When you are switching to a 3-4 defense, you need a room full of linebackers. With only a handful of healthy ones even on the roster, finding bodies becomes critical.

The Buccaneers filled a void on Tuesday, announcing the team has re-signed linebacker Devante Bond.

Bond (6-1, 235) originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick (183rd overall) of the Buccaneers in the 2016 NFL Draft. He has played in 25 games, with six starts, for Tampa Bay, totaling 23 tackles and 13 special teams tackles. In 2017, he led the team with 10 special teams tackles. A native of Sacramento, California, Bond played collegiately at Oklahoma.

The Bucs are in a precarious situation at linebacker with the team’s move to a 3-4 base defense under new coordinator Todd Bowles with starter Kwon Alexander’s pending free agency – and injury – which is expected to sideline him until at least the start of training camp. Kendell Beckwith, the team’s third-round pick in 2017, suffered a fractured ankle last offseason that could be career-ending, and Jack Cichy, Tampa Bay’s sixth-round pick last year, tore his ACL in the same Cleveland game as Alexander suffered his injury in.

– Part of this report was courtesy of the Buccaneers communications department