Just two seasons after being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round, Chris Braswell is on the verge of being cut.
Braswell has failed to live up to expectations, recording just 2.5 sacks in his career. Tampa Bay overhauled the pass rush this offseason, partly due to Braswell’s failure to emerge as an impact player.
The Buccaneers signed Al-Quadin Muhammad, who is coming off an 11-sack season, and drafted Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round, while also getting David Walker back from injury. The newfound strength of the outside linebacker room has pushed Braswell down the depth chart, and with how things played out in the Buccaneers’ preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night, it would honestly be a shock if Braswell makes the team.
Chris Braswell is a longshot to make Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ roster
Braswell’s best-case scenario is to earn the OLB5 spot. Yaya Diaby, Rueben Bain Jr., Al-Quadin Muhammad, and David Walker seem to have the first four spots secured.
Last season, Tampa Bay kept just five outside linebackers on the roster. If they go that route again, there’s only one spot remaining.
It’s safe to say Braswell is not in the driver’s seat to land that spot. In fact, it’s worth questioning if he’s even within the top six in the outside linebacker pecking order.
In last week’s preseason opener, Braswell didn’t make a single tackle. Undrafted rookie Jack Pyburn, meanwhile, had two sacks in his NFL debut and made a far greater impact than Braswell ever has in his career.
This week, Braswell was held out of the game due to injury. It was a game he simply couldn’t afford to miss with his roster spot hanging in the balance, and to make matters worse, several of his competitors took advantage of the opportunity.
Veteran Anthony Nelson notched 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Meanwhile, Mohamed Kamara recorded a half-sack and multiple pressures.
While Kamara remains unlikely to carve out a roster spot, his performance could convince Tampa Bay to use a practice squad spot on him over a player like Braswell.
That’s the problem for Braswell. Seemingly every pass rusher on the roster is making a strong case for a spot while he’s struggling to stay in the conversation.
With the Buccaneers approaching a week of joint practices with the Jaguars before traveling to Jacksonville for the preseason finale, Braswell is running out of opportunities to change the narrative.
Unless he absolutely dominates in the final preseason game and forces Tampa Bay to reconsider, Saturday night may have been the nail in the coffin for Braswell’s Buccaneers career.
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