Bucs Sign Edge Rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad
March 12th, 2026
New Bucs edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad.
Joe is doing cartwheels. The Bucs just signed a guy who had 11 sacks last year — in part-time duty!
Lions free agent edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad turns 31 this month and will play his ninth NFL season in Tampa. Per FOX Sports, Muhammad will earn a maximum of $6 million.
New Bucs starting linebacker Alex Anzalone played for the Lions last season and told Tampa media today that he wanted his good buddy Muhammad to be his new teammate. He got his wish.
Muhammad pulled those 11 sacks last season without starting a game and playing less than 500 snaps.
His price tag, however, should signal that he had a soft market across the NFL — unless he has a very unique craving for grouper sandwiches and sweaty summers.
Joe feels very comfortable saying Muhammad is a significant upgrade to departed and somewhat disinterested Haason Reddick. So Joe is taking the “W.”
March 12th, 2026 at 7:51 pm
A nice little band-aid
March 12th, 2026 at 7:54 pm
Buc nation is officially embarrassing. A guy has 15 sacks in 7 years then get 11 in a contract year at 30 and is allowed to walk and Bucs fans are overjoyed. He’s going to be end up being reddick and a backup to the rookie pass rusher we draft😑
C’mon, now. You’re going to throw shade on a guy’s 11 sacks? The guy has had several contract years in his career. He’s not a star but he is a strong upgrade. –Joe
March 12th, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Love the signing! The Bucs are not having a splashy off-season, but they have strengthened the roster. Anzalone, Robinson, and Muhammed are better players than the ones they are replacing. Hopefully the defense will improve.
March 12th, 2026 at 7:56 pm
Finally, something is done to help the Putrid Pass Defense. Let’s grab another Edge guy now that can fog a mirror and Draft a STUD DE at #1. Go BUCS!!
March 12th, 2026 at 7:56 pm
Agreed. How can an 11 sack part time guy draw little interest? I’m getting at least a little more excited about the defensive signings the last couple of days.
March 12th, 2026 at 7:56 pm
doesnt have a disrupter like hutchenson to help him get sacks and is bad against the run but it’s something that the bucs needed
March 12th, 2026 at 7:59 pm
A good bridge player.
March 12th, 2026 at 7:59 pm
Hey Joe,
Would the Bucs consider Cam Jordan from the Aint’s?
And how much would it cost?
Thanks
Piecing this defense together, we’ll see…
March 12th, 2026 at 8:00 pm
Shaq Barrett didn’t have the stats when we signed him
March 12th, 2026 at 8:00 pm
Not bad. Still think losing a guy like Izien hurts. Need a strong draft + Baker Chip on his shoulder..
March 12th, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I like the signing. It’s something. I truly think we are punting this year. Tomlin in next year.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Jason Licht is the man!
March 12th, 2026 at 8:03 pm
Why is everyone we sign 31 years old?
March 12th, 2026 at 8:04 pm
Underwhelming. It’s looking more and more like the Bucs will continue to apply their annual application of Hope vis the draft. He definitely got 11 sacks last year from playing opposite Aidan. Where’s our Aidan?
March 12th, 2026 at 8:04 pm
I give Licht credit he is finding a way to make things work DESPITE the limited position the Bucs are in terms of cap room!! I like they are finding guys with size and some nasty to their game as well. For every player that moved on the Bucs replaced them with an upgrade(even thou a little older) Now just HIT on the majority of this year’s draft picks and Licht just might do his best job yet🚩🏴☠️🚩
March 12th, 2026 at 8:06 pm
^^Hope is why Mike left. He got tired when the hope was consistently coming up empty.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:07 pm
Bout time. Now I can lay off our dumb GM and sorry azz HC
March 12th, 2026 at 8:10 pm
Edge Round 1
March 12th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Let’s get a DT/NT first, ILB second and edge third.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:26 pm
He’s a little bit older (in NFL terms), but 11 sacks playing part time with under 500 snaps isn’t a bad season, lol.
To be fair, he was playing across from Aidan Hutchinson, who’s always going to draw attention. I hope we can find a way to do the same thing, which would help Muhammed (and the team).
Credit to Jason Licht for doing this, despite the swing and miss last year on Hassan Reddick.
None of these moves seem super splashy to me, but they all appear to be solid!
