Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Last chance for the 2016 draft class

Devante Bond

With their sixth round pick in the 2016 draft, the Buccaneers selected Devante Bond out of Oklahoma. Sadly enough, Bond may have had the best career to this point of any of the 2016 class. The Bucs announced on Tuesday that they had given Bond a one-year extension for 2019 after he was put on the practice squad in 2016, then added back to the active roster in 2017.

While Bond is mostly just a special teamer and rotational piece for the Buccaneers, he has also found himself starting six games after an injury riddled linebacking core has plagued Tampa Bay over the past two years. The Bucs clearly found him valuable enough to bring him back for another season.

While he has started for the Bucs, he has not put up many numbers in a Tampa Bay uniform, failing to record a sack, tackle for loss, or turnover. He has however, recorded 26 tackles and has hit the quarterback two times over the past two seasons.

His compensation of the veterans minimum of $720,000 on his extension would indicate that the Bucs view him mainly as a reserve and special teamer, but it seems like the team has a safe reserve that they can plug into their starting lineup if need be.