Desmond Watson, Heaviest Player In NFL History, Cut By Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Desmond Watson -- the 449-pound rookie -- has hit a speed bump in his NFL journey ... as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut him ahead of the 53-man roster deadline.

The news -- first reported by Greg Auman -- comes as the man dubbed the "tush push terminator" was looking to shed a bunch of lbs in order to hit the field.

Unfortunately for him, he never saw any preseason action during his time in Tampa. The team put him on the non-football injury list during training camp due to his weight.

"It's just about trying to get him better, to be a healthier player and getting him on the field a little more," head coach Todd Bowles said last month. "That's kind of where I'm at right now. He's working at it and we're working with him and that's all you can ask right now."

While his college stats were nothing eye-popping ... they were still respectable -- putting up 63 tackles with four for a loss and 1.5 sacks.

TMZ Sports caught up with the 22-year-old in May after he got picked up by the Buccaneers ... and he told us he was looking to drop some weight -- thinking it would make him a whole lot quicker.

"I feel like I have a lot of weight to lose and still be big," he said, "if that makes sense."