During their Super Bowl victory parade, Bruce Arians told Lavonte David he wasn't going anywhere with regard to free agency. Arians was right, as David and the Buccaneers have come to terms on a two-year, $25 million extension, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Shortly after his team's Super Bowl win, Arians made it clear that keeping his own free agents will be the Buccaneers' top offseason priority. That was certainly the case on Tuesday, as the Buccaneers re-signed David while also placing the franchise tag on receiver Chris Godwin.
The 58th overall pick in the 2012 draft, David toiled on eight consecutive non-playoff teams before the Buccaneers ended their 13-year playoff drought in 2020. In the playoffs, David took part in each of the Buccaneers' defensive snaps, recording 26 tackles that included six stops in Super Bowl LV. The 31-year-old finished in a tie for second on the team in tackles during Tampa Bay's 31-9 win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.
"Nine years of grinding, finally here," David said during his postgame press conference. "It's definitely something that everybody who's been in this position talks about. I see why this is just a special moment, and I wouldn't want to enjoy it with any other football team. Through the hard times, I was able to keep my head held high, understand that those times wouldn't last for long. Just a great feeling to be a part of an organization like this."
While David and Godwin will be back for Tampa Bay's title defense, outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett, tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, running back Leonard Fournette, receiver Antonio Brown, and kicker Ryan Succop are among the team's top pending free agents. And while they won't be able to keep everyone, the Buccaneers have begun the process of bringing back several key players for the 2021 season.
"I have all the trust in the world in (general manager) Jason (Licht) and what he would do," Arians said the day after the Super Bowl. "These guys, they have a bond. There will be dollars involved. But I think that this group is so, so close that sometimes dollars don't matter. But we're going to do everything we can to get the dollars right, too, because they earned it."
