{"id":838208,"date":"2026-03-28T02:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/838208\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:49:17","slug":"possible-linebacker-corps-for-buccaneers-sans-lavonte-david","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/838208\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible Linebacker Corps for Buccaneers Sans Lavonte David"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in 14 seasons, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> will enter the year without Lavonte David leading their defense.<\/p>\n

David announced his retirement on Tuesday<\/a>, starting the clock on his eventual Hall-of-Fame induction<\/a>. This was not an incredibly surprising move, as David had made it clear earlier in the offseason that he was deciding between retirement or returning to Tampa.<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Bucs have made some moves to help supplement David’s departure, signing Alex Anzalone<\/a> and Christian Rozeboom<\/a> to man the middle on defense.<\/p>\n

Anzalone spent the past five years with the Detroit Lions, joining the team during Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s inaugural season. Anzalone served as a veteran leader for Campbell, providing experience to a young, up and coming team and helping the Lions transform their culture into a winning one.<\/p>\n

Overall, he has played in 111 games, notching 613 tackles, 13 sacks and four interceptions over his nine-year tenure.<\/p>\n

Anzalone returns home to the Sunshine State, where he and his wife were standout athletes at the University of Florida. Anzalone talked about his excitement about returning home<\/a> in his opening press conference.<\/p>\n

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“Happy to be here, guys. You know, it’s a unique opportunity for us as a family. You know, this is our home. We feel passionate about this city, this organization now,” Anzalone said.<\/p>\n

Rozeboom joins Anzalone on the Bucs’ linebacking core as the second new addition. The move keeps Rozeboom in the division, as the 29-year old led the Carolina Panthers<\/a> with 122 tackles last season.<\/p>\n

Rozeboom reunites with former Panthers defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson<\/a>, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Bucs early in free agency.<\/p>\n

After a limited start to his NFL career, Rozeboom has transformed into a tackling machine, racking up 336 tackles over the past three seasons. He began his career with the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> before a brief stint in Kansas City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In 2024, Rozeboom broke out for 135 tackles with the Rams and adding his first career sack.<\/p>\n

Last offseason, the Panthers signed Rozeboom to a one-year, $2.5 million deal to supplement their linebacking core, but injuries thrusted him into a larger role. Rozeboom started 15 games, serving as Carolina’s premier tackler and securing a lone interception – an interception thrown by Bucs starting quarterback Baker Mayfield in Week 18 last season.<\/p>\n

The Bucs have also been linked to potential linebacker options in the upcoming NFL Draft, including Texas Tech<\/a> standout Jacob Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

Buccaneers.com contributor Gabriel Kahaian released his latest mock-draft predictions<\/a> earlier this week, showing Bucs trading back to No. 31, allowing the New England Patriots<\/a> to select USC receiver Makai Lemon with the 15th pick.<\/p>\n

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Tampa Bay would use the No. 31 selection on Rodriguez, securing a player who finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting and won the Nagurski Award, which is said to honor the nation’s best college defensive player. The first-team All-American also ranked as Pro Football Focus’ best coverage linebacker of 2025.<\/p>\n

However, this prediction may be a reach, as most draft models show Rodriguez being taken midway through the second round.<\/p>\n

Plus, with the additions of Rozeboom and Anzalone, Tampa Bay may be feeling set at the linebacking position.<\/p>\n

\u3164<\/p>\n

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Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in 14 seasons, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will enter the year without Lavonte David…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[6291,1842,211,260,10628,6214,113,7,118,9195,58,249,6,209,704,250,2597,2596,6603],"class_list":["post-838208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-alex-anzalone","tag-baker-mayfield","tag-buccaneers","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-christian-rozeboom","tag-dan-campbell","tag-detroit-lions","tag-football","tag-kansas-city","tag-lavonte-david","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabaybuccaneers","tag-the-bucs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116304528378275786","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838208","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=838208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}