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

Kwon Alexander – LB

The Buccaneers traded up in order to select Kwon Alexander in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Clearly, they saw the value.

After an impressive training camp, Alexander was able to win the starting middle linebacker job as a rookie. Alexander was off to an impressive rookie season until he was slapped with a four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, causing him to miss the last four games of the season. Nevertheless, Alexander would continue to improve as a player.

Alexander would enjoy a Pro Bowl season in 2017, before tearing his ACL in week 7 of the 2018 season. After that season, he would sign with the San Francisco 49ers for a four-year, $54 million contract that included $27 million guaranteed. Alexander would go on to start Super Bowl LIV, in a losing effort to the Kansas City Chiefs. The very same Chiefs the Buccaneers would thrash in Super Bowl LV, but that’s a story for another time.

Alexander would eventually be traded to the New Orleans Saints before the 2020 season, and nearly made it the entire season before tearing his Achilles in week 16. The Saints then released Alexander, where he remains a free agent. Alexander’s 271 total tackles with the Buccaneers were good enough to rank him 14th all-time in team history, where he is sandwiched in between Warren Sapp and Donnie Abraham. There’s certainly worse company to be in.

These four former Buccaneers still find themselves looking for a new NFL home, but luckily for them, the offseason is still young.