Alabama Football: Former Crimson Tide players with new NFL teams in 2022
By Matt Melton
Looking ahead to the 2022 NFL season, there are multiple former Alabama Football players who are set to enter the year with a different team compared to last season. Who are those players, and where are they now?
Which former Alabama Football players are with new NFL teams in 2022?
Offense
- WR Amari Cooper – Cleveland Browns
- OL Bradley Bozeman – Carolina Panthers
- TE OJ Howard – Buffalo Bills
Likely the most-notable former Alabama Football player to change teams in the offseason was wide receiver Amari Cooper, who was traded by the Dallas Cowboys to the Cleveland Browns back in mid-March. Entering his ninth NFL season in 2022, Cooper will likely be the favorite to lead the Browns in receiving this season, and is coming off a year in which he caught 68 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns in Dallas.
Former Crimson Tide offensive lineman Bradley Bozeman enters his first season with the Carolina Panthers after signing as a free agent in the offseason, as does tight end OJ Howard who signed with the Buffalo Bills. This will be both Bozeman’s and Howard’s first season with a new team since being drafted into the NFL, as both had previously spent the entirety of their careers with the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Defense
- LB Rashaan Evans – Atlanta Falcons
- LB Mack Wilson – New England Patriots
- CB Levi Wallace – Pittsburgh Steelers
- DT Jarran Reed – Green Bay Packers
- CB Anthony Averett – Las Vegas Raiders
Two of the most-notable former Crimson Tide defensive standouts to change NFL teams come at the linebacker position in Rashaan Evans and Mack Wilson, both of which will be playing with new teams for the first time in their professional career. Evans signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent in the offseason after spending four years with the Tennessee Titans, while Wilson was traded by the Cleveland Browns to the New England Patriots back in mid-March.
Cornerbacks Levi Wallace and Anthony Averett will both also be playing with new teams for the first time in their NFL careers in 2022 as both signed as free agents, Wallace with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Averett with the Las Vegas Raiders. Jarran Reed signed with the Green Bay Packers in the offseason as a free agent after spending 2021 with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Special Teams
- P JK Scott – Los Angeles Chargers
One of the greatest punters in Crimson Tide history, Scott signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as a free agent in the offseason. After three years with the Green Bay Packers from 2018-20, Scott appeared in only one game last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.