The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were busy during the first week of free agency, and one of their first two moves was to sign 10th-year linebacker Alex Anzalone away from the Detroit Lions. The Buccaneers had a void at off-ball linebacker, potentially needing two new starters, and a particular need to improve its coverage over the middle of the field. Anzalone fit that bill, according to the man doing the shopping for the Buccaneers, General Manager Jason Licht.
"[He's] still playing at a high level and I think he's one of the elite cover linebackers in the league," said Licht. "He really, really wanted to be in Tampa. [He] lives here, but also – and he was being very genuine – he wanted to play in Todd's defense and do more things."
NFL Next Gen Stats agrees with Licht's assessment of Anzalone's coverage skills. Last season, while intercepting one pass and breaking up nine, Anzalone allowed a passer rating of 76.4 and completion rate over expected (CPOE) of -9.3% when targeted as the nearest defender. He was credited with a target EPA of -22.0 as the nearest defender, an excellent number of a linebacker.
Meanwhile, Muhammad had 11.0 sacks for the Lions while playing a little less than 50% of the team's defensive snaps last season, and the Buccaneers haven't had a double-digit sack producer since Shaq Barrett in 2021. He stands 6-3 and 250 pounds but still gives up 50 pounds at the same height to Robinson, who gives the Bucs a run-stuffing presence to slide in next to the even bigger Vita Vea.
What Licht also brought to the Bucs with those three signings was a collective attitude he hopes will be infectious for the rest of the team's defense in 2026. As much as the Bucs have stressed character in recent drafts, to good effect, that doesn't have to come at the expense of some very useful nastiness. A willingness to get mean…watch Robinson's introductory press conference to get a hint of this attitude of intensity.
"We've never said that we don't want those types of players," said Licht. "We've stressed some high character, football character, but that doesn't mean we don't want some nasty a* when they get on the field. But when we have a chance to get guys like [them] – and Anzalone's also [one] – to get those kinds of guys and the energy that they have…when we had A'Shawn and Muhammad in the building it definitely raised the level of intensity. It's going to be a lot of fun, I think, because they definitely are nasty [jerks on the field]. I'm looking forward to that. It was a bonus.
"We have made a little bit of an effort, concerted effort, to try to find the right blend of high character when it comes to team and being teammates and football character, but also edgy."
