The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut ties with former San Diego Chargers first-round bust Larry English, whom the Chargers finally gave up on this offseason, during the 53-man roster crunchdown, but he is back with the team today. ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets that the Buccaneers have officially re-signed the veteran outside linebacker, who will play defensive end for the Bucs as a depth backup to big offseason signing Michael Johnson and high-upside rotational pass rusher Adrian Clayborn.
The Pewter Plank
English is unlikely to play much of a role for the Bucs going forward, but hopefully he can turn into a useful niche player like Bobby Carpenter did as a coverage linebacker for the New England Patriots after once being a huge bust. Like Carpenter, English also figures to play a significantly different role for the Bucs, so we’ll see if he can fit in somehow.
The Bucs cut ties with Steven Means in a corresponding room to make room for English, who notched just 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one pass defended for the Charger last year. If he plays a snap for the Buccaneers this year, then it will be his first snap to not come with the Chargers in his five-year career. It’s always interesting to see someone make a switch to an entirely different new role in a new change of scenery, and maybe that will spark English into becoming someone of service to the Bucs organization in some capacity.