Robinson and Anzalone appear to be solid pickups as well. Anzalone has some fire to him… good for the locker room. And he can blitz. I don’t know much about Robinson, but do recall hearing his name mentioned when watching the Bucs and Panthers play. He looks like the kind of “big ugly” that you want on your D-Line.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:26 pm
Pewter Power – Man, what a loser mentality you have.
This guy has been a backup and rotational piece, at best, during his career. He did not have a single start last season for Detroit and gets 11 sacks along with more than 20 QB pressures while coming in from off the bench here and there.
You should be saying, “Good move, Bucs. That’s a definite upgrade over anyone wee have had for quite a few years”
Nope, a loser sees losers everywhere they look.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:27 pm
Big fan of the offseason so far.
Not happy about Mike but he was never coming back and he will miss 4 games if not more.
These are reasonable defensive upgrades with no risk. Exactly the types of moves a franchise in our position should be making.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:32 pm
I am really liking Lichts FA signings this year. Sucks loosing 2 good CBs though. However these guys seem like some reliable vets on the D line.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:40 pm
31 years old… a bit long in the tooth
Had 11 sacks playing PT and his team didn’t keep him…why
Signed for a max $6M… why
I’d love to think he’s the next Simeon Rice, based on Bowles track record of FA defensive players leaves a lot to be desired. Still have my season tickets.
Go Bucs
March 12th, 2026 at 8:43 pm
Ummm, maybe if we were close. We are going to be 3rd in the division, if lucky and Tua sucks again this year.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:46 pm
Not a bad depth piece at all.
I’m sure Avalone gave some good intel on his abilities.
Just wish he had a good HC\DC to learn from.
That will be dealt with after our next sub 500 season in 2026.
Bowles is one foot out the door.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:46 pm
Cheap, short term solution.
All AQM has to do is compete, play just as hard as he did and be available all < half of what we paid Reddick to do the same damn job.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:50 pm
Seems like the Bucs and Lion are trading players doesn’t it? Well the trolls like Pewter Power above are never going to be happy but this guys is serviceable and productive and did not cost a fortuene like Bradley Chubb and actually put up numbers unlike the guy Carolina signed, Jaelan Phillips, whom Philly thought was not worth keeping on their roster and had only 5 sacks in 17 games between the eagles and the Fins last year. If the Bucs signed him for $120 million, the trolls on this board would be burying Licht, that is a fact.
March 12th, 2026 at 8:56 pm
Cardiac Kidz, there will always be questions why a team lets a FA go. everyone who is piling on Tampa seem to love the Jaelan Philips signing by Carolina but if Tampa dropped that sack of coin on him, the same people who are praising the signing would be wondering why the Bucs committed such a big contract on a guy who got 5 sacks last year and never got more than 8.5 sack in any season. The JBF posters would be roasting Licht for a bad pick, yet they also praise Canales. that is why the armchair GMs on this board are not making the big decisions at OBP. All FA signing have risks which is why I laugh at everyone who says Carolina is killing it compared to the other NFC South teams, they are just overpaying players to make a splash now but if they are 5-12 next year and Canales is launched by their owner, the new HC will have cap issues to deal with..,…..
March 12th, 2026 at 9:03 pm
Put him with Diaby and the pass rush will be much better. Draft the DE from Missouri and all of a sudden maybe this defense can improve. A pass rush helps everyone. Take that Lee!!! I can’t wait for the next podcast to hear Lee have to acknowledge we added a pas rusher.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:04 pm
Leave it to Joe to get excited about a one hit wonder that no one else wanted who’s on the wrong side of 30. You dont think Dan Campbell would have kept him around if the value of $6M was there. Cheaper and less accomplished version of Hassan Reddick.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:05 pm
So, you are doing cartwheels for a guy you said this about in a previous article?
Al-Quadin Muhammad: Never before in his career has Muhammad, who will be 31 later this month, had more than six sacks — until last year playing for the Lions he had 11. Was that just because of Dan Campbell or did Muhammad finally figure it out? So why is an 11-sack guy looking for work? Joe thinks that should tell you all you need to know.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:13 pm
Fluke player. The Lions knew that or would have made sure to resign him that cheap for a defense that’s needs help too. 2026: If he starts 14-17 games: 4 sacks top.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:19 pm
Sign vets, draft young bloods and hope other players continue to grow !!! I dig it !!
