Bucs fans have long dreaded the day they’ll have to say goodbye to franchise legend Lavonte David. But on Friday night, that day was pushed off into the future for another year.
David took to Instagram to announce that he would be returning for another season, his 14th in the NFL. Around that same time, news hit Twitter/X that he is re-signing with the Bucs on another one-year deal. The contract, according to an initial report by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, is worth $10 million with $9 million guaranteed.
Lavonte David’s Legacy With The Bucs Continues
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels and Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
David will remain the longest-tenured player on the Bucs’ roster. Former general Mark Dominik selected him in the second round of the 2012 draft, and he has played all 13 of his NFL seasons in Tampa Bay. Now, he gets a 14th in 2025.
He has long been considered one of the best linebackers of his generation, often discussed as part of a “Big Four” from the 2010s that included Demario Davis, Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner. As it currently stands, David outpaces the other three for their careers in tackles, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. He trails only Davis in sacks and his 13 interceptions are tied with Wagner for second behind Kuechly.
Despite his consistent top-tier performances, David has often been overlooked for league-wide praise and awards due to Tampa Bay’s low market recognition and the Bucs’ lack of success from 2012-2019. He was a first team All-Pro in 2013 and second team in 2016. He received a Pro Bowl nod in 2015 as well.
But that is it. David would receive another second team All Pro selection in 2020 during the team’s second Super Bowl run. But unfortunately, that is the totality of David’s distinctions to this point.
Despite playing for five head coaches, David has remained a constant on defense. His first four seasons made for one of the greatest linebacker stretches of all time. He posted 577 tackles, 68 TFL’s, 13.0 sacks, 31 PD, 9 INT’s, 8 FF and 4 FR. Even during Kuechly’s 2013 Defensive Player of the Year campaign, David outperformed him in nearly every statistical category.
Beyond the numbers on the paper, David has a legacy with the Bucs that includes him being ‘The Standard’ the team looks for in every player they bring into the building. General manager Jason Licht has described him as such.
“He is the poster child literally for us,” Licht said. “We have a picture of a silhouette in our draft room that says, ‘I am that man.’ It is the person that we want in a player – the traits, or some of them that we just said – and it does not show his face, but it is Lavonte. He is the one that we look for every year. He is the standard.”
Year-in, year-out, he has brought a workman-like presence, a quiet leadership and a level of play that challenged his teammates to match not just every game, but every practice.
That quiet resolve paid off in 2020, as Licht would import someone on the other side of the ball that would match his excellence. Quarterback Tom Brady helped David reach the pinnacle of the game as the team won Super Bowl LV. That season, he totaled 117 tackles, 12 TFL’s, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT, 6 PD’s, 3 FF and 2 FR.
Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: USA Today
David’s play has started to fall off in recent years. He missed five games in 2021 and another two in 2023. This past season, his Pro Football Focus grade was south of 70.0 for the first time in eight seasons and his coverage grade was less than 60.0 for the first time ever.
But clearly, he and Tampa Bay both feel that he still has something left to give at the age of 34.
As he has been considering retirement for a couple of years now, he and the team have moved to a year-by-year model with respects to his contracts.
For his career, he ranks second in team history in solo tackles (1,111), first in assisted tackles (491), first in tackles for loss (169), 12th in interceptions (13), fifth in passes defensed (70), sixth in sacks (39.0), first in forced fumbles (31) and first in fumble recoveries (19). He is also 8th all-time in the NFL in combined tackles (1,602) and tied for 27th in forced fumbles.
He will no doubt be an immediate inductee into the Bucs Ring of Honor once his career reaches its end. But for now, those plans will be put on hold as No. 54 will return for another season in Tampa Bay.
