: Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.
Derek Grimes, EVP, Global Head of Clinical Research at QPS Holdings, LLC.