March 12th, 2026 at 9:19 pm
Contract year bum
March 12th, 2026 at 9:19 pm
@Buckit:
There are multiple “Joes” here. One is obviously lukewarm while the other is excited.
And yeah, the third person stuff annoys me too.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:21 pm
He’s a depth piece that might end up starting for us. That = hope. Banking on draft picks helping our pass rush = hope. Expecting ya ya/ha ha(braswell)/David Walker to break out = hope.
Back to hoping we make the postseason.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:28 pm
Ok. He isn’t chopped liver and the price is right. Don’t quit now though. Bring in some more seasoned Dee-troit Dee-fense in the form of 31 year old Dee-tackle Dee-J Reader. He hasn’t dropped off a cliff and the addition of him and A’Shawn Robinson to the Bucs DT stable in the face of the weak DT class and the loss? of Sideshow Hall would be a savvy move. We send Izien to the Motor City and get some other under-appreciated talent in return? I like it.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:31 pm
He played a little more than half the snaps of Yaya last year and produced. He might do well across from Yaya or however Bowles uses him. Hopefully he can carve out a nice role that has been missing from the edge.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:34 pm
How is he in coverage?
March 12th, 2026 at 9:39 pm
Don’t quit Licht. DJ Reader has your attention. You signed a couple of his old crew. He probably feels a little more left out of the party than he already does so bring his beastly a$$ in and sign him. Genius front 7 revamp engage…
March 12th, 2026 at 9:41 pm
So, I just went and looked
AQM recorded those 11 sacks, 13 QB hits & 9 TFLs in 6 of 17 games for Detroit
In those 6 games, he played a total of 164 of his total 457 defensive snaps
In only 1 of those 6 games he played >50% of the snaps. In the other 5 games he played
AQM had a game against Dallas, he recorded 3 sacks in 38 effin snaps. As a Buck fan, I’ll take a sack and a half every 40, I’m not greedy lol
Remember, one piece doesn’t make the whole puzzle.
Some of y’all are in here with that damsel in distress perspective, wanting us to find Tarzan or Buck Rogers, but I think that’s partly due to the times we living in, where instant gratification is king.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:46 pm
He had 21 snaps in coverage last year which was his most and did good apparently. It appears he has been good in coverage every year, and he has played a lot of snaps.
March 12th, 2026 at 9:58 pm
Great. Now if we only had a coach!!
March 12th, 2026 at 10:02 pm
I know its not Baker that’s attractive, who could it be ? Why would anyone play here?
March 12th, 2026 at 10:07 pm
This signing sparked a bit of a Eureka moment…
What is better than a Dan Campbell trained defender? Two Dan Campbell trained defenders.
What is better than two Dan Campbell trained defenders? Two Dan Campbell trained defenders with a Mayfield style short term abandonment issue/chip on their shoulder. And what is better than that?
Three Dan Campbell/cap situation castoffs, of course: One ILB, one OLB and one DT, all 31 years old with one last shot to show who they are and bank those big bucks. Bring that new burn to show and earn combined with the old chemistry and electricity the Bucs have battled over these past few years to be a defibrillator to Bowles and Licht’s defensive construction in Tampa. All the football alchemy aside, DJ Reader will be an asset to any team he signs with in 2026.
Bowles is so audacious he thinks he can make feisty mice like every round 2-3 draft pick he has had play like lions. They do. Tykee Smith, Mr. Parrish and all the other undersized DBs(Winfield, of course) play bigger than their britches but we need real lions now. Some of those Dee-troit built Lions. Capital L. DJ Reader is the next piece in the culture change the Bucs need. The cap doesn’t exist and he can be had for 2 hrs/7.5 mil according to Sportrac anyway.
March 12th, 2026 at 10:15 pm
Two year contract for $7.5 mil is Sportrac’s value assessment of DJ Reader. I’d give him the same deal Licht gave A’Shawn Robinson and see what happens. Given this weak DT draft class everyone is overpaying for DTs in FA.
March 12th, 2026 at 10:23 pm
imagine he becomes the next shaq barrett, and comes out the woodwork to rack & stack sacks…………yes, you never know
March 12th, 2026 at 10:30 pm
This might be the most Licht ever spent on external free agency on defense past 4 years. They are defintly going for upgrade on most positions.
March 12th, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I like it. I think sign someone like Joey Bosa and we’ve massively improved our defensive line.