{"id":805258,"date":"2026-03-10T21:06:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/805258\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:06:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:06:18","slug":"lavonte-david-could-take-2-paths-but-leaving-tampa-is-off-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/805258\/","title":{"rendered":"Lavonte David could take 2 paths, but leaving Tampa is off the table"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The defensive landscape of the NFL is undergoing a major change, and <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> star <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/tag\/lavonte-david\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lavonte David<\/a> is clearly frustrated. Speaking with NFL insider Jordan Schultz, <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/buccaneers-news-lavonte-david-no-fun-league-rule-changes-against-defense\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David criticized the \u201cNo Fun League\u201d<\/a> for too many rule changes that penalize aggressive defense.<\/p>\n<p>The veteran linebacker said he hopes the league will allow replays for unnecessary roughness penalties, noting that many game-changing flags are called for clean, hard hits instead of malicious intent.<\/p>\n<p>For David, these constant stops take away the passion from the game and make the job of a defensive player harder. Amid his frustrations with the league&#8217;s direction, the future of the franchise legend in Tampa Bay appears to be down to two options.<\/p>\n<p>According to Rick Stroud on X, David\u2019s agent, Ron Butler, told WDAE that the linebacker <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFLSTROUD\/status\/2031468063845912642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">will either return<\/a> to the Buccaneers in 2026 or retire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose are the two options,\u201d Butler said, ending rumors of him playing for another team.<\/p>\n<p>The decision is expected soon, after David had arthroscopic knee surgery to fix an issue that needed weekly draining last season.<\/p>\n<p>For the Buccaneers, keeping David is a top priority to keep their defense strong.<\/p>\n<p>While waiting for David&#8217;s final decision, the team has been busy signing other key offensive players.<\/p>\n<p>After Mike Evans left for the San Francisco 49ers, the Buccaneers re-signed tight end Cade Otton.<\/p>\n<p>According to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team, <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/buccaneers-news-tampa-bay-bringing-cade-otton-back-20-million-deal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Otton has re-signed on a three-year<\/a>, $30 million contract with $20 million fully guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>By locking up the 26-year-old tight end, Tampa Bay ensures that its offense retains a reliable target as they navigate a period of significant roster transition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The defensive landscape of the NFL is undergoing a major change, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Lavonte David&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,9195,6,832,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-805258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-lavonte-david","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-rumors","13":"tag-tampa-bay","14":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","15":"tag-tampabay","16":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116206921202890785","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}