Lavonte David: I’d Love To Retire As A Buccaneer

Buccaneers LB Lavonte David recently told Pewter Report that he would like to finish out the remainder of his career in Tampa Bay.

David referenced Buccaneer greats like DB Ronde Barber and LB Derrick Brooks as guys who spent their whole careers in Tampa Bay and wants to follow their path.

“For sure. I’d love to retire as a Buccaneer,” David said. “Getting to play in the same building my whole career like guys like Ronde Barber and Derrick Brooks, that’d be amazing. Just to walk the same hallways they walked their whole career. Especially Derrick Brooks, you all know how I feel about Derrick. Every time he comes around, my eyes light up. So, he’s definitely a guy who I kind of want to model after, just be a guy who played with Tampa their whole career and was just a staple for what they do.”

David says he hasn’t had the chance to talk to the Buccaneers regarding his impending free agency. 

“Right now, I’m just enjoying this time off. Just getting my body back right. I’ll probably start back training really going hard pretty soon. Spending time with my wife and daughter. Getting the chance to go on vacations possibly,” David said. “I haven’t really got a chance to talk to the Bucs about stuff like that. At the same time, they’ve got a lot of stuff going on anyway. So, you’ve definitely got to give them that time.

“But I’m pretty sure they’ll probably hit me up whenever they kind of settle down. Because obviously, I would love to be back in Tampa. I played 11 years there. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. But I’m not naïve to the business side of football. So, I’m definitely grateful for whatever happens after.”

David, 33, is a former second-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2012. He played out the final year of his six-year, $51.11 million contract that included $25.56 million guaranteed and made a base salary of $10.75 million for the 2020 season. 

David is in line to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason as he’s coming off the second year of a two-year, $25 million extension he signed with the team back in 2021. 

In 2022, David appeared in all 17 games and recorded 123 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and five pass defenses.

We have him included in our Top 100 – 2023 NFL Free Agents list.