Report: Arizona Cardinals LB Deone Bucannon to join Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay

The end of the Deone Bucannon era is over for the Arizona Cardinals as the linebacker will join a familiar staff in Tampa Bay.

Deone Bucannon, a 26-year-old 2014 first-round pick for the Arizona Cardinals will not be donning Cardinal red in 2019. But, he does join a familiar face as he signs with the Bruce Arians, Todd Bowles, and Larry Foote. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the deal will be for just one year.

After the Cardinals signed veteran linebackers Jordan Hicks and Terrell Suggs to start free agency, Bucannon’s future with the team looked bleaker than ever. In 2018, the safety turned linebacker struggled in Steve Wilks’ 4-3 system as he graded as Pro Football Focus‘ 86th linebacker, with an abysmal grade of 45.3.

In Tampa Bay, Bucannon gets a shot to get his career back on track with the staff that made him into one of the best ‘money-backers’ in the NFL. Although this is just a one year deal for Bucannon, Tampa Bay should be a place for him to thrive in as they not only have a staff littered with former Cardinals, they also have a team need at linebacker adjacent Lavonte David.

The departure signals that the Cardinals defense will retain very few familiar faces from the previous regime. Not only is Bucannon gone, but Josh Bynes was also released, so was Antoine Bethea, while Markus Golden seems to be on his way out as well. Whether that change is for the better or not will be known until the 2019 starts, but it is nice to see some fresh faces in the desert.

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