5 former Buccaneers who still need a team for the 2021 season

Adrian Clayborn – DE

The Buccaneers drafted Adrian Clayborn with the 20th overall pick in the 2011 Draft. They were hoping that the former Iowa Hawkeye would be their next generational pass rusher, and things were looking up at first. Clayborn’s first sack came in week three when he sacked Matt Ryan to force a fumble that was recovered by Michael Bennett. Clayborn would end his rookie season with 7.5 sacks, which is respectable.

Unfortunately, it would be downhill from there. Simply put, Clayborn was the victim of a vicious bite from the injury bug. The next season, Clayborn was placed on injured reserve after injuring his knee, ending his season after three games. He’d start all 16 games in 2013, registering 5.5 sacks. Going into 2014 then-new General Manager Jason Licht announced that the Buccaneers would not be picking up the 5th year option on his rookie contract. Unfortunately, Clayborn would suffer another season-ending injury, justifying Licht’s decision.

Clayborn would receive notoriety in 2017 where he had a six-sack game, (against a banged-up Dallas Cowboys offensive line) one shy of Derrick Thomas’ single-game record of seven. He also would win a Super Bowl with New England in 2018.

After a 3.5 sack season with the Cleveland Browns in 2020, Clayborn was released where the former first-round pick currently finds himself looking for a new NFL home.