Wednesday afternoon brought Bucs fans the news they’ve been longing to hear this offseason, as reports have emerged that the team is re-signing fan favorite linebacker Lavonte David to a one-year, $7 million deal. NFL Insider Josina Anderson was first to report the news, while NFL Network’s Top Pelissero was on top of the contract details.

Lavonte David Returns For Year 12 With The Bucs

David has become a staple of the Bucs defense since the team selected him 58th overall in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He is widely regarded as one of the three-to-four best off-ball linebackers of the past 10 years and showed no signs of slowing down in 2022 as he accumulated 124 combined tackles, 10 tackles for loss, five passes defensed, one forced fumble and three sacks.

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: USA Today

In addition to those counting stats, David continued his track record of playing at a high level in pass coverage. His Pro Football Focus grade in coverage for the year was an outstanding 88.5, which was second in the NFL behind only Germaine Pratt of the Bengals.

Plus, his ability to cover large swaths of the middle of the field allowed fellow linebacker Devin White to play more downfield as a targeted missile. David’s overall PFF grade was an 84.1, which ranked third in the NFL above other star players like Fred Warner, Demario Davis and Roquan Smith.

David has been a leader on the Bucs defense, operating at a high level throughout his career working under multiple defensive coordinators. With his re-signing, David helps to solidify the middle of a quickly changing defense that had five starters set to hit free agency. His re-signing also locks up PFF’s No. 5 overall free agent in 2023.

Since they were able to come to an agreement prior to the new league year, which starts at 4 p.m. Wednesday, it will have an added cap benefit. David’s previous deal was structured with three void years that would have left the team with a $6.855 million dead cap hit this year. This allows the Bucs to push $4.57 million of that prorated signing bonus into 2024.

Most significantly, this keeps a future Bucs Ring of Honor member in Tampa Bay for one more year and moves David closer to finishing his career in Tampa Bay where he started. Over the course of his career, David has accumulated 1,346 tackles, 143 tackles for a loss, 59 passes defensed, 12 interceptions, 29 sacks, 27 forced fumbles and 18 fumbles recovered.