Lavonte David Wants To Play For The Bucs In 2023
January 17th, 2023
Lavonte David opens up.
Lavonte David had a giant lawn and leaf bag at his locker today, carefully taking shirts and jerseys off hangars and placing them in the bag.
On a comical note, David had about 20 pairs of shoes in his locker and Joe asked to borrow a pair.
David, being the kind man he is and not used to Joe’s sense of humor, seemed perplexed and was about to offer Joe a pair before Joe dropped a “just kidding.”
As David packed up he reflected on 11 years in a Bucs uniform and wanting to return as a free agent next season, “Of course. Of course.” was David’s response last night and this morning to the question of whether he wants his 12th season should be in Tampa.
“Who wouldn’t? They entrusted me 11 years; I’ve been a captain for 8 or 9,” he said.
“I think about all the time,” David said when asked about his future. “I’ve never been in this situation.”
David made it clear that he’d love to finish his entire career in Tampa, however long it lasts. But David’s goals run deeper than geography. He feels he had a great 2022 season when it comes to his health. And while David fell short of some non-team goals, he feels he had a very solid season on the field.
David, not Devin White, led the Bucs in tackles this season. And David was top dog in tackles last night with 9 solo tackles and 14 combined tackles, tripling up on White.
January 17th, 2023 at 12:39 pm
Too simple lifelong buc plz..
January 17th, 2023 at 12:40 pm
David is a class act. He should be asked to come back next year for his leadership skills alone.
January 17th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
A guy that would be truly missed. And not one of our problems, other than the question of how we can keep him here with our cap situation and multiple needs. But as D-Rok said…a class act.
January 17th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
I hope they can keep him. But they also need to draft an LB in the 2nd round. Was evident all season
January 17th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
Well, I’m done sobbing into my cornflakes this morning, and I haven’t had too many negative things to lament upon since our heart-breaking demolition last nite.
Despite my jovial optimism, I’m ready to man the pitchfork and gently ask:
IS LEFTY FIRED YET? It’s almost 1300 my time, and still no news. Are the Glazers taking a little longer than me trying to dry up their sniffles and sobs?
January 17th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
We are so lucky to have dudes like David, Rvans, Godwin, Gholston, to mame just a few. Maybe in private their all jacka@@es? How would I know? But it seems like a good core group of decent guys. Id have loved to been going on in the post season. But I’ll take the character and quality of these guys as a consolation prize. I literally cannot believe this group wasn’t better this yr. I attribute that to the organizational shortfalls. Unfortunately that falls onnthe HC. But its hard not to think Leftwich was a huge issue. Soooo frustrating. What a yr
January 17th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
david, vea, winfield, wirfs, evans, godwin, jensen, everyone else can stay or leave
January 17th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
White is overrated…..he’s decent against the run, talented but inconsistent as a pass rusher but as an all around LB, very underwhelming. He, like Shaq, require too many pieces to be effective. Vea goes down, White disappears. David goes down, White looks lost. He’s a freak athlete with marginal discipline.
January 17th, 2023 at 12:48 pm
He is a Great! Football player, none of his game has rubbed off on DW who I would trade if possible.
VV is just a B grade NFL interior lineman
Gonna have to be serious roster pruning, rebuilding is not a bad word, what is bad is trying to fool yourself thinking that a rebuild is not necessary, it is ?
January 17th, 2023 at 12:48 pm
The Bucs are second only to NOLA with ~$43M over the projected 2023 cap already and only 37 players under contract.
Ton of dead cap money coming due off voided years.
I don’t see how they can do it.
#FIRE BYRON & BOWELS
January 17th, 2023 at 12:48 pm
Jenna Laine saying it’s “speculative that we fire Leftwich at this point”
January 17th, 2023 at 12:49 pm
He’s about the only player outside of Wirfs keeping. Every player should be on the trade block including Godwin and Mike Evans and Brady!!!
January 17th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
I would think twice if I were him if they are afraid to fire Bowles. It is going to be another clown show season. Don’t see how I would want to be part of that embarrassment.
January 17th, 2023 at 12:56 pm
LVD has always been a keeper.
I really question #45. Playing too timid for my liking. Looks like all hype bust.
