The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed linebacker Lavonte David, the team announced Thursday.
According to reports, it’s a one-year, $7 million contract. The 33-year-old has spent his entire 11-year career with Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl with the team in 2020.
Last season, David recorded a team-high-tying 124 tackles – his most since 2015 (147) – and added 10 tackles for loss, five passes defensed, and three sacks. He was one of just four players in the NFL to hit each of those benchmarks during the 2022 season. According to Pro Football Focus, David was the third-highest-graded linebacker in 2022.
The 2022 season was up and down for the Buccaneers, and fortunately for them, they played in a weak division, which helped them win the NFC South and get to the playoffs with an 8-9 record. Ultimately, the Cowboys would defeat them in the wild-card round.
On Thursday, David, who met with the Tampa Bay media, discussed the highs and lows of the 2022 season.
“I would say the whole season – not just the end of the season – everything was so up and down and wasn’t consistent,” David said. “We’re a better football team than what we displayed. That playoff loss, losing at home in the wild-card game, we basically played the worst game of the season. We [were] outmatched; we didn’t play the way we know how to play football. Obviously, that factors in. When you’re a competitor and a competitor like me, I feel like the best place was to redeem myself was in Tampa Bay – to stay in Tampa and kind of finish what I started. I’ve been there my whole career and wouldn’t want to be [anywhere] else.”
Tampa Bay’s roster will look different in 2023 as they hope to replace the great Tom Brady, but even without Brady, David is confident there is enough talent in Tampa Bay for the team to be successful.
“With the guys who have been around, who’ve been in it and know what it takes,” David said. “For the most part, we’ve got a lot of those core guys that have been in the locker room and know what it takes to get there. We know how to do it, and all you’ve got to do it is just pass it on to the guys that are new in the building. But, like I said, we did lose a lot of key people who are going to have some people filling in their roles, and they’ll have some big shoes to fill, but I feel like with the locker room we have, everybody will fit in really well.”
David, who has served as a captain from 2014-22, ranks third in franchise history in tackles and 10th in sacks. He has led the team in tackles eight times (2012-15, 2017-19, 2022) and tackles for loss six times (2012-16, 2022). During his time in Tampa Bay, David has earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.
The Buccaneers originally selected him in the second round (No. 58 overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft out of the University of Nebraska.
Leave a Reply