Getty Devante Bond #59 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reacts after a tackle in the first quarter during their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on September 12, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A onetime Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft pick will get a shot at his former team on Thursday Night Football after getting the call-up from the Chicago Bears.
The Bears activated fifth-year linebacker Devante Bond from their practice squad Thursday afternoon ahead of their 7:20 p.m. CT kickoff against the Bucs at Soldier Field. Bond, who was a 2016 sixth-round pick for the Bucs, was elevated once already this season during Week 2’s win over the New York Giants but played just eight special teams snaps.
Bond will revert back to the practice squad following the game and will need an active-roster contract to rejoin the 53-man squad again, as players are only allowed to be elevated twice on game days throughout the season.
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Bucs Cut Bond Despite Improved Play
After being selected out of Oklahoma in 2016, Bond looked like he could potentially crack the Bucs’ depth chart right away at outside linebacker, but a hamstring injury in mid-September of his rookie season landed him on injured reserve for the remainder of the year. He didn’t make his NFL debut until Week 3 of the 2017 season, making his first tackle a few weeks later.
Injury troubles struck again in 2018 when Bond suffered plantar fasciitis — a not-so-fun heel injury — in the preseason and forced the Bucs to again stash him on IR, but he was brought back in October and ended up making a career-high four starts and 22 tackles on the year.
While he kept the momentum going into the next season and was still in a position to compete for the Bucs’ strongside linebacker job in 2019, Bond ultimately saw his time come to an end once he was handed a four-game suspension that October for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.
The Bears scooped him up in December 2019, a few weeks after he was reinstated from suspension, and have kept him around for most of that time as a practice-squad project.
Where Does Bond Fit for Bears?
Bond struggled to make it work as an outside linebacker in a 4-3 defensive scheme with the Bucs, but the Bears view the 6-foot-1, 236-pound linebacker as a much better fit on the inside.
While he still has some usefulness as a pass rusher, Bond’s speed and agility could become a tool for helping the Bears defense attack the run. He can also get off the ground in the passing game when necessary, touting a vertical leap of 37 1/2 inches during the 2016 NFL Combine.
Bond is currently listed as the third-string linebacker behind Roquan Smith and Josh Woods, so chances are good he won’t be needed for many, if any, defensive reps against the Bucs, but be on the lookout for No. 44 on special teams. Again, this is his second practice-squad elevation of the season and could be one of his last opportunities to earn a more permanent place on the Bears’ 53-man roster.
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