At this point in his career, it's fair to say Lavonte David is officially in the "year-to-year" category when it comes to how much long he plays professional football.
It's totally fair to label him as such. He's entering this 14th season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and outside of winning Defensive Player of the Year or the NFL's MVP award, he's accomplished just about anything and everything a players wants to achieve in a career.
All 14 of said seasons have been in Tampa Bay, too. David's easily one of the most beloved, and best, Bucs of all time and will certainly be in the Ring of Honor once his career is over and he also has a shot at landing a Hall of Fame bust.
That's why his reply to a question asking if he would've gone elsewhere during the 2025 offseason instead of returning to the Bucs if they weren't Super Bowl contenders, in his eyes, is telling, transparent, and encouraging.
“Probably not, to be honest with you,” David told reporters after Day 1 of Bucs training camp. “I know what we’re capable of (and) I know we [can] get it done. I feel like we fell short last year. I feel like we would’ve had a great run at it last year. We just fell short and that’s definitely unfortunate, but probably one of the main reasons I came back is I know what we’re capable of and I know what we can do.
“We’ve got the talent to do it, and we’ve got the mindset to do it. So, we’ve just got to put it all together. I always say, offense just (needs to) do their thing. Defense - we’ve got to take care of them. We’ve just got to do a better job, defensively, and I think we’ll get to the promised land if we do that.”
The idea of David playing in another uniform is almost impossible for any Bucs fan to imagine, but it probably would've happened if Tampa Bay wasn't in the shape it's currently in. David is clearly done with losing and even being mediocre, as that's all he experienced during a playoff-less stretch over the first eight seasons of his career.
He even recently told former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden that Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles had to convince him to stay when the two came to Tampa Bay in 2019.
Since then, it's been five-straight playoff appearances that includes a Super Bowl win and four-straight division titles. When you're 35 years old and used to that kind of success, it's completely reasonable to have the desire to keep that going and not give it up.
Now, the Bucs are looking to ramp that up and join the NFL's elite. David is aware of this and believes in that mindset, just like everyone else.
"I think the confidence. The confidence knowing that we belong," David said when asked what makes the Bucs contenders in his eyes. "[Head] Coach [Todd Bowles] said in a team meeting yesterday, ‘We do not want to be a monster unless we want to be the elite.’ I feel like that's a mindset we have to have.
David hasn't even thought about retiring, which makes his answer even more compelling
The three-time All-Pro went into detail about how good he feels entering training camp and that he can still play a high level. That adds another layer to his answer, because it would be different if he were still just trying to "hang on" to his football career, so to speak. In that case, a reunion with the Bucs may have been more by default, than anything else.
But the fact he still feels like that and that spending another back-end year of his career with the Bucs speaks volumes. It's highly likely the rest of the NFL sees that he can still play, too, so there would've been plenty of suitors.
"I don't know man, I haven't thought about it," said David. "Like I said, I felt really good being out there. If I came back, obviously, I feel like I can still go. So we're just gonna see what this year takes us - you know I'm saying? I'm an in-the-moment, guy, you know, I just like to enjoy the moment while I'm in it. And whenever that time comes that's when I'll think about it."
Either way, the Bucs have one of their best and most important players back on a defense that is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 season and it certainly adds to their chances of making the big game in 2025.
“He’s meant everything to me," said Bowles." He’s the second coach on the field. He gets everybody lined up, he talks to everybody, inspires everybody, corrects everybody, he understands situations, he can call out plays when he’s out there, and he makes plays all the time. That’s been a godsend for us. He’s been one of the consistent ones over there. There’s a reason he’s played that long.”
