Buccaneers release veteran linebacker/safety Deone Bucannon

After looking to restart his career with his former coach in Bruce Arians, linebacker Deone Bucannon has been released by the Buccaneers.

Just five games into his tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, veteran linebacker/safety hybrid Deone Bucannon has been released. Throughout the first five games, Bucannon saw just eight snaps in the pewter and red, all of which were on special teams.

Bucannon, a former first round pick of Bruce Arians and the Arizona Cardinals back in 2014, has now been phased out of his second team in just two years. Last year when now Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was the head coach in Arizona, Bucannon saw virtually no playing time on the field before coming to Tampa to see the same results.

The release of Bucannon comes as a bit of a surprise, as it was expected that his reunion with defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and head coach Bruce Arians would revitalize his career. After starting 50 games for the Cardinals under Arians, Bucannon could not find a role on this pewter and red defense.

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In a subsequent move, the Buccaneers add rookie linebacker Noah Dawkins off of the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad. Dawkins played his college football at The Citadel before going undrafted and eventually landing on the Bengals’ practice squad; he will now get a shot to make an impact on the Bucs’ active roster.

As a result of releasing Bucannon, the Buccaneers have now been awarded a 2020 complementary third round pick according to The Athletic’s Greg Auman. Auman then goes on to say that the Bucs could get an additional comp pick if they decide to move on from free agent additions in Breshad Perriman and punter Bradley Pinion as well.

With the reward of a third rounder in the 2020 draft, it was a no brainer for the Bucs to cut a player in Bucannon who had only been contributing on special teams. With Pinion netting as one of the worst punters in football and Perriman failing to make an impact, it has to be wondered as to whether or not they could be next.

While he was a former first round pick just five years ago, Deone Bucannon will now be looking for his third team in the last year.  The pewter and red did not have a role carved out for him, but with the nature of the league heading into a passing heavy scheme, some other team is bound to scoop Bucannon up.