Coming off a career-best season, Al-Quadin Muhammad is generating free agency interest. The veteran edge rusher is set to meet with the Buccaneers, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.
Muhammad tallied 11 sacks and 20 QB hits for the Lions last season, mashing his best marks as a pro. The journeyman pass rusher played two seasons in Detroit. Tampa Bay was believed to be targeting pass rush help, but thus far in free agency, Jason Licht‘s team has stood down.
[RELATED: Bucs Submitted Offer To WR Mike Evans]
Counting a stopover with the Cowboys that did not result in any playing time, Muhammad has played for five NFL teams. He was part of an impact 2017 Saints draft class, joining Trey Hendrickson as edge rushers among that transformative New Orleans group. But the Saints gave up on Muhammad after one season, leading him to the Colts via waivers. The Bucs were in this week’s Hendrickson market, but the Ravens — after they called off the Maxx Crosby trade — added him on a $28MM-per-year deal.
The Bucs were believed to have preferred a short-term deal with Hendrickson, who ended up committing to the Ravens on a four-year pact worth $112MM. As it stands, Tampa Bay is still in search of — after its 2025 Haason Reddick signing did not work out — a bookend for YaYa Diaby. Tampa Bay has missed on a couple edge rushers in recent years, not seeing much from first-rounder Joe Tryon-Shoyinka or 2024 second-rounder Chris Braswell. As outlined in our Buccaneers Offseason Outlook, the team has not seen an eight-sack season since Shaquil Barrett‘s 2021 campaign, though Diaby has been a consistent backfield presence (38 tackles for loss in three seasons).
The Lions received remarkable value on Muhammad’s $1.42MM deal last year. Seeing an anemic pass rush (following Aidan Hutchinson‘s broken leg) limit a Super Bowl-caliber roster in 2024, Detroit did not do much to augment the group in 2025. Muhammad overdelivered and gave the Lions a double-digit sack duo (Hutchinson’s bounce-back season produced 14.5). He will likely be looking for a substantial raise, but with an inconsistent track record, teams figure to be leery here.
Muhammad, 31 later this month, missed the 2023 season and combined for four sacks between the 2022 and ’24 slates. Prior to that, he produced just one season with more than three sacks — a six-sack 2021 season in Indianapolis. The Bears gave him a two-year, $8MM deal off that performance but released him after one season. Al-Quadin’s age-30 breakout points to a “prove it” deal being necessary, but he is running out of time to cash in.
is it too much to ask to have YaYa Diaby and HaHa Clinton-Dix on the same team?