Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Da'Quan Bowers found himself locked up Monday morning after police nabbed him carrying a .40-caliber handgun through LaGuardia airport, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Bowers will be charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and he will face a minimum of three and a half years in prison if convicted. The former Giants and Jets wide receiver faced the same charges in 2009 after accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. Burress served close to two years.
The 23-year old Bowers was a star at Clemson before his draft stock tumbled due to a knee injury. In his junior year with the Tigers he recorded 67 tackles, a whopping 15.5 sacks and even had an interception. In his Clemson career Bowers had 19.5 sacks, 44.5 tackles for loss, and 150 tackles.
He was eventually selected by the Buccaneers in the second round and started six games in 2011 but played in all 16. In his rookie year Bowers totaled 22 tackles, one and a half sacks, one fumble recovery and four pass defenses. He tore his Achilles' tendon in the offseason and only appeared in 10 games in 2012. In those 10 games Bowers managed three sacks and nine tackles but didn't start once.
Bowers is set to earn base salaries of $725,512 in 2013 and $900,768 in 2014. Free agent defensive end Michael Bennett, who had nine sacks last year should stand to benefit if Bowers cannot escape these legal woes. Other top defensive ends on the free agent market are Dwight Freeney (Colts), Osi Umenyiora (Giants), Cliff Avril (Lions), Michael Johnson (Bengals) and Andre Carter (Raiders).
According to the Yahoo! Report if the Buccaneers decide to use their franchise tag on Bennett, he will be guaranteed $10.993 million in base salary.
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