After 14 seasons in Tampa Bay, Bucs legend Lavonte David is expected to retire this offseason. While nothing has been made official, it's hard to imagine David returning for his age 36-season. In 2025, David played well but took a statistical step back.
Bucs beat writer and NFL analyst Greg Auman described him as "a step slower" in 2025, which is a fair assessment. Later in the same article, Auman pitched a strong replacement candidate if he decides to step away: Nakobe Dean.
Dean is entering his first free-agency cycle and coming off an injury-plagued few seasons. His injuries severely limited his time on the field, but he's played well when given the opportunity.
Over 10 games in 2025, Dean allowed just a 62.5 completion rate and 80.7 passer rating when targeted, both career bests. The 25-year-old has been successful at every stop of his career. In college, he won the 2021 Butkus Award, awarded to the nation's best collegiate linebacker.
His first season was mainly spent on special teams, but he quickly transformed into a starter on the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX team. Not only is Dean a perfect match for Tampa Bay, but he's much needed. The Buccaneers' linebackers struggled tremendously to stop the pass in 2025 and were in the bottom seven in completion percentage allowed.
Nakobe Dean is the perfect Lavonte David replacement in 2026
While David was never an elite pass defender in his prime, he struggled mightily in this area last season. He allowed a career-worst seven touchdowns and 120.1 passer rating on 67 targets.
Another main culprit was SirVocea Dennis. The third-year linebacker allowed an 85% completion rate on 60 targets and 122.0 passer rating.
If the Buccaneers sign Dean, he'd immediately improve the weakest link of the defense. Not only does Dean provide strong pass defense, but he can get to the quarterback as well. He only has 7.5 career sacks, but he blitzed six total times throughout his first two seasons in the NFL.
He produced three sacks on 41 blitzes in 2024 and four sacks with nine pressures on 15 blitzes in 2025. Of course, these aren't perfect correlations, but it proves he can effectively get to the quarterback if he's asked to.
The one main problem with Dean's profile is his high missed tackle percentage. In 2025, he produced a 9.8 missed tackle percentage. His limited season could have skewed this number, but it's still a cause for concern. He produced a 7.9 MTK rate in 2024, the same year he became a Super Bowl winner.
Despite his minor flaws, the Bucs must take a chance on Dean. Spotrac predicts his market value at roughly $9 million per year. If Tampa Bay can get a multi-year deal at this rate, it would be a steal. Dean has a real opportunity to become a monster in Tampa Bay and help fix the defensive problems that aided the collapse of 2025.