The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a free agency quandary, and with there being a lot of unknowns, one thing is for sure, Lavonte David must return.
The Buccaneers are going to have to make some hard decisions in the following weeks to come. They will have to decide who to sign, who to use the franchise tag on, and who they will let go into free agency. Neither ownership nor the coaches want to make these decisions. Football is not just a game, it’s also a business, and business can get ugly sometimes, even for players as good as Lavonte David.
What makes these decisions harder, is when a team has to part ways with a player that has meant so much to the organization. It’s happened many times before and it will happen many more times in the years to come, but if there is any player that should be an exception to this rule, it is Lavonte David.
There are several reasons why the game of football is considered the greatest team sport, but there is no reason larger than the fact that a team’s captain doesn’t always necessarily have the best stats on the team. In football, team captains uplift their fellow teammates when they’re down, they critique when necessary, and they usually have a bond with nearly every player on the team – This is what Lavonte David brings to this Buccaneers team.
If the captain has team-leading stats, then that’s just the cherry on top, but it’s not necessary. There have been several statistical categories in which David has led the team, but even still, there are very few people who consider him the most talented linebacker on the Buccaneers roster. David has only been to one Pro Bowl and that was six years ago.
David was drafted in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, a time when this Buccaneers team was a mockery. He has seen players come and go, and more times than not, he has been apart of a losing season on a team that has been historically bad. But it was these experiences that made him into the leader that he is today.
Here are three reasons why the Buccaneers should re-sign Lavonte David.