Tampa Bay waived Braswell as part of its final cuts, ending his time with the team after just two seasons. Braswell appeared in all 34 games during that stretch but never developed into the pass rusher the Bucs hoped they were getting out of Alabama. He finished his time in Tampa Bay with 48 tackles, 2.5 sacks and five tackles for loss.
Moving on from a second-round pick still on their rookie deal is rare, but Braswell's release also says something about how different this position looks compared to a year ago. The Bucs kept five outside linebackers on their initial 53: Yaya Diaby, Rueben Bain Jr., Al-Quadin Muhammad, Anthony Nelson and David Walker. Diaby led Tampa Bay with seven sacks last season and finished ninth in the NFL in pressures.
Bain was the 15th overall pick in April and gives the Bucs the blue-chip pedigree defender they've been missing. Muhammad arrives after recording 11 sacks with Detroit, while Walker has looked like one of Tampa Bay's most disruptive pass rushers throughout training camp after missing his rookie season with a torn ACL. Then there's Nelson, who has consistently provided value as a rotational defender and special teamer for the last few years and added 2.5 sacks during the preseason.
That left Braswell needing to give Tampa Bay a reason to keep a sixth outside linebacker, and it never really happened. His lack of development became even more noticeable as Walker emerged and the Bucs added legitimate talent around him. That's a big change from last season, when Tampa Bay finished with only 37 sacks and blitzed on 35 percent of its pass rush snaps, the third-highest rate in the NFL. The Bucs spent the offseason trying to build a front capable of creating pressure without Todd Bowles constantly sending the house. Now they'll enter the season with a deeper rotation than they've had in years and a much different-looking pass rush than the one they finished last season with.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Chris Braswell's release shows how much the Bucs pass rush has changed