January 17th, 2023 at 12:58 pm
@Bobby M. I like how White was smacked in the mouth and run over early in the game by Pollard. Guy is all talk and bravado
January 17th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Lamaracus you really show how dumb you are. Brady is a free agent. He has no ties to the Bucs.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
Keep LVD and trade the Diva useless White before the cancer really starts to spread from that douchebag.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:02 pm
Favorite Buc all time. 123 tackles 3 sacks and 14 tackles last night. We’ve all heard the “it’s a business” speech, but that would be total disrespect to Bucs fans and I would have to start hating the Glazers on a European level.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
Leftwitch to be fired…
January 17th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
He is a Schaino man
January 17th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
I must get his jersey. I want one in white.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:09 pm
We need to sign David 2 year deal and draft his replacement this off-season to grow with Devin
January 17th, 2023 at 1:15 pm
No one deserves it more. Buc for life
January 17th, 2023 at 1:18 pm
Ronde Barber just posted a video and said Brady didn’t play to his standard, but he was the one who kept the team together. Ronde knows this team would be nothing without him
January 17th, 2023 at 1:19 pm
D-Rok. Maybe the Glazers are trying to figure out how far up they have to cut?
January 17th, 2023 at 1:21 pm
BF… isn’t it the coach that is supposed to keep the team playing together? No disrespect to Brady. But I can’t see that the coaching staff contributed much of anything at all.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
He is not the player he was a few years back but he is still a solid player and a great guy (from what we read and listen). Probably a good figure for the locker room. The team has many needs however. I am all for him to be resigned but the deal cant be for top money.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:26 pm
Hes been here for 11 years I am sure he doesn’t want to pick up stakes and leave. Plus at 33 ( January 23rd ), hes not going to get a very big paycheck here or anywhere else. After last nights debacle Buc free agents are not going to be in high demand.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:27 pm
No Brainer, players like David aren’t readily available and he played admirably for a guy bouncing back from a lisfranc injury. Should be one of the easier decisions for our front office.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Devin White is highly overated and over hyped. He played like a Practice Squad guy last night. In fact, he looked lost for most of the game
January 17th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
The man was everywhere last night. He moved like he did 4 years ago. The lack of communication in this defense the last two season baffles me and I do not want to imagine this defense without his knowledge and leadership. Has he lost a step? Absolutely, but he has made it up for it in mindset and knowledge of the game. He is a must re sign in my opinion.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Devin White doesn’t seem quite right here… maybe he’s got his own personal stuff but sometimes it just smacks of him being a very discontented employee.
It feels like there’s a story there somewhere.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:44 pm
David is a step slow and maybe the bucs should get proactive and look to the future and start trading assets now to help with the future; if the bucs were serious they would clean house today from the top down start with Licht and bring in a new GM with ZERO ties and build it back up, the new GM and the new HC better be aligned in philosophy or then you would just be getting parts for a domestic car but trying to put them in a foreign vehicle
January 17th, 2023 at 1:44 pm
Find the money and keep David. He was the lone bright spot for so many years during the lost decade. So stoked for him to get a super bowl ring and being in the playoffs the past 3 years he deff deserved it. He’s bin so underrated for so many years. Deff one of the best off the ball LB in the game still
January 17th, 2023 at 1:51 pm
LVD should retire as a Bucs……I was there at Raymond James for Brooks last day as a Buc…..last Chucky game verse the Raiders……Brooks looked SO SLOW…..it was a bit sad……….
LVD deserves to retire as a BUC…..he’s given so much…
January 17th, 2023 at 1:51 pm
Lavonte David is a warrior. He’s not the problem on defense. Anytime your 3-4 NT leads the team in sacks…..you have a major problem with your outside linebackers. The BUCS got Absolutely no pressure at all from their outside linebackers. It’s was comical all season long..
January 17th, 2023 at 1:53 pm
David is better than white and it’s not really even close. I don’t think white will ever be better than David. White is just another Kwon over hyped that misses some tackles and average cover skills.
January 17th, 2023 at 1:57 pm
I DON’T KNOW WHY?
The Bucs are going to be irrelevant for the remainder of LVD’s career.Why should he not want to go elsewhere and chase another ring? Lynch, Sapp, and others did it and they are still Bucs. Why not LVD?
January 17th, 2023 at 1:57 pm
Diva is about himself. Great talent and potential but needs to be humbled. Trade him to the Jets or somewhere he deserves, while there is still value to be had.
LVD and Antoine are the only players holding Blowes’ group of softies together at all.
January 17th, 2023 at 2:06 pm
Leftwich fired! C’mon fire bowles too!! Now I have hope the Bucs win the next game! Wooohooooo halfway there!!
January 17th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
I wouldn’t extend myself for LVD. I’m with Dusthty. Time to clean house. I’ve lived watching David. He’s could help a more complete team, much more than this sorry group. I like Licht too, but his GM skills have largely been successful with a bunch of high picks. Look at the last two years. The measure of any GM is how they draft with inferior position. I’m so mad, I just want to blow this whole thing up. Can I put ownership on the list too?
January 17th, 2023 at 2:15 pm
Well the cowboys are acting like they won the super bowl. 49ers takes them to school next week. They know how to play defense. Bucs defense was a joke. Corners giving so much cushion.
January 17th, 2023 at 2:18 pm
Keep David, trade White while he still has value.
January 17th, 2023 at 2:21 pm
If Leftwich has been fired I would expect the whole offensive staff to also get the boot today. Based on last night the Defense needs to also be revamped. Not sure how the Bucs are going to fix the offense and defense with the salary cap situation. Seems like the Bucs are going to need to dump a lot of veterans. This is going to be a rebuild whether we like it or not.
January 17th, 2023 at 2:26 pm
Your Mom. I think alot of these guys have personal stuff going on right now….Like knowing their coaches suck and they are playing on a poor team.
January 17th, 2023 at 2:32 pm
The longer it takes to hear something, the more I think it might be going higher than Liverwurst.
January 17th, 2023 at 2:41 pm
Some tough decisions to be made.
For me, everyone 30+ should be traded or cut.
Brady – thank you, but no
Evans will be 31 — he would fetch a 2nd
Barrett will be 32 — worth a 4th
Smith will be 31 — straight up cut
If Bowles isn’t fired then there is no point in going through another terrible season to wind up with nothing to show for it at the end.
I am OK with taking a beating to have a brighter future in 24 & beyond
January 17th, 2023 at 2:56 pm
So Leftwich just got fired, correct?
January 17th, 2023 at 2:57 pm
Be really hard to see him to. Evans and David have been my two favorites for a while now. Hard to see them play for another team at any point
January 17th, 2023 at 2:57 pm
Davenport, IMO they’re all depressed assets. I could see a Mike Evans, Randy Moss type thing when he left the Raiders. Everyone else you mentioned is trash. Shaq was terrible until the game he blew his Achilles. Not sure of the cap implications per trade, or outright release. I think the Barrett deal was a gigantic mistake. He had one great season. The rest, kinda meah. Wherever Smith winds up, he’s a RT now.
January 17th, 2023 at 3:02 pm
Devin White is expendable. David is not.
January 17th, 2023 at 3:03 pm
Can anyone confirm Leftwich has been fired? It’s all over the news…
January 17th, 2023 at 3:10 pm
D-Rok, all I know is it’s supposedly coming soon. They may have already. Probably waiting till the end of the day.
January 17th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
Sports Illustrated is reporting that his firing is imminent. Hope it’s not one of them fake stories, but several sites/outlets are reporting it.
JOE? Got a story brewing for us down-trodden fans? Perhaps it will lift our collective moods on this dreary, dreadful, and depressing Tuesday morning!
January 17th, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Another “nugget,” from Pewter Report:
“Bucs Contemplated Firing Leftwich During The Season
The Bucs okayed a plan to fire Leftwich at midseason – either after the Ravens game on Thursday Night Football or after the bye week. Instead, Bowles decided to trust his defense and Brady’s heroics and hoped that Leftwich and the offensive staff could make some improvements along the way, which didn’t happen. It’s likely that Bowles didn’t see a potential upgrade at play-caller on the current staff, which is why he stayed with Leftwich for the rest of the year.”
January 17th, 2023 at 3:35 pm
That’s because LVD is absolute stud, with better stats and play than almost all of his contemporaries, despite a fraction of the recognition.
White on the other hand, is the most overrated linebacker in the entire league.
He’s great at blitzing, and sometimes good in the run game. That’s it. He’s definitely an all-pro at running his mouth and then failing to back it up though.
January 17th, 2023 at 4:38 pm
Bucs want to honor and respect this humble HOFamer: GET RID OF BRADY!! That will free up some $$ to give to LVD, and get the plague outta here! I can’t wait to say: I told you so. You gonna buy me a Bucs ticket to a home game cos I’m right next year? 😂😂😂
January 17th, 2023 at 4:42 pm
Davenport & Redeemer … The Bucs’ team that took the field last night was a shell of the team that won the Super Bowl in 2020. Yes there were quite a few personnel changes (not all that many for the better) but the bigger problems were LEADERSHIP and ACCOUNTABILITY. The two go hand-in-hand IMO. We’ve got to get some strong leadership in here, and you can’t do that through the draft.
Contrary to what Todd Bowles said, this team can’t be ‘tweaked’; it needs MAJOR changes, on offense, defense AND Special Teams to be competitive. And not just in the players; this staff NEEDS a major overhaul. The ‘hungriness’ of 2019 & 2020 has given way IMO to something akin to ‘entitlement’ (we’ve got Tom Brady so we deserve to win?). Saw way too few ‘big plays’ by Buccaneers this year, telling me that guys were either undisciplined or depending on others to make the ‘big plays’.
The offensive coaching staff needs a full reboot. Contrary to what many seem to think, I believe that the Bucs could land a top-notch OC, and one who could put together a top-notch staff. But it would have to be with the understanding (from ownership & the GM) that he has near-full-control of the offensive side of the ball, to include creating his own staff of assistant coaches.
This also probably sounds like heresy, but I’d keep Todd Bowles for another year, subject to the understanding that the new OC is responsible for that side of the ball (admittedly that’s akin to having TWO HCs). Last night’s defensive game plan was gross IMO, but overall he’s a good DC who’s done well working with young guys. And THAT’S exactly where we’ll be next year on defense … tons of young guys to break in (we’ve only got TEN under contract on defense, and several of those weren’t starters). I wouldn’t wish that on any new DC. And oh BTW, if Bowles falters again next year, I wouldn’t hesitate to replace him … with the new OC providing his performance warranted it of course.
In terms of players, I wouldn’t even try to re-sign Tom Brady. His days of being a Buccaneer should’ve ended last year; he’s a great QB but his lack of mobility is too constraining and next year’s team won’t even be as talented as this year’s team was IMO. A LOT of cutting & not re-signing many current players is about to happen (that’s a major rebuild not a tweaking). On defense I’d put my priority on re-signing Jamel Dean, Anthony Nelson & Logan Ryan. On offense priority would go to Leverett & Stinnie (presuming they’re both healthy of course). Most of the rest I’d let walk, unless they chose to play for big discounts. Harsh I know, but that’s where we’re at right now unfortunately. Too many excessively big contracts that are weighting us down and costing us any chance of developing reasonable DEPTH.
January 17th, 2023 at 4:50 pm
With David turning 33 in 2023..I think the FO will be interested if it’s a team friendly short deal & no guaranteed money beyond yr2…(LB’s generally do not age well, but David could be solid for 2 more seasons.)
Ultimately, I think he walks & gets a better deal than Licht could offer him to stay…With Bucs FO looking to get younger & cheaper in the middle…While trying to “reload” with little-to-no cap space of consequence to sign pricy UFA’s.
January 17th, 2023 at 7:33 pm
He won’t be back. $44 mil over the cap. david has a 6.5 mill cap hit (with 35 mil for Brady). David markey value would be 9.7 mil. He’s gone.
January 17th, 2023 at 8:43 pm
Fans are really starting to realize the fact that #45 is not even an average LB…..the absolute media pollution in promoting this guy is utter incompetence. He’s by far the most overrated player in the NFL!! I suggest that anyone doubting that statement to rerun last night’s game or pretty much any other game and observe 45 closely…the only splash plays He’s made since 2020 super bowl are picking up fumbles caused by someone else….it’s incredible how he remains a media darling…Joe calls him the ” savior” LB??? C’mon Joes…he is not even in the top 15 to 20 lbs in the league. The next block he sheds will be his 1st…maybe a good athlete but he’s not a good football player and it’s proved over and over again….100 million dollar deal upcoming? He can’t carry Lavonte’ s or Roquan Smiths jock!!!! Watch the films…be open minded and you’ll see the truth….
January 17th, 2023 at 8:45 pm
Orl, you’re an idiot. Unless Brady signs a one year deal and then becomes a pre June one cut, his 35 million dollar hit is accelerated into the 23 cap. The best favor he could do to the organization is to do just that, then retire. He won’t. The rebuild is coming. Have fun with bozo Bowles and ineptitude at the QB position. I don’t want to suck in perpetuity. Apparently you do
January 17th, 2023 at 9:09 pm
I don’t know which was worse… Liverwursts play calling or Bowles Bologna. Both were pretty old, predictable, and have turned rancid. And both need to be taken to the exit.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:43 am
I hope they can keep him, but if he wants to get paid, I don’t see how the Bucs do it. He’s already a $7m dead cap hit from the void year deal he did previously, so any new deal is on top of that. Of course he could do another void year deal, so lets say he takes $1m next year, and 10m in 2024 as a void year, well that’s really a 1-year $11m deal, but with $10m cap hit in 2024 – and David’s total cap hit this year would still be $8m because of the $7m void hit.
Would be hard to justify that unless Brady comes back, in which case you do all the cap tricks again to give it one more try. But if Brady isn’t back, ideally you want to use 2023 to clean up the cap as much as possible, since the team is going to be awful anyways.