Pro Bowlers from Alabama still among the NFL’s unsigned players
Wide receiver Amari Cooper has posted seven 1,000-yard seasons and received five Pro Bowl invitations during his 10 NFL seasons. But 11 weeks after he became an unrestricted free agent and with NFL teams winding down their offseason work, the former Alabama All-American remains unsigned.
The five NFL teams that had not started the final phase of their offseason programs are doing so on Wednesday. By June 20, all 32 NFL teams will have completed their offseason work and entered the summer break until spring training.
Cooper isn’t the only player from an Alabama high school or college who became a free agent on March 12 and remains unsigned. Others still in need of a team include:
- Running back Ameer Abdullah (Homewood)
- Guard Lester Cotton (Central-Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
- Defensive tackle Marlon Davidson (Greenville, Auburn)
- Offensive lineman Jack Driscoll (Auburn)
- Wide receiver Grant DuBose (Park Crossing, Miles)
- Tight end Gerald Everett (UAB/South Alabama)
- Safety Ronnie Harrison (Alabama)
- Offensive tackle Chris Hubbard (UAB)
- Defensive end Carl Lawson (Auburn)
- Cornerback Christian Matthew (Samford)
- Wide receiver Anthony Schwartz (Auburn)
- Defensive end Za’Darius Smith (Greenville)
- Tight end C.J. Uzomah (Auburn)
- Offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. (Alabama)
- Linebacker Chandler Wooten (Auburn)
Smith is a 10-year NFL veteran who has been a Pro Bowl selection three times. Wills was the 10th pick in the 2020 draft who is coming off two injury-affected seasons. Hubbard is a 12-year NFL veteran. Abdullah and Uzomah just completed their 10th seasons.
Another set of free agents includes players who had contracts for the 2025 season but have been released this offseason. Players with Alabama football roots in this category include:
- Defensive tackle Montravius Adams (Auburn)
- Cornerback James Bradberry (Pleasant Grove, Samford)
- Defensive tackle Raekwon Davis (Alabama)
- Tight end Jordan Matthews (Madison Academy)
- Linebacker C.J. Mosley (Theodore, Alabama)
Mosley has been a Pro Bowler five times in 10 NFL seasons. Bradberry missed the 2024 season because of injury, but the 2020 Pro Bowler started 124 games in the eight seasons before that.
There is yet another set of free agents who have been on the open market even longer. These are players who finished the 2024 season on practice squads. Each became a free agent a week after his team’s season ended. Players from Alabama high schools and colleges who appeared in regular-season games during 2024 as practice-squad members and remain unsigned for 2025 include:
- Linebacker Kwon Alexander (Oxford)
- Defensive tackle Angelo Blackson (Auburn)
- Fullback Khari Blasingame (Buckhorn)
- Linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High, Alabama)
- Cornerback Zyon Gilbert (Jeff Davis)
- Safety Eddie Jackson (Alabama)
- Safety Kareem Jackson (Alabama)
- Defensive back Bobby McCain (Oxford)
- Linebacker Nicholas Morrow (Huntsville)
- Tight end John Samuel Shenker (Auburn)
Kareem Jackson is a 15-year veteran who ranks fourth with 205 regular-season games and second with 193 regular-season starts on Alabama’s all-time NFL list.
Eddie Jackson is a two-time Pro Bowler and one-time first-team All-Pro with 104 starts in eight seasons.
Alexander, Blackson and McCain are 10-year NFL veterans.
Blasingame and Morrow played for Philadelphia in the Eagles’ 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX last season.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